I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Tina Russell

Clay,

Aside from the useful content, the presentation of the material is inspired. I can see you are mastering the art of grabbing a reader’s attention, and also mastering the means of soaring high in social media sites. Congratulations!

Very interesting comparison. I think my bias sways in the same way as yours. Honestly I think GTD is way too complicated a system to do what it is supposed to – Simplify.

Very entertaining comparison. :-)

I think that I’m in agreement with your bias here. I prefer to eliminate tasks whenever possible. That’s partly because I’m not that efficient at running through a whole bunch of tasks yet. So maybe I’ll change my mind after figuring out a modified GTD system that works for me.

Clay,

I have to agree with both @Stephen and ReddyK — what an incredibly original presentation, man!

Clay, I just found you through IttyBiz, and this is awesome! In addition to being very funny, it’s a very helpful comparison. I’ve read 4HWW and Tim’s blog, and I hear about GTD all the time but I never knew much about it. GTD doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.

Funny and super creative post, Clay. Personally I don’t get the attraction of GTD. As a woman with kids, this is the story of my life anyway. I already fit a million things in, I don’t need someone telling me how to fit more.

I much prefer Tim’s book about re-thinking the way you live your life. Most of what people spend their time doing is non-essential in the long run. Add to that the time you spend worrying, thinking the same repetitive self-defeating thoughts and one could argue too many people are wasting their life anyway.

I know I wasn’t put on this earth to be a super efficient productivity machine. I’ll leave that to David Allen.

Scored a digg and a stumble from me too.
Kelly

Hey Clay,

Very nicely written and a very entertaining read. I have read DA’s GTD, but could not implement it fully. I felt it was just too much for me. I have heard about 4HWW, but haven’t read it yet. I will get copy of it as soon as I can.

-Desika

I was waiting for an article like this to come along, and here it is!

I wonder if the two have ever met in person?

Great to see your blog grow, Clay!

I discovered this article via another blog. I am adding this to my feeds.

I just got through David’s AudioBook today, and have been through Tim’s book about 4 times now, and it’s got me thinking — Why can’t I implement both systems?

Instead of picking out the PROs and CONs of each system, can’t I make both work for me?

Essentially, Tim is saying ‘outsource, outsource, outsource.’
While Dave says, ‘Organize your life.’

Why not organize your TO-DO’s, like Dave suggests, and further filter these into the ‘Outsource’ box, like what Tim preaches?

Heck, if you tweak the system enough, you could possibly work 2 hour weeks, and teach both Tim and Dave a few things ;)

Hi Clay,

I’ve also traversed the Internet from Naomi’s blog and have been positively surprised by your creativity and humor.

Great post triple thumbs up!

I have read more of 4HWW than GTD, but in keeping with the fusion theme, I would recommend, The Power of Focus, by Les Hewitt, Jack Canfield, and others. The authors solidify the concept that everything on one’s To Do or Not To Do list is a choose to rather than a have to addition to one’s commitments. What we allow to be added to our To Do list is our own choice, there is power in owning the decision to allow any commitment to invade our lists.

Every author is selling something. If it does not offer unique perspective, it will not sell as many copies. This is the part that is all about marketing. There is a finite number of ways to repackage the same concept, before people catch on and stop spending money on relabeled Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

I appreciate the comparison, but my gut says that both of these authors would celebrate and not debate their differences, since; their differences are what allow both of them to remain in the marketplace.

Thank you for the platform,

Erik

Grant, the best thing is to take what is good for you from all these methods and create your own package.

Does anyone else find themselves reading only books they agree with, or books that agree with them? It seems as though this debate would be well aided by a Myers-Briggs assessment as a way to predict which set of concepts would be most appropriate for any individual.

Grant, I admire your determination to not take anything on “faith”, and that kind of objectivity is often missing, especially when we “want” to believe in something. For example, I might desperately want to believe in the 4-Hour Workweek because I want to have more fulfillment while working much less. However that bias does not make what Ferriss is saying “true” or “correct”. I shook my head at a number of things he wrote about, but I think there was some good stuff to consider in there, just like in GTD.

