I’ve written about my morning journaling routine once before.

But my journaling–think of it as freezing thinking on paper–isn’t limited to mornings. I use it as a tool to clarify my thinking and goals, much as Kevin Kelly (one of my favorite humans) does. The paper is like a photography darkroom for my mind.

Below is a scan of a real page. Both entries are from October 2015.

The first entry (top half) is simply a list of “fun” things I felt compelled to schedule after the unexpected death of a close friend. Since I’ve ticked all of the bullets off. You’ll notice that I blurred out a few sensitive bits, and I won’t spend time on this entry in this post.

The second entry (bottom half) was written in Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco after a two-hour walk. The gestation period during walking and subsequent entry lead me to re-incorporate “deloading” phases in my life. “Deloading” is a term often used in strength and athletic training, but it’s a concept that can be applied to many areas. Let’s look at the sports definition, here from T Nation:

A back-off week, or deload, is a planned reduction in exercise volume or intensity. In collegiate strength-training circles, it’s referred to as the unloading week, and is often inserted between phases or periods. Quoting from Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning: “The purpose of this unloading week is to prepare the body for the increased demand of the next phase or period,” and to mitigate the risk of overtraining.

So, how does this relate to creativity, productivity, or quality of life?

First, I’ll give a personal outcome — In the last 12 months, I’ve used “deloading” outside of sports to decrease my anxiety at least 50% while simultaneously doubling my income.

Deloading for business, in my case, consists of strategically taking my foot off the gas. I alternate intense periods of batching similar tasks (recording podcasts, clearing the inbox, writing blog posts, handling accounting, etc.) with extended periods of — for lack of poetic description — unplugging and fucking around.  Oddly enough, I find both the batching and unplugging to free up bandwidth and be restorative.

The unplug can still be intense (here’s a personal example in Bali), but you shouldn’t be working on “work.”

Let’s dig into the journal entry, as it provides much of the reasoning.

I’ve provided the scan (click to enlarge) and transcribed the entry below it, including many additional thoughts. The journal itself (Morning Pages Workbook) I explain here:

Now, the transcription with revisions and additional thoughts:

– TUES – SAMOVAR @ 5:40PM –

The great “deloading” phase.

This is what I’m experiencing this afternoon, and it makes a Tuesday feel like a lazy Sunday morning. This is when the muse is most likely to visit.

I need to get back to the slack.

To the pregnant void of infinite possibilities, only possible with a lack of obligation, or at least, no compulsive reactivity. Perhaps this is only possible with the negative space to–as Kurt Vonnegut put it–fart around? To do things for the hell of it? For no damn good reason at all?

I feel that the big ideas come from these periods. It’s the silence between the notes that makes the music.

If you want to create or be anything lateral, bigger, better, or truly different, you need room to ask “what if?” without a conference call in 15 minutes.  The aha moments rarely come from the incremental inbox-clearing mentality of, “Oh, fuck… I forgot to… Please remind me to… Shouldn’t I?…I must remember to…”

That is the land of the lost, and we all become lost.

My Tuesday experience reinforced, for me, the importance of creating large uninterrupted blocks of time (a la maker’s schedule versus manager’s schedule), in which your mind can wander, ponder, and find the signal amidst the noise. If you’re lucky, it might even create a signal, or connect two signals (core ideas) that have never shaken hands before.

For me, I’ve scheduled “deloading” phases in a few ways: roughly 8am-9am daily for journaling, tea routines, etc.; 9am-1pm every Wednesday for creative output (i.e. writing, interviewing for the podcast); and “screen-free Saturdays,” when I use no laptops and only use my phone for maps and coordinating with friends via text (no apps).  Of course, I also use mini-retirements a few time a year.

“Deloading” blocks must be scheduled and defended as strongly as–actually, more strongly than–your business commitments. The former can be a force multiplier for the latter, but not vice-versa.

So, how can one throttle back the reactive living that has them following everyone’s agenda except their own?

Create slack, as no one will give it to you. This is the only way to swim forward instead of treading water.

###

Did you enjoy this? Please let me know in the comments.  I’d also love to hear of how you “deload,” if you do.

If you’d like more on my morning routines, here are five habits that help me tremendously.

As always, thanks for reading.

The post Why You Need a "Deloading" Phase in Life appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

One of the questions I’m constantly asked is, “How do I get influencers to help me?”

This blog post will outline approaches that work with true “influencers”–people who can single-handedly make or break a product launch.  I’ve been fortunate to interact with hundreds of such people since 2007. (If you’re more interested in pitching big media, here’s a template for how I do it.)

Specifically, I share an e-mail below that gets nearly every “influencer” element right.

But before we get to that, here are some ground rules for interacting with influencers or power brokers:

1. If you’re asking them to share something, offer GOOD CONTENT on a website and not merely a sales page or pitch.  Responsible guardians of large audiences like good editorial.  The reputational risk of sharing great content is close to zero. Conversely, the risk-benefit ratio of sharing a sales page is practically all downside. Make the calculus easy or you’re just pissing in the wind.
2. Do not e-mail or contact them unless A) they’ve given you their contact info directly, or B) you can get a warm introduction from a good friend of theirs (tip: ask the “friend” when they last had dinner or drinks together).  My preferred approach is in-person meetings in social settings.  Here’s the playbook I used to make SXSW in 2007 the tipping point for the launch of The 4-Hour Workweek. Cold e-mails–which most effective people ignore–are a waste of everyone’s time.  Put in the ground work and play the long game.  Think sniper rifle and not shotgun.  If you only have one chance to make a first impression, don’t screw this up.  “Sorry, let me try again…” almost never works.  Review this before drafting pitches.
3. Before you reach out, ask yourself “If this person agrees, are they setting a dangerous precedent for themselves?” If so, they won’t agree, so don’t waste your breath.  For instance, why can’t I retweet fans’ Kickstarter campaigns?  Because if I publicly help even one stranger, I will be deluged by thousands of “Pls rt my Kickstarter campaign!” requests and my Twitter feed becomes unusable.  For the same reason, I can’t wish people I don’t know a happy birthday; if I open that door, I will get thousands of never-ending b-day requests.
4. Give them a graceful exit.  This means never using BS like “I look forward to your favorable reply!” That stuff is terrible.  Be different and do the opposite. Close your e-mail or pitch with “Of course, no worries if you’re too busy to reply.  I know how busy you are.  Warmest wishes to you and yours…”  In my experience, giving people an easy “out” dramatically increases response rate.
5. Don’t “keep in touch.” It drives busy people crazy.  Treat e-mailing them as you would knocking on their door and interrupting dinner. Treat it that seriously and use it that sparingly.

