Inspired by Timothy Ferris book "The 4 Hour Workweek" and AJ Jacobs, editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, I have just taken the first steps to outsource my life. Being a Swede/Israeli living in Israel, running the business of Maxthon, based in China while spending lots of time on the road especially in the US and running Mashup Media can be quite a challenge.
So when I heard Timothy Ferriss speak at the Web 2.0 Expo last month I got inspired. I have always been of the opinion that you don't need to run around, answer all your emails and talk on the phone all the time to get real results. I never picked up the book, but today I stumbled upon Timothy's website and read the account of how AJ Jacobs outsourced his life.
This is music to my ears! I just know that this is the right thing todo. I immediately contacted Brickwork
, and now I am sitting here all excited waiting to take the first step in oursourcing my life. I already work on a daily basis with China, US and Europe, so why not add India to the sauce as well? I've always loved a good curry.
I will let you know how it goes as the story develops..
The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.Tao Te Ching
Let the story begin..
Technorati Tags: Outsourcing, Timothy Ferris, 4 hour week, AJ Jacobs, Esquire, Brickwork, Maxthon, Mashupmedia, Lifehacks, India
You should outsource someone to read the book :)
I remember having a similar reaction when I realized that 3 of our doctors (funny, when I say it like that, it's seems like there are many others...) were all using the same receptionist service to manage their agenda and do some light CRM. But the Al Jacobs account takes it much much further. I'm not sure I could depend on someone else so much, it's too addictive and what happens when your exec assistant gets promoted or just plain leaves? You may need to retrain them on your life, and of course, it would happen at the most inconvenient time - any time. As it is, if my PDA breaks it feels like a temporary lobotomy. Caveat emptor I suppose but worth a try!
Please update us on how things progress
Posted by: Jacob Share | May 17, 2007 at 01:24 PM
Good news
I hope everybody read this article.
Thank you for infos.
Posted by: star peri | May 19, 2007 at 11:21 AM
I stumbled across your post while I was doing research on outsourcing firms. I'm looking into this as well after seeing the Tim Ferris presentation at Web 2.0. I was the guy in the back on the Thinkpad =)
Curious to see how it turns out for you.
Posted by: tim | May 21, 2007 at 12:41 AM
hey Jacob, the thing with outsourcing to a proffesional supplier like Brickwork - ensures a continuous support. I chose thie path on purpose since having a persona assistant is too risky - loyalty is low and they come and go...
Posted by: Netanel Jacobsson | May 21, 2007 at 10:49 AM
Tim, thanks for you comments. "the guy in the back on the Thinkpad"? behind me?
Posted by: Netanel Jacobsson | May 21, 2007 at 10:50 AM
Netanel,
You're welcome.
I was making a (kind of lame) joke. There were dozens of guys sitting in the back row (where I was at the keynote) hammering away on Thinkpads. I was just one of the crowd.
Brickwork has gotten back to me. They confirmed they received my query and said they would have one of their team members contact me. That was yesterday. So I am curious to see how it works out. I've also looked into eLance.
Posted by: tim | May 22, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Tim :) Please let me know how it goes and please let them know that I "referred" you ;)
Posted by: Netanel Jacobsson | May 22, 2007 at 10:42 AM
Tim - Well..did you hear back from Brickwork? Your followers need an update. :-)
Posted by: Glenn | June 20, 2007 at 03:26 AM
Hi, Its really a great article I think all should have read this....
Posted by: .Net Developer India | November 17, 2008 at 06:32 AM