The 4-Hour Workweek & The 'slash' Lifestyle

Feb 6, 2008

The 4-Hour Workweek & The ‘Slash’ Lifestyle

I have been reading the The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and just finished watching this video, where Tim and Marci Alboher talk about their latest books with Google employees.

I haven’t read Marci’s book One Person/Multiple Careers yet, but am really interested in her perspective on simultaneous interests. I am especially intrigued by her newly coined word ’slash’ and its impact on an individual’s lifestyle.

Being an entrepreneur and someone that becomes obsessively passionate about one thing after the other, I would consider myself to be a ’slash’, often saying I enjoy business/marketing/web development/design/photography/reading/biking/etc.

So, is being a ‘Slash’ a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, I think it depends…

Being A Non-Slash:

Being a non-slash keeps you from spreading too thin and allows you to direct your main focus and attention on one primary interest. This is how specialization came about. Specialization can be good, if the specialist is actually passionate about what they do. But what if they aren’t? What if it’s just part of going with the flow? Not Good. This is why you see people that are really good at what they do but hate it. IMHO specialization puts people in a box. Being a specialist creates an imaginary safe haven, providing a comfortable mold that they can settle into, becoming resistant to growth.

Being A ‘Slash’:

Being a ’slash’, allows you to be creative and gives you several outlets for pursuing your passions. This removes any possibility of becoming bored or feeling stuck in a rut. Their is a possibility of becoming spread too thin, but after a while familiar interests can be set to auto pilot and you can redirect your focus accordingly. I think one of the most obvious benefits of being a ’slash’, is the ability to have constant growth and joy in pursuing new passions. Passion is the key term here. The ’slash’ mentality opens up a whole new world of opportunities and adventure for you to explore.

But I don’t have enough time to pursue all of my passions?

This is where The 4-Hour Workweek and Tim’s technique’s come into play. What really fascinates me about combining Tim’s technique’s and the ’slash’ lifestyle, is you can have total freedom to experience the things you are most passionate about.

Are You A ‘Slash’?

Are you a ’slash’? If not, why? What’s holding you back? If so, how do you find time to pursue all of your passions?

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Categories: Business

6 Comments, Comment or Ping

Chris Tackett

I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Chris Tackett

Feb 6th, 2008
Anne Meredith

I think another good thing about being a ’slash’ is well roundedness. I feel like we are loosing that in this day in age of specializations everywhere. We are whole people. The way my eye sees an apple, is different then my nose that smells it, and my hand that feels it. I like the idea of using all of our senses, different parts of our brains and passions throughout the whole life.

Feb 6th, 2008
David Lano

Anne, I totally forgot about the advantage of having a well-rounded perspective on things. Excellent point. Thanks for calling me on that one. :)

Feb 6th, 2008
Barbara

Hi David,

If you have a business, being a non-slash can fill a need, and is often found through diversification. However, in my personal life, I am very much a slash. My biggest problem is that I get passionate about one aspect, and the others get put on the back burner. It’s finding that balance that creates the biggest problem for me.

Feb 8th, 2008
David Lano

@ Barbara

Yeah, I can have that problem too. I have noticed that I tend to put an emphasis on whatever interest I am most passionate about at the time, but setting priorities can help me stay accountable.

I think your right though, finding the balance for a ’slash’ can be a difficult thing. After a while we can set certain interests too auto-pilot but sometimes that’s not enough, and they might crash and burn. Obviously some interests can’t be set to auto-pilot and that’s another thing to be aware of when juggling several things at once.

Feb 8th, 2008
Nick | PTO

Thanks for posting this, David. I’ve just finished the 4-hour workweek and really enjoyed the book. Marci’s ‘Slash’ concept is great — like Barbara, I try to stick with one thing in business but am happy to take on many interests in my personal life.

You only have to look at the average recruitment ad. these days to realise that working roles are becoming much more diversified. I’ve seen ads for “graphic designer with video, web, and programming skills” amongst the more varied ones.

Feb 11th, 2008