And we aren’t talking just applying the 80/20 rule for food.
In fact, you can use the 80/20 rule for a lot of things in your life. The 80/20 rule is also known as the Pareto principle or the law of the vital few, which basically means that in many events 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. So this isn’t really saying that we should eat 80% of the time good and allow 20% of the time to go off our plan. This is actually how you can apply the 80/20 rule to your life and even work.
80/20 Rule
1. Make a list of the 10 things you spend the most time on.
2. Circle the two that truly drive your results. Do more of those.
3. Look at the others. Eliminate ruthlessly. Automate or outsource what you can. Press pause on the rest.
4. Repeat.
80/20 rule is the universal truth about the imbalance of inputs and outputs. It is about working smarter and prioritizing the right things in order to deliver better results and value.
Some examples:
• 20% of the sales reps generate 80% of total sales.
• 20% of customers account for 80% of total profits.
Sure these scenarios might not apply to you but it is helping to paint the picture. Maybe for you it could be 20% of your workouts actually account for 80% towards you reaching your goals. Totally possible.
So how does this work in everyday life?
You can apply the 80/20 rule to almost any situation.
Think about your daily to-do’s. It is best to write them down. Do you know which 20% of these tasks yields you the most return? Or happiness, for that manner? If you know these answers already, you can start to create a plan to spend more time on those a part of the 20%.
Now think about how you can try to reduce or do away with already the 80% of tasks that only bring you 20% of your results. For each 80% task, you can gain more time in your day back.
How to create your own 80/20 plan.
- Identify all your daily or whatever list you’d like to make.
- Identify your top tasks.
- Identify the tasks that give you more return.
- Brainstorm how you can reduce or transfer the tasks that give you less return.
- Create a plan to do more things that brings you more value.
- Set a plan to focus on activities that produce the most results.
Keep this 80/20 plan in mind when you need to prioritize any project you’re working on or future goals.