All that said and as promised, please find below an e-mail from Andrew Zimmern (@andrewzimmern), which I received not long ago.

You’ll see how he gets many subtle elements right.  Personally, I would have modified the subject line and closing line, but the length and don’t-make-me-think assets are otherwise outstanding.

###

Subject line: Little Help From My Friends

[TIM:  The single biggest weakness in this email is the subject line, IMHO, though perhaps they tested it. I would have seen it sooner had it been “Quick question from Andrew Zimmern” or something personalized along those lines.]

Dear Friends:

I hope this email finds you well! My team and I recently relaunched our online store: Shop Andrew Zimmern and I am thrilled to share it with you. It’s a mixture of curated items that I have found on my travels and use in everyday life, along with other branded items from the AZ collection. The assortment of products is ever changing and new items will be added throughout the year. Please a take a minute to check it out: http://shop.andrewzimmern.com.

Don’t be surprised when you stumble upon something you love!

This is where I need your help. It would mean the world to me if you would take a minute and share our shop with your audiences. As we try and build a bigger customer base from the ground up, we could use your support. We provided a few tools to make it easy. Check them out below. If you have any questions, please contact Kelly (fakeemailfromtim@avoidingspam.com) or myself! Thank you again for everything.

Sample tweets:

• Stocking stuffers for food geeked friends & family, hand-picked by @andrewzimmern: http://shop.andrewzimmern.com
• I’m loving the globally curated gifts/gear from my pal @andrewzimmern: http://shop.andrewzimmern.com
• Travel gear & food finds hand-picked by my friend @andrewzimmern: http://shop.andrewzimmern.com

Sample Facebook post:

• In search of stocking stuffers for your food geeked friends & family? My pal Chef Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods, has relaunched his online shop, featuring unique travel gear and food finds curated from around the globe. Check it out: http://shop.andewzimmern.com

Shop Andrew Zimmern – editorial content for sharing:

• AZ Spotify playlist: http://bit.ly/shopAZplaylist
• DIY cocktail bitters + recipe: http://bit.ly/shopAZeockc
• Adventurer gift guide: http://bit.ly/shopAZadventure

Kindly,

xx

Andrew Zimmern

###

Afterword from Tim

As one last philosophical morsel, here is the quote that Andrew has at the bottom of his personal e-mail signature:

“If there’s one thing that frustrates me more than anything about the notion of being right, it’s that being right too often gets in the way of being generous. Because being right is too often used as a way to protect us from doing the thing that will actually most serve us. And if I can leave you with one thought, it’s that being right is completely fucking irrelevant.” – Danny Meyer

For those eager beavers out there, here are 5 more tips for e-mailing busy people, and here is my conversation with Andrew Zimmern on his success habits and routines.

The post How to Get Busy Influencers to Share Your Stuff appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”

– Henry David Thoreau

I’m often asked how to handle e-mail overwhelm.

While I do use some great apps to help stem the flood, the most important shield is still low-tech: a rock-solid e-mail autoresponder.

This unsexy tool allows you to ignore some or all correspondence.

Answering every inbound e-mail faster might seem like the cure-all, but it’s a Phyrric victory. Robert Scoble observed long ago what is now standard: for each e-mail he responds to, he gets ~1.75 in response!  It’s an unwinnable game of whack-a-mole.

The only sustainable solutions involve selective ignorance.  Step 1: Answer fewer e-mail (or “Ignore more e-mail”). Step 2: Give your e-mail address to fewer people (or “Use a decoy email that goes to your assistant”).

Below is my current autoresponse, which you might be able to adapt or borrow from. More examples follow.  If inclined to dismiss the concept based on my example (e.g. This doesn’t apply to me!), read this real-world example from a radio station employee in Austin, TX.

These things are highly personalized, of course:

Subject line: Tim is off of email — please read this

Hi All,

Thank you for reaching out.  I’m currently on deadline.

We often receive 1,000+ e-mails per day, and it’s sadly impossible for us to respond to every message.

Please don’t take offense if you don’t hear back.  This is true even for family and close friends.

PLEASE NOTE:

– I’m no longer doing startup investing or advising, so I will not be responding to anything startup-related (excluding current portfolio companies).  AngelList is a great resource for finding the right investors, but I’m out of the game.  Here’s the full(er) story.

– I never respond to cold e-mail intros.  I am touchy about having my private email addresses shared.  I much prefer people to ask before making intros.  My inbox is otherwise unmanageable.

– I’m no longer doing book blurbs.  I get sent 20+ books per week and have to turn away friends, so I’m saying no to everyone.  It sucks. (But good news: Blurbs don’t do much for book sales anyway. These things have far greater impact.)

– Book marketing advice?  All the advice I might give, and certainly enough to hit the NYT lists with a good book, can be found at this link.

– I’m taking a break from most unpaid speaking engagements. (Looking for speakers? Search “TEDx [insert nearby cities]” on YouTube to find good speakers.)

Thank you for your understanding!

If you genuinely need to reach me for an emergency (and emergencies only) — [Insert emergency email for yourself or assistant] with “Emergency” somewhere in the headline.

All the best to you and yours. May you live well outside of the inbox.

Tim

Before setting up such an autoresponse, I will separately email (BCC) my lawyers, accountants, team members, etc. to ask them to text/SMS or use Slack if they need my attention. I indicate that my inbox should be treated like a black hole, unless they SMS/Slack to ask me to see a specific email (e.g. “If it’s not in SMS or Slack with @Tim, it will not get read”). I reiterate this before vacations or extended travel.

My approach has evolved over time, and one my past templates may work better for you.  Past examples:

Reader example from SXSW (2007)

Two real autoresponders that work (2014)

Good luck!  Please share your own autoresponse or email strategies and tools in the comments.  I’d love to see them.

May you live well outside of the inbox

Tim

P.S. If you want more inspiration for the new year, here is my favorite commencement speech (20 minutes) by the amazing Neil Gaiman.

The post How to Decrease E-mail Overwhelm — The First Step appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Paul, if you mind me putting this up, please do let me know.

