Our 4-Hour Workweek

An interesting article earlier this year about Outsourcing Your Life in the Wall Street Journal.

Here's one of the quotes:

Actress Michele Greene, known for her role as Abby on "L.A. Law," has found a way to outsource one of Hollywood's most entrenched jobs: the personal assistant. She contracted India-based concierge service GetFriday last year. Ms. Greene says she pays $150 a month for about 20 hours of service. That's about $2 less per hour than her L.A. assistants charged.

Ms. Greene says her offshore assistant has been a big help while she works on her second young-adult novel and a country-folk CD in addition to acting projects. Along with paying her bills and booking her flights, her assistant has given her tips on Bollywood movies and Indian food. His recipe for garbanzo beans with eggplant and peppers has become one of her signature dishes. It's a huge improvement over the unemployed actors who typically fill these jobs in Hollywood, she says: "They'd screw up everything you'd ask them to do."

Checking out the testimonials on the site, I came across this one:

“I hired Your Man in India for a bold experiment. The experiment was quite successful.”

- A.J. Jacobs,
Editor-at-large,Esquire Magazine.

The mind boggles.

Gillian Parrillo
Our 4-Hour Workweek