To “reject the methods” outright seems rather harsh and extreme. There is nothing stopping you from testing the methods set out in both books yourself. I am sure you might find some things work for you and others do not. I don’t think it is necessary for us to develop every single method, process and idea ourselves – in fact I find that rather inefficient. Surely we can make larger gains by building on the learning of others. For example, I accept the concept and application of addition and multiplication. I would hate to have to forgo their use until I developed number theory from scratch for myself!

Grant, I couldn’t have written it better! Indeed, “Siddhartha” is a great book. I also agree that we should build our own package of methods and techniques and find what is best for us. All these books about how to earn your first million or be successful should be ignored. They are just biographies. They say “My life is great. You should live the same way as I do and your life will be great too”. Lies.

You hit it on the head, Damon.

The 4DWW is only a book. GTD is only a book. 7HoHEP is only a book.

Heck. The Bible, the Koran, the Talmud, the Eightfold Path, the Tao Te Ching, the Vedas, Das Kapital ARE ONLY BOOKS!

Wow. Talk about a major epiphany.

And the older these books get the less relevant they are because they are static as are their advocates, while our understanding of the universe is dynamic and growing.

Become a Skeptic, it is a healthy state of mind and you’ll find yourself able to live with the uncertainty of human knowledge.

The 4HWW is an opportunity for lifestyle design by one’s own choice. Mr. Ferriss himself, confessed in an interview that the 4 hour part of the title was somewhat arbitrary. The point is not to work for works sake. The point is to earn for life’s sake.

I’m not sure if I believe that if we extend the metaphor exponentially, that there would be no one to actually do the work. We were once an industrial nation, and a service economy evolved into existence. Before that we were an agricultural society. Automation as a step was designed for this, but people were not liberated by this step, because they carried the sense of the protestant work ethic that reinforces diligence over balance and enjoyment for enjoyment’s sake.

The point is, that doers are allowed to be thinkers and thinkers are allowed to choose what they do or who does it in a way that creates synergies and reduces inefficiencies without guilt. There is no need to fill the time saved by efficiency with more work. Play is OK and why we make money!

I have had a chance since my earlier posts to study these authors and their ilk for some time. They have a tendency to list all their supposed accomplishments, but these accomplishments are primarily about spending the money they have earned selling their snake oil. They have not actually done anything to contribute to the betterment of society at all.

Challenging them leads to the Ad Hoc Hypothesis. That is, when you tell them their snake oil is snake oil they provide a rationalization that in some way either you or the conditions were not right for their snake oil to work.

There really is nothing to gain from these people. I recently read the work of the first century stoic Epictetus and its all there. In fact, he offers more nuggets of truth to pick from than the collection of these contemporary bullshitters offer all together.

As well, read the work of Marcus Aurelius. It turns out that the character maligned in “Gladiator” was not him, but his son, Lucius Verus. Marcus also makes a valuable contribution to stoic thought in his collected writings “Meditations”.

Read the writings of truly great men who influenced the world. Know their thoughts and their aspirations and make them your own. Forget these irrelevant snake oil salesmen. They are just chaff.

If you want to be really great explore a discipline to its horizon where the next step is into uncharted territory. Challenge the boundaries that have been erected out of ignorance as opposed to knowledge. Then you will do something humanity will benefit from.

I use both systems GTD & 4-hour. I don’t do things I don’t want to and I am productive at the things I choose to. They can work mostly together. Two of my favorite books. GTD is too strict and 4 hour is too dreamy. There is a middle point where they are effective and efficient

I think both systems, as does every system, provide some useful information, but you have to remember that these systems evolved by being implemented according to those guys’ personal circumstances and experiences. They weren’t devised and planned out first.

Therefore I think there is no single system that will fix everyone’s situation and the information by itself is not enough.

As with everything the secret ingredient to either getting a grip of your life or living the life of your dreams is the one that nobody can teach or tell you. It’s your own application of information you aquire. Some of it will work, some won’t and you will only discover what works through action.

I believe then it is possible for any person who sets out on a path of creating their own lifestyle can provide, through sharing their experience something really valuable for others to follow, so that they find their own magic formula.

I really liked 4HWW. It has given me some good ideas.

Great post and comments, Clay!