Short version:

Moving to a “Fan Page” model at Facebook to make more sense of things. Would love you as a “Fan” here –

http://budurl.com/paulfanpage

Long version:

It’s not you, it’s me …

REALLY

When I joined Facebook, I didn’t think it all the way through.

And now I have to do something drastic …

(and it’s going to take a couple of weeks)

By mixing business and personal in the same account, here on Facebook. I was no good to anybody. Here’s a few highlights:

* Personal friends and family who weren’t interested in my business found themselves with lots of marketing messages. I’m amazed at anyone who ’stayed a friend” – but that’s another note all together.

* Business partners, associates, etc., got a bunch of confusing personal updates when they were trying to get work done. So much for “Market to Message Match.”

* I couldn’t “use” Facebook like a normal person (with 4000+ “friends”) and here I am trying to figure out what Facebook means and how normal people use it …

So, here’s what I’ve done about it:

* I’ve asked my assistant to unfriend EVERYBODY in Facebook and send them this note. The best man in my wedding is on this list – so please don’t feel offended.

(I did figure I wouldn’t unfriend Heidi – too many implications there)

* I’ve sent you all this note.

* I plan on “refriending” my friends and engaging in active business dialog at the “page” discussed below – I think it will turn out to be the best of both worlds.

You have three options:

Option 1-

I’ve set up a “page” at Facebook where I’ll be focussing on the “Business” and “New Media” side of Paul. You can see it here (please click to become a “Fan”). It should be a fun place to meet up and chat.

http://budurl.com/paulfanpage

To encourage others to become a Fan, I’m hosting a special Webinar on Facebook for free where I’ll walk through every stop of this process and share what I’ve learned along the way.

Details will be emailed to everyone who has “fanned” me on that page through a Facebook update.

This will be the most appropriate action for most of you.

Here’s the link one more time –

http://budurl.com/paulfanpage

Option 2 –

If we really are friends (i.e., you know my kid’s names) feel free to friend me again on Facebook – I’ll respond shortly.

Also know that I’ll be seeking to replenish my friends list very soon anyway, and I’ll eventually find everyone again – but feel free to speed up the process.

Option 3 –

I’m sure this move will offend a few. Please understand it is certainly a drastic move – but one I needed to take.

Didn’t mean to offend – sorry if I did.

+++

Yup, wacky …

This social media stuff is fascinating. I look forward to (and, I’ll be honest, equally as much) using Facebook like “everyone else” and sharing with those interested what I learned along the way.

Thanks for understanding.

Paul

For those interested in seeing my 2nd-round Facebook attempt, which has worked like clockwork and turned out to be both more fun and more useful, take a glance at Tim Ferriss 2.0.

If you own a business or brand, the analytics alone are worth the effort of setting it up as a complement to your existing profile.

Use your tools. Don’t let them use you.

The post Facebook Bankruptcy Template appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Auto-response from Gary Vaynerchuk:

Subject line: Thanks for the email — click the link

Hey, here’s a link that will explain everything!

http://tv.winelibrary.com/garyvs-inbox

Before the economic recession hits us like a Pamplona bull, we will have long entered an digital recession characterized by lower per-hour output from digital workers and a higher incidence of problems like “e-mail bankruptcy.”

This Chapter 7 of personal productivity is a failure point where the user — physically incapable of responding to the number of unread inbox items — deletes all messages and sends an e-mail to all contacts asking them to resend anything still relevant.

Last Saturday’s front page article in the New York Times, “Lost in E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast,” [Tech tip: Use BugMeNot to get throw-away usernames and passwords] highlights the measurable extremes of information overload and how the same tools that helped create the problems seldom fix them…

The concept of “batching” e-mail is highlighted in this article, using case studies from Intel.

Tactical approaches to preventing e-mail bankruptcy range from video confessions like the above to preventative measures like a formal “digital rules of engagement” statement.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness, has the following contact guidelines at the bottom of his site:

“You are welcome to send me a very brief email at gamma [at] fooledbyrandomness [dotcom]. You would do me a favor if you waited a while as I am not in an online mode and have 500 neglected letters in my inbox (so please just send mail for pressing matters). Concise messages are much preferable (say a maximum < 70 words). (There is a ten page letter I have had in my "to read" box since 2002). Note that I almost always reply (but ONLY to short messages), time permitting (but once) –even to nasty emails. However, note that I will not reply to trading and finance-related questions (my specialty is problems of the applications of probability and epistemic issues, not financial advice). I will not reply to letters asking me to rewrite sections of my books (I write books, not emails). Also note that, thanks to my new keyboard, I sometimes reply in Arabic, particularly to academics (which can be easily solved using Google Translator which captures about 35% of the meaning).

[Please, please, do not send me the list of typos in my drafts. Also please refrain from offering to "improve" my web site. Also, please do not send me passages from Tolstoy or the Ecclesiast on luck and randomness]."

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and noted thought leader, keeps it sweet and simple on his blog:

You can send me email at pmarcablog (at) gmail (dot) com. Due to volume and other responsibilities I probably won’t respond but I will try to at least read all messages.

Things haven’t changed much in the last hundred years.

Edmund Wilson (1895-1972), famed literary critic and author, sent the following postcard in response to nearly all postal mail:

“Edmund Wilson regrets that it is impossible for him to: Read manuscripts, write articles or books to order, write forewords or introductions, make statements for publicity purposes, do any kind of editorial work, judge literary contests, give interviews, take part in writers’ conferences, answer questionnaires, contribute to or take part in symposiums or ‘panels’ of any kind, contribute manuscripts for sales, donate copies of his books to libraries, autograph works for strangers, allow his name to be used on letterheads, supply personal information about himself, or supply opinions on literary or other subjects.”

The only downside? He found people started mailing him just to get a copy of his “auto-response.”

C’est la vie.

###

Odds and Ends: Danish friends, please help! + Signed copies of 4HWW

Fun segment on Danish TV — can any Danish readers help?

If you speak fluent Danish, I’m doing my first translation experiment at DotSub and would love a minute or two of your help! I was on primetime Danish television via DR1 and had a blast. Check it out here. If someone else is transcribing or translating, the page will be locked to avoid overwrites, but please check back. Thank you in advance for even a few words!

Signed books for those interested…

I don’t do book signings or touring, so there are very few copies of the 4HWW with signatures. For those of you who might be interested, the UK publisher let me know that there are a limited number of signed copies available here from my trip to London.

