In 2002, Tim Ferriss earned a very healthy living, pulling in more than $40,000 a month through his sports nutrition company. But the business consumed 70 to 80 hours of his time a week - and even more of his emotional energy. He soon suffered "an existential meltdown," as he describes it now. "I telescoped out 10 to 15 years, and it was a very, very depressing picture. There would never be enough hours in the day."

   His solution: Stop sweating the small stuff. First, Ferriss outsourced nearly all key functions of his company, such as shipping and customer service. Not long after that, he sent a crucial e-mail to those new business contacts. If a problem could be fixed for less than $100, then take care of it, he wrote, typing the following words in bold: "without contacting me."

   In the years since then, his profits have more than tripled. Equally as important, at least to Ferriss, is that his business now requres only a few hours each week, leaving the rest open for travel and for his other interests, including writing. (His first book, not surprisingly, is called The 4-hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. While the entrepeneur's work schedule can seem stranger than fiction, Ferriss' story highlights an all-too-common business blind spot. Contact for complete article.