Over the past week I’ve been listening to The Four-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. Disclaimer: I didn’t get all the way through the book, only about halfway. At first, Ferriss describes a number of useful time-saving tactics, such as only checking your email twice a day (and never first thing in the morning) and empowering those who work for you to make decisions without having to consult you. He claims that if you follow his very specific and detailed agenda, you can own a business that runs itself and only requires your attention for a few hours a week. You can then spend all of your time traveling the world and pursuing various leisure activities.
I’m sure that many people would enjoy that sort of lifestyle. But I only gave it a moment’s thought before realizing it’s not for me. I do love to travel and explore, and could easily fill days reading, watching movies, gardening, cooking, and listening to my favorite NPR shows “This American Life” and “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.” But photography is what drives me and keeps me driven. I love every part of running a photography business, from meeting with prospective clients, discussing details of their weddings, designing albums, setting up lighting, charging batteries, formatting cards – and of course, attending weddings of wonderful people. Why would I want to cut back the hours of something I enjoy so much?
For photographic proof, see image below by Randi Voss.
2 comments
C, Agreed about the book. Time saving is nice! The main thing I got from the book is to do what makes you happy (some need less “work” to do that than others). Nice photo too….
Ah hahahahaha!! Oh this cracks me up! Now that’s a happy photographer..