The post Preventing Email Bankruptcy: From 1920's Postcards to Video Confessions appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

I had a fun conversation with the smart and well-dressed Pete Cashmore of Mashable after speaking at the SF MusicTech Summit, where I was interviewed by Derek Sivers of CDBaby fame.

Pete and I discussed/answered:

1. What is the single most important thing that CEOs can do to conquer information overload?

2. The value of heirarchical thinking as a CEO or manager

3. Next plans for Tim Ferriss? (Forewarning: I’m evasive)

Have a great weekend!

Attention Aussies: I’m off to Sydney for about 10 days, so let me know if you’d be interested in doing a meet up with readers and having a few pints

Bonus video for those left out of my tweets this evening.

The post Conversation with Pete Cashmore of Mashable.com appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Reflecting or deleting e-mail can be an art form. (Photo: marinegirl)

An increasingly popular approach for escaping the inbox is the routine use of e-mail autoresponders.

Love it or hate it, reflecting or deleting e-mail can be an art form.

I’ve collected some of my favorite autoresponders of 2007 from Gmail and included them below.

The styles range from polite and hat-in-hand to direct and full-frontal, and include examples from both employees and business owners… Names have been changed.

Have a good (or amusing) autoresponder to share, whether real or made-up? Drop it in the comments and give someone a helping hand or a good laugh

The Standard:

SUBJECT: I Received Your Email

Dear Friends, Clients and Colleagues,

Due to high workload, I check email twice daily at 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM EST Monday-Thursday. I respond to urgent email at those times and endeavor to respond to all other email once a week, on Sundays at 6:00 AM EST.

If you require urgent assistance (please ensure that it is urgent) that cannot wait until either 9:00 AM or 2:00 PM, please contact me via phone at 555.666.4416.

Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness. It helps me accomplish more to serve you better.

Sincerely,

Joe Louis

Polite and Boss-Friendly:

SUBJECT: Please call if it can’t wait until 11am or 4pm

Hi all…

In an effort to increase productivity and efficiency I am beginning a new personal email policy. I’ve recently realized I spend more time shuffling through my inbox and less time focused on the task at hand. It has become an unnecessary distraction that ultimately creates longer lead times on my ever-growing ‘to do’ list.

Going forward I will only be checking/responding to email at 11a and 4p on weekdays. I will try and respond to email in a timely manner without neglecting the needs of our clients and brand identity.

If you need an immediate time-sensitive response… please don’t hesitate to call me. Phones are more fun anyways.

Hopefully this new approach to email management will result in shorter lead times with more focused & creative work on my part. Cheers & here’s to life outside of my inbox!

All the best,

John “The Employee” Doe

Short and Sweet:

SUBJECT: Off of E-Mail — Call if Urgent

Thank you for your email! Due to my current workload, I am only checking email at 11am and 4pm. If you need anything immediately, please call me on my cell so that I can address this important matter with you. Thank you and have a great day!

-Tom Brady

Take No Prisoners:

Subject: I’m sorry but your e-mail has been deleted

Hi, it’s Simon Cowell.

I’m on a project until February 4 — your message has been deleted and will not be seen.

Please re-send after the 4th. Or if something is urgent, please contact helpme@hairychest.com.

All the best,

Simon

Take No Prisoners with a Smile:

SUBJECT: I’ll be back August 14th…

Hey, it’s Jimmy here…

I’m traveling on vacation and will return on Tuesday, Aug. 14th.

[website or Google calendar URL] < —- That’s my schedule

All email I receive until that time will be automatically deleted, so if you have a dire emergency, contact my Executive Assistant, Jack-o-lantern at (555) 444-2525.

That way I’m not overwhelmed with playing “catch-up” and I can hit the ground running and give you the immediate attention you deserve when I get back.

Fair enough?

I appreciate your courtesy in advance and look forward to our paths crossing again after Aug. 14th.

All good wishes,

Jimmy Liu

###

The Universal Language of “No, I Didn’t Get Your E-Mail”:

SUBJECT: Penelope checks email twice a day/mira el correo 2 veces al día

Dear customers and colleagues,

Due to high workload, I am currently responding to email twice daily at 11:00 am and 4:30 pm CET.

If you require urgent assistance or response (please ensure it is urgent) that can not wait, please contact via phone at +22-555559878.

Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency, effectiveness and focus. It helps me accomplish more to serve you better.

Have the greatest day,

Penelope Cruz
 ——————

Estimados clientes y colegas:

Debido al gran volumen de trabajo que tengo actualmente estoy contestando al correo dos veces al día a las 11 de la mañana y 4:30 de la tarde (hora Madrid).

Si necesitas hablar conmigo con urgencia (por favor valora si es de verdad urgente), no dudes en llamarme al móvil al +22-555559878.

Mi intención es ser más eficaz, concentrarme de verdad y sacar más adelante para atenderte mejor.

Ten un día estupendo,

Penelope Cruz

###

Nothing But The Facts:

SUBJECT: I’m busy

Hello There,

I don’t chek e-male much. To much reading. Bye.

GW

###

Related and Popular Posts:

The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now
The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen (and Weapons of Mass Distraction)
Chapter 6 – The Low-Information Diet: Cultivating Selective Ignorance
How to Outsource the Inbox and Never Check Email Again

The post The Best (and Worst?) Autoresponders of 2007 appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

If you could hire someone else to be spend countless hours in your inbox instead of you?

This isn’t pure fantasy. For the last 12 months, I’ve experimented with removing myself from the inbox entirely by training other people to behave like me. Not to imitate me, but to think like me.

Here’s the upshot: I get more than 1,000 e-mail a day from various accounts. Rather than spending 6-8 hours per day checking e-mail, which I used to do, I can skip reading e-mail altogether for days or even weeks at a time… all with 4-10 minutes a night…

Let me explain the basics, followed by tips and exact templates for outsourcing your own inbox:

1) I have multiple e-mail addresses for specific types of e-mail (blog readers vs. media vs. friends/family, etc.). tim@… is the default I give to new acquaintances, which goes to my assistant.

2) 99% of e-mail falls into predetermined categories of inquiries with set questions or responses (my “rules” document is at the bottom of this post — feel free to steal, adapt, and use). My assistant(s) checks and clears the inbox at 11am and 3pm PST.

3) For the 1% of e-mail that might require my input for next actions, I have a once-daily phone call of 4-10 minutes at 4pm PST with my assistant.

4) If I’m busy or traveling abroad, my assistant leaves the action items in numerical order on my voicemail, to which I can respond to in a bullet-point email. These days, I actually prefer the voicemail option and find that it forces my assistant to be more prepared and more concise.

Each night (or early the next morning), I’ll listen to my assistant’s voicemail via Skype and simultaneously write out the next actions (1. Bob: tell him that…. 2. Jose in Peru: ask him for… 3. Speaking in NC: confirm…., etc.) in a Skype chat or quick e-mail. How long does the new system take? 4-10 minutes instead of 6-8 hours of filtering and repetitive responses.

If you only have one e-mail account, I recommend using a desktop program like Outlook or Mail instead of a web-based program like Gmail for a simple reason: if you see new items in your inbox, you’ll check them. Like they say in AA: if you don’t want to slip, don’t go where it’s slippery. This is why I have a private personal account that I use for sending e-mail to my assistant and communicating with friends. It’s almost always empty.

E-mail is the last thing people let go of. Fortune 500 CEOs, bestselling authors, celebrities — I know dozens of top performers who delegate everything but e-mail, which they latch onto as something only they can do. “No one can check my e-mail for me” is the unquestioned assumption, or “I answer every email I receive” is the unquestioned bragging right that keeps them in front of a computer for 8-12 hours at a stretch. It’s not fun, and it keeps them from higher-impact or more rewarding activities.

Get over yourself. Checking e-mail isn’t some amazing skill that you alone possess.

In fact, checking email is like everything else: a process. How you evaluate and handle (delete vs. archive vs. forward vs. respond) e-mail is just a series of questions you ask yourself, whether consciously or subconsciously. I have a document called “Tim Ferriss Processing Rules,” to which my assistants add rules when I send them via e-mail with “ADD TO RULES” in the subject. Over the course of a week or two with a virtual assistant (VA), you will end up with an externalized set of rules that reflect how your brain processes email. It often shows you how haphazard your processing is. I’ve included my “rules” at the bottom of this post to save you some time.

A few tips:

1. Setting appointments and meetings takes a lot of time. Have you assistant set things up for you in Google Calendar. I use input my own items via my Palm Z22 or iCal, then use Spanning Sync and Missing Sync for Palm OS to sync everything. On my uberlight Sony VAIO, which I still use for travel, I use CompanionLink for Google Calendar. I suggest batching meetings or calls in one or two set days, with 15 minutes between appointments. Scattering them throughout the week at odd times just interrupts everything else.

2. If you jump in your assistant’s inbox and answer anything, BCC them (probably your own address) so they are aware that you handled it.

3. Expect small problems. Life is full of compromises, and it’s necessary to let small bad things happen if you want to get huge good things done. There is no escape. Prevent all problems and get nothing done, or accept an allowable level of small problems and focus on the big things. I highly recommend reading my short article on “The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen” before outsourcing your e-mail.

Ready to jump in and test the holy grail? Here are the steps:

1. Determine exactly which accounts you will use and how you want them to respond to (or just categorize or purge) email for you

2. Find a virtual assistant. See “The Personal Outsourcing Olympics: Bangalore Butler or American Assistant?” and “Extreme Personal Outsourcing” for tips and providers.

3. Test for reliability before skill-set. Have the top three candidates do something on tight deadline (24 hours) before hiring them and letting them in your inbox.

4. Use a probationary period of 2-4 weeks to test the waters and work out the problems. Again: there will be problems. It will take a good 3-8 weeks to get to real smooth sailing.

5. Design your ideal lifestyle and find something to do other than let your brain fester in the inbox. Fill the void.

###

TIM FERRISS PROCESSING RULES

[Note the Q&A format — some of the questions are my standard points for VAs, some have been added by my assistant, who put together this document.]

PASSWORDS:

Calendar:

http://calendar.google.com

Login: XXXX

PW: XXXX

Google G-mail Account:

http://mail.google.com

Username: XXX

PW: XXX

www.NoCostConference.com

Username: XXXX

Password: XXXX

www.SpamArrest.com

Username: XXXX

Password: XXXX

www.Amazon.com

Username: XXXX

Password: XXXX

www.PayPal.com

Username: XXXX

Password: XXXX

Reader Only Resources:

https://fourhourworkweek.com/wms/members/members.php >> PASSWORD FOR READERS ONLY IS: XXXX

TEAM REQUIREMENTS:

[I often have exec-level assistants manage 4-5 other “sub-VAs” who handle certain repetitive tasks, often at half the exec VA’s hourly rate. The exec VA takes on an office manager or, in some cases, COO-level function.]

– Download: www.alexa.com – Toolbar

– Learn Statistics, Rank for Business Prospect and JV Opportunities

– Deadlines are extremely important. Be Aware of them, and Be Punctual!

– If Tim says “Call me back”. CALL HIM BACK, do not send an e-mail. This is an important point; as Tim has lost thousands of dollars because someone e-mailed him instead of calling him and he does not always have e-mail access because he is traveling a lot.

[See this post to understand why I practice this inaccessibility regardless]

– Even if it is late in the evening, he is up late, if he does not want to answer his phone, he will not. But PLEASE call him back when he asks you to. He much prefers a phone call instead of an e-mail.

– Purchase and read “The Elements of Style” regarding proper grammar and punctuation. We are dealing with high-profile clients on Tim’s behalf and the proper writing techniques and message says a lot about his team.

– Become as familiar as you can with his book and his website as to answer questions accordingly.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Tim Ferriss

[maiing address]

Tim Cell (your use only): [private cell]

Number to give others: [Grand Central number]

Skype: XXXXX

Billing ADDRESS (Private)

[billing address]

PURCHASES:

ASK [Head VA], for his AMEX NUMBER, SHE WILL ADVISE WHETHER PURCHASES CAN BE APPROVED.

QUESTION & ANSWER (Preferences):

(1) How do you feel about Joint Ventures?

I’m open to them, but my brand and respectability is #1. I will not do anything with anyone who comes off as deceptive or amateur. “Make millions while you sleep in our super-insane foreclosure program!” on the website disqualifies someone. I cannot be associated with anyone who might be seen as a liar or snake-oil salesman. Just ask yourself: if the CEO of a well-known company saw this, would he lose interest in speaking with me? If so, it won’t work.

For those who pass that criteria, what have they done already? I’m not looking for first-timers, generally, unless they have an excellent track record and reputation elsewhere.

(2) Do you focus solely on Profit Generating Tasks (I can explain further on the call)

No. I also look for prestige (Harvard, government, etc.), wide exposure, as well as building networks with people who have world-class skills in some area.

(3) How do you handle spam?

SpamArrest and Gmail. I have no problem with spam at this point.

(4) What is your optimal response rate? (i.e. respond to all e-mails no later than 48-72 hours after received)

Same day. I’m bringing you on to respond quickly.

(5) Do you respond to any e-mails?

Yes, plenty, but I’ll want you to filter them first, respond to all you can, then mark the ones I should look at with the label “TIM” in Gmail

[Note earlier in this article how I’m using now having VAs leave to-do’s via voicemail]

(6) Do you put in any events in your calendar?

Yes, but I expect I will move more and more to having you do it.

[I use a Palm Z22 without Internet connectivity to add events to my calendar, which are then syched to iCal on my Mac with Missing Sync for Palm OS. iCal is syched with Gmail calendar, which my assistant uses to manage my calendar, with Spanning Sync. See links earlier in this post]

(7) Do we “manage” your items, or do you delegate? We are cool with both, but prefer to manage.

I’ll try and give the list to you to take care of. I NEED confirmations that you received the task (“on it — will be done at Xpm” is enough) and like status updates on larger projects with milestones.

(8) Who is on your team?

Me, the publishing team, and some PR folk at this point. I might have you get involved with my other businesses later, but that’s it for now.

(9) Who do we have to collaborate with on a regular basis?

See above. 90% me, then possibly my publicist(s), tech support and web staff, and my book agent. More will come, I’m sure, but that’s it for now.

(10) Who calls the shots for you?

You can decide anything under $100. Use your judgment and report the decisions.

(11) Do you have ‘days’ off (as in no business appts.)?

Let’s shoot for no appointments on Fridays, but let’s play it by ear.

(12) Who has been handling your appts. up until now?

Me. I haven’t had any in-person meetings for close to four years. Things have changed with the book

(13) Explain to us your ‘optimal’ work week? (i.e. how long between phone calls, how many meetings per week, travel preferences, etc.)

-I go to bed late, so try and avoid calls before 10am PST when possible.

-Try and “cluster” phone calls and meetings so that I can bang them out at the same time, as opposed to having on at 10am, another at 1pm, and another at 4pm. Have them all in a row with 15-20 minutes in between whenever possible. I’d like to do phone calls before 1pm PST when possible (so 10am-1pm). Calls should be kept 15-30 minutes, always with a defined end time. If someone asks to “jump on the phone” with me, send them something like: “To make the best use of every one’s time, Tim likes to have a well-defined agenda with objectives for a call before jumping on the phone. Can you please send over some bullet points with what you’d like to cover and decide on the call?” Something like that.

(14) Do you like us to schedule personal items in with your business calendar? (i.e. order your mother flowers for mother’s day, etc.).

Absolutely.

(15) What are ‘all’ the e-mail addresses we respond to for you?

XXXX

(16) Do you like us to respond as ‘you’ or something like ‘client support for Timothy Ferriss’.

The latter, probably something like “Executive Assistant to Tim Ferriss” below your name — I’m open to suggestions.

(17) How many times a day do you want e-mail checked?

Twice should be fine to start. Let’s aim for minimum of at 11am and 3pm in your timezone.

(18) What are your working hours?

10am – 6pm PST, then often 11pm – 2am PST

[Before you cry, “What happened to the four-hour workweek?!”, realize that “work hours” here could be replaced with “active and available-by-phone hours.” I have lots of projects and do not preach idleness. I am VERY active. More on this in the 6th comment on this post.]

(19) Do you like using IM?

Not really, unless it’s a scheduled discussion. Just leave yourself logged in, and I’ll log in if I need something. [I tend to use Skype chat these days, as I can then avoid a separate IM program]

(20) Do you prefer a phone call or an e-mail to answer a quick question?

PHONE CALL, absolutely. DO NOT email me for anything urgent. I really follow my own advice and don’t check email that often.

(21) What is your favourite colour?

Green like cedar leaves in July.

(22) Call at the end of every day (if) there is something that Tim needs to respond to in his e-mail.

(23) E-books: tell them they can download the e-book from www.powells.com

(24) If Tim says “Call me back”. CALL HIM BACK, do not send an e-mail. This is an important point; as Tim has lost thousands of dollars because someone e-mailed him instead of calling him and he does not always have e-mail access because he is travelling a lot.

(25) Even if it is late in the evening, he is up late, if he does not want to answer his phone, he will not. But PLEASE call him back when he asks you too. He much prefers a phone call instead of an e-mail.

(26) [removed]

(27) [removed]

(28) Label all e-mails from “Expert Click” for Tim. No need to respond or forward.

(29) All Linked-In E-mails can be archived or deleted as Tim receives notification of invites as soon as he logs into his Linked-In Account.

(30) For start-up Inquiries in the Health & Wellness Industry (or BrainQuicken Start-up Inquiries) please see the templates in G-mail titled: Congratulations and General Business Questions — Brain Quicken Templates

(31) For Language Inquiries, please see the templates in G-mail titled: Reader Question on Language Resources — Language Templates

(32) When Tim types ‘dictate’ in the e-mail response; this means that we can say to the recipient: As Tim is traveling at the moment and not able to personally respond to your e-mail, I mentioned your message while on the phone to him, and he asked me to dictate:

This makes the process easier as we do not have to change the context of the person responding.

[This is to avoid having an assistant convert my 1st-person “Please tell him that I…” to 3rd-person “Tim says that he…” – providing shorthand for “cut and paste” save hours of assistant time.]

(33) If someone email blasts a bunch of people and I am one of them, usually safe to ignore or delete. Read them carefully, of course, but if it says for example “a few influential people I know” or something like that then if someone can’t take the time to personalize for me, forget them. If Tim is CCd, of course, that’s a different story.

(34) Tim’s address is XXXX. THIS E-MAIL IS NOT TO BE DISTRIBUTED OR GIVEN TO ANYONE. If you want to copy Tim on an e-mail, please use the BCC field, so that it remains private.

(35) Mark anyone from St. Paul’s or Princeton for me to look at (TIM label). [Note: I’ve since had to modify this due to volume]

(36) If I decline someone and they persist, give them one more reply — “Tim appreciates the persistence, but he really can’t…” etc. — and then archive future requests. Use your judgment, of course, but that’s the general rule. Some people don’t know when persistent turns into plain irritating.