I have studied and worked to implement both systems and while I agree with those who recommend a blended approach, I am skeptical about how that would work in the long run.

While I have made incremental improvements to gain greater control at work using GTD, Ferriss’s approach has inspired me to make BIG, qualitative changes.

The two big FHWW questions for me are: What would I do if I had to cut my work day by 90% or more? and If I had significantly more free time, what would I do with it? The second question has proven far more challenging than the first.

As a result, I realize that I don’t want to get “things” done, I want to focus on what’s most important, productive and fun. I don’t want to be ready for “anything.” I want to be ready for unexpected opportunities that I would have brushed off were I dutifully working through my to-do list.

Never really got into GTD, but I just finished reading 4HWW. And in my opinion, I prefer the 4HWW.

Why ??? Well…. why would I want to do everything on the list ???? It just takes too much time to do everything. I jut prefer to be selective and ignore some other stuff. Works fine and I get more and more free time to hang out with my family.

A nice change of lifestyle where I used to be doing everything and working loads and loads. Sometimes even with the idea that I loved to work crazy hours. Which I know realise was stupid. But hitting the wall one day made me think about priorities in life and some of the “guidelines” Tim Ferris writes about, I figured out already before I read the book….

Great summary of the core concepts of both books. I have to agree with the verdict too: I learned a few useful concepts from GTD, but 4HW changed the way I look at life and work.

Very nice article.

Great article. I haven’t read GTD yet, but the 4HWW helped me quite my job and move to a tropical island. So the quite your job part is quite accurate.

I’ve read both GTD and 4HWW. my point of view on them is that they work VERY well together.

GTD tells you how to manage your desired responsibilities, and 4HWW tells you how to minimize and/or get rid of your undesired responsibilities. this is VERY useful.

for example, if you want to be one of the world’s best at something. you will have to spend thousands of hours perfecting your craft and you have to make sure that each hour is well spent.

Each system (you) has a point where the productivity factor (dave) and the effectivity factor (tim) achieve optimal output.

Definitely found GTD complicated enough to understand in its entirety I give you that. I have 4HWW sitting on my desk that I’m lining up to read, but it seems people on the other side of 4HWW are living the life compared to those on the other side of GTD.

Oh!…that's great helpful, it's so right to me! Million thanks for the article,

Sweet kimura in the pic…

Great article! Thanks. I have not seen the work of Tim Ferriss before. It’s a fun way to get to know about it.

@Kurt: I’m really glad. Thanks for subscribing and for stopping by.
@Torley: Good point. My hunch is that if they ever did meet in real life the outcome would be *slightly* less dramatic than this article.
@Desika: Thanks for the complements on the format. 4HWW of course isn’t perfect either, but there’s lots of good ideas in there. It’s not really a productivity system (for a simple productivity system I’d reccomend Zen to Done, which has been reviewed on this site).

@Hunter: It was really nice of Naomi to link to me. Despite the article, GTD does have some strong points and it gets you thinking about how to tweak the little things to get big results. The problem, from my POV, is that it focuses too much on the tweaking and neglects the bigger picture. Steven Covey and others are good for that.

@Jonathan: Nice. And thanks for linking to my blog. Seriously.

@Josh: Yeah, I’d rather just focus on one or two big tasks each day than a whole lot of little ones. I know that some people don’t have the luxury, but I just don’t have the wherewithal to stick to it. Perhaps that’s a problem with me.

@Rob in Denver: I like your numbers and wish I had come across them prior to writing the article. Thanks for giving the link.

@Warrne: Yeah, the whole argument about making thing complex in order to simplify. I but some of the arguments but not all of them. Perhaps when many people talk about simplicity they’re referring to is the feeling of simplicity?

@ ReddyK: Thanks for the encouragement. And I’m glad that you found it inspired, even if the article was more win/lose than my usual post.

@ Stephen: Yeah, that title was actually the first one to come to mind. Too many years in academia will do it to you.

@ Tina: Thanks so much for subscribing. I hope I’ll make it up to you with worthwhile content.

@Monika: Thanks so much for these kinds words. I’m glad that you stopped by. Now I’m off to visit your blog :-).