How to get things done?
There comes a time when we are obligated to complete a certain project, task or any activity, but we are unable to complete it despite giving our best. One of the reason this happens is, people begin on task and activities that they shouldn't be working on in the first place. If you want to get things done, you must know the 80/20 rule.
The 80 / 20 rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" named after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few," the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many," the bottom 80 percent.
The law can be summarised as follows: 80 percent of the outputs result from 20 percent of the inputs.
Here are some examples to make the concept more clear:
1) 80 percent of the wealth and income was produced and possessed by 20 percent of the population.
2) 80 percent of Pareto's garden peas were produced by 20 percent of the peapods he had planted.
3) 80 percent of company profits come from 20 percent of the products and customers.
4) 20 percent of questions are repeated in the exam 80 percent of the time.
5) 20 percent of the employee are responsible for the 80 percent results of the company.
6) 20 percent of the problems cause 80 percent of frustration and disappointment.
The list is infinitely long and diverse.
If you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.
This law is a powerful productivity law, it influences not only our professional but also personal life.
Number of Tasks Versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
Often one item of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together.
The problem is people usually spend most of their time working on least important task and procrastinate on the top 10 or 20 percent of task. This leads to very little results.
Focus on activities, Not accomplishments
You often see people who appear to be busy all day long but seem to accomplish very little. This is almost always because that are busy working on task that are of low value, while they are procrastinating on the one or two activities that, if they complete them quickly and well, could make a real difference to their careers.
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and reward for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have in top 20 percent left to be done.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"
When you know what the 20 percent of the activities that will get you 80 percent results are, start working on it. Soon it will become a habit.
The reason why most people fail at getting things done is they are unaware of the law maybe because it wasn't taught in schools and colleges. And even if some know the law, they don't apply it.
The key to results is action. If you don't act you don't get any results.
Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.
Remember, the minority of your efforts will give you the majority of results. Find out what the vital few activities are and then put your head down and work until it is complete and done. This is no magic formula, but it sure works like magic.
Share this with your friends and family if you liked it. Follow me to stay updated.
The 80 / 20 rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" named after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few," the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many," the bottom 80 percent.
Here are some examples to make the concept more clear:
1) 80 percent of the wealth and income was produced and possessed by 20 percent of the population.
2) 80 percent of Pareto's garden peas were produced by 20 percent of the peapods he had planted.
3) 80 percent of company profits come from 20 percent of the products and customers.
4) 20 percent of questions are repeated in the exam 80 percent of the time.
5) 20 percent of the employee are responsible for the 80 percent results of the company.
6) 20 percent of the