(37) Please also create a rule to respond with “scheduled” for all items I send to be put in the calendar (when they’re put in the calendar). [Missing calendar items can cause big problems, so this is a check and balance to confirm]

(38) No need to follow up with someone after a call has taken place. Unless Tim instructs otherwise, or they request something from us.

(39) Send all Speaking Requests to XXXX and ensure that he confirms receipt. (However, also see items 42 & 48)

(40) Foreign language requests (i.e. purchasing rights, if the book is available in particular language, etc.) send to [the appropriate person at my publisher].

(41) XXXX’s replacement at Random House is: XXXX

(42) Inquire with Tim first before booking any speaking gigs on a specific date, as he may be travelling.

(43) When booking appointments in the calendar, be sure to also ask which topics they would like to discuss, and put in the calendar description for Tim so he can prepare. Also be sure to ask for a back up phone number in case they are not able to reach Tim. [I almost always have people call me unless I am abroad, as this is another safeguard against missing appointments]

(44) Put initials in the subject line of calendar events so we know who [which virtual assistant] put the item in the calendar.

(45) Prepare inquiries for Tim before sending to him for his review. I.E. Get their Alexa ranking, possible dates of the event, a link to past events they have held, their budget, other confirmed speakers, etc. Then send this info to Tim for his review.

(46) Respond to PX Method Inquires with the following response:

Hi [name],

Thanks for your inquiry about the PX Method, however the PX method page is designed as just a template others can look at as a reference for testing their own product ideas.

We are not sure if or when Tim will offer the PX Method for sale, but there are no plans at this time. We appreciate your inquiry none-the-less. Thanks!

[I get quite a few emails from readers who do not see the disclaimer on the PX Method mock-up page and thus attempt to order a product that isn’t ready to ship]

(47) Download eFAX viewer to view Tim’s faxes. His fax number is: XXXX

(48) Event or Speaking Inquiries can be responded to as such:

Thanks for your e-mail and for your invitation to Tim. In looking at the event online, I see that the event is April Xth and Xth, 2008 in Portland, Oregon [for example]. Before I present this Tim, could you answer a few questions for me, so we can make a more informed decision?

— Would you like Tim to be at the entire event?

— How long would the keynote presentation be? Or would it be a Q & A Panel?

— Do you cover travel and accommodation along with a speaker’s fee?

— What is your budget for keynote presentations?

— Have any other speakers confirmed to present?

As soon as I hear back, I can speak with Tim about the possibilities of making this happen. Thanks again!

Warmly,

[Name]

this email is: [ ] blogable [x] ask first [ ] private

[name]

Executive Assistant to Timothy Ferriss

Author: The 4-Hour Workweek (https://www.fourhourworkweek.com)

(Random House/Crown Publishing)

Bio and Fun:

https://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog

Did you like this post? Please take a second to vote for it here, and subscribe to new posts here to get cutting-edge lifehacks you can really use…

###

Odds and Ends: Live Seth Godin “Marketing for 2008” panel discussion this Tuesday (today) at 2pm ET

Join me, Seth Godin, Chris Anderson (Editor-in-Chief of Wired, The Long Tail), John Jantsch (Duct Tape Marketing) on a live panel and Q&A about new marketing strategies for 2008. What works and what doesn’t? What’s new and what is a waste of time? Sign up here:

http://www.sethgodinteleseminar.com

Related and Recommended Posts:

How to Do The Impossible: Create a Paperless Life, Never Check Voicemail Again, Never Return Another Phone Call…

E-mail-Free Fridays and How to Save Your Weekend

Chapter 8 – Outsourcing Life: Offloading the Rest and a Taste of Geoarbitrage

Win a Virtual Assistant for 2008

10 Steps to Become an Email Ninja

How Scoble Reads 622 RSS Feeds Each Morning

The post The Holy Grail: How to Outsource the Inbox and Never Check Email Again appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

But not all of us.

The following came to me via the prodigal Cameron Johnson, originally in USA Today. Below it are my recommendations for making this weekend one to remember:

SAN FRANCISCO — Overwhelmed by e-mail? Some professionals are fighting back by declaring e-mail-free Fridays — or by deleting their entire in-box.

Today about 150 engineers at chipmaker Intel (INTC) will kick off “Zero E-mail Fridays.” E-mail isn’t forbidden, but everyone is encouraged to phone or meet face-to-face. The goal is more direct, free-flowing communication and better exchange of ideas, Intel principal engineer Nathan Zeldes says in a company blog post.

E-mail-free Fridays already are the norm at cell carrier U.S. Cellular (UZG) and at order-processing company PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services in Alpharetta, Ga.

Prominent techies are tackling the problem individually by declaring “e-mail bankruptcy” — deleting or archiving an entire in-box and starting over. Among them: prominent tech bloggers Jeff Nolan, Michael Arrington and Vanessa Fox, and venture capitalist Fred Wilson.

E-mail overload is caused by the sheer volume of messages zipping around the globe. Each day, about 39.7 billion person-to-person e-mails, 17.1 billion automated alerts, and 40.5 billion pieces of spam (unsolicited commercial e-mail) are sent worldwide, researcher IDC says. White-collar workers often receive 140 messages a day, executive coach Marsha Egan says.

E-mail can be a useful communication tool, and people who write a lot of it are more likely to receive it, IDC (IDC) tech analyst Mark Levitt says. But it can quickly get out of hand.

“I didn’t even have time to figure out where to start,” says Edward O’Connor, a Web developer from San Diego who declared e-mail bankruptcy two weeks ago. O’Connor had about 750 messages dating back three years, almost all of which needed a reply. “I was completely overwhelmed,” he says.

Egan says even the busiest e-mailers can, with care, keep control of their in-boxes. Her tips:

•Don’t use e-mail to avoid unpleasant tasks. “I couldn’t believe people who had never talked to each other but worked in the same office,” says Scott Dockter, CEO of PBD. Dockter started e-mail-free Fridays about a year-and-a-half ago. Since then, the number of messages his 400 employees send has dropped by about 75%.

•Don’t constantly check for new messages. It can take four minutes to refocus on work after checking an e-mail, Egan says. Jay Ellison, chief operating officer of U.S. Cellular, estimates that his 7,000 employees spend about 1½ hours a day on their in-boxes. E-mail-free Fridays give them more time to solve customers’ problems, he says.

•Respond to important messages first — even if they’re difficult. Less-pressing issues can wait until a free moment, Egan says.

###

So, how to save your weekend from e-mail or — worse still — the mediocrity of “what should I do?” and having it end before it starts?

I’m just as lazy as the rest of the world about weekend planning, so here’s the trick: I asked people to describe dream “dates” in detail in the second-to-last post. Now, in the comments, you have beautifully detailed itineraries for having an unforgettable 24 hours in dozens of cities and states, including:

Las Vegas

Honolulu

Utah

New York City

Washington, D.C.

Chicago

Los Angeles

Toronto, Canada

Boston

Atlanta

Munich, Germany

Seattle, Washington

Perth, Australia

Sydney, Australia

Jerusalem

New Orleans

Portland, Oregon

Missouri

Namibia

Jerusalem

Sedona, Arizona

Sydney, Australia

Cambria, California

Raleigh, North Carolina

Malaysia

Esfahan, Iran

Here’s the challenge: using the comments as samples, create at least one day this weekend that is truly amazing and put it in the comments here.

The reader whose description I like the most will get at least 36 copies of the 1st printing of The 4-Hour Workweek as early X-mas presents. First-edition manuscripts have sold for more than $1,500 on eBay, so these are nice stocking stuffers

Photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube, and such are not required, but some evidence will help prove the experience wasn’t just your imagination.

So, make haste — plan now and play hard!

[P.S. The winners of the dream date competition are mthorley, malia, AF, donovan, andrewrogers, ryanmcknight, macewen, and adam (seattle date). Please check your inboxes for further instructions.]

The post E-mail-Free Fridays and How to Save Your Weekend appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

The menu in the Slovak Republic: full-contact video below.

Long time no see! I just landed back in CA from a long overdue mini-retirement through London, Scotland, Sardinia, Slovak Republic, Austria, Amsterdam, and Japan.

Some unpleasant surprises awaited me when I checked in on the evil e-mail inbox. Why? I let them happen.

I always do.

Here are just a few of the goodies that awaited me this time:

-One of our fulfillment companies has been shut-down due to the president’s death, causing a 20%+ loss in monthly orders and requiring an emergency shift of all web design and order processing.

-Missed radio and magazine appearances and upset would-be interviewers.

-More than a dozen lost joint-venture partnership opportunities.

It’s not that I go out of my way to irritate people — not at all — but I recognize one critical fact: oftentimes, in order to do the big things, you have to let the small bad things happen. This is a skill we want to cultivate.

What did I get in exchange for temporarily putting on blinders and taking a few glancing blows?

-I followed the Rugby World Cup in Europe and was able to watch the New Zealand All Blacks live, a dream I’ve had for the last 5 years.

-I was able to shoot every gun I’ve ever dreamed of firing since brainwashing myself with Commando. Bless the Slovak Republic and their paramilitaries (video at the end of this post).

-I was able to film a television series pilot in Japan, a lifelong dream and the most fun I’ve had in months, if not years.

-I met with my Japanese publisher, Seishisha (Tel: 03-5574-8511) and had media interviews in Tokyo, where the 4HWW is now #1 in several of the largest chains.

-I took a complete 10-day media fast and felt like I’d had a two-year vacation from computers.

-I attended the Tokyo International Film Festival and hung out with one of my heroes, the producer of the Planet Earth television series.

Once you realize that you can turn off the noise without the world ending, you’re liberated in a way that few people ever know.

Just remember: if you don’t have attention, you don’t have time. Did I have time to check e-mail and voicemail? Sure. It might take 10 minutes. Did I have the attention to risk fishing for crises in those 10 minutes? Not at all.

As tempting as it is to “just check e-mail for one minute,” I didn’t do it. I know from experience that any problem found in the inbox will linger on the brain for hours or days after you shut-down the computer, rendering “free time” useless with preoccupation. It’s the worst of states, where you experience neither relaxation nor productivity. Be focused on work or focused on something else, never in-between.

Time without attention is worthless, so value attention over time.

Here are a few questions that can help you put on the productivity blinders and put things in perspective. Even when you’re not traveling the world, develop the habit of letting small bad things happen. If you don’t, you’ll never find time for the life-changing big things, whether important tasks or true peak experiences. If you do force the time but puncture it with distractions, you won’t have the attention to appreciate it.

-What is the one goal, if completed, that could change everything?

-What is the most urgent thing right now that you feel you “must” or “should” do?

-Can you let the urgent “fail” — even for a day — to get to the next milestone with your potential lifechanging tasks?

-What’s been on your “to-do” list the longest? Start it first thing in the morning and don’t allow interruptions or lunch until you finish.

Will “bad” things happen? Small problems will crop up, yes. A few people will complain and quickly get over it. BUT, the bigger picture items you complete will let you see these for what they are–minutiae and repairable hiccups.

Make this trade a habit. Let the small bad things happen and make the big good things happen.

[This post kicked up some strong comments! If you’d like to see my responses, just search for “###” in the comments.]

Most Popular and Related Posts:

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How to Outsource the Inbox and Never Check Email Again

How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour

###

Odds and Ends:

–Here is another signed original 4HWW manuscript with the bonus stories that didn’t make it into the published version! Perhaps you saw recently that a 1st-printing Harry Potter fetches more than $40K. 4HWW is no Harry Potter yet, but unedited manuscripts are a rarer item. The Ebay auction is here, and you have 72 hours. The last one sold for $1,525 and there were 8 copies available. Now there are only 6 left. The total winning bid will be donated to this school in Nepal, where your name will appear on a plaque on the door. If you would like to skip the auction, just PayPal $2,000 for however many copies you want (max of 5) to timothy-at-brainquicken.com. The total will also be donated to education. If someone beats you to the punch, I’ll refund you.

-For those interested, I’m featured on pg. 67 of this month’s Men’s Fitness. Nothing fitness-related, just 4HWW stuff.

-I did a fun interview on .SAP INFO, where I talk about all things quantifiable.

Weapons of Mass Distraction: boys love guns. I’m sorry, but that’s how we are wired, especially at $80 for a full Soviet arsenal, complete with anti-tank machine gun. Don’t worry, I’m just a target shooter. No strapping guns to my bed just yet.

The post The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen (and Weapons of Mass Distraction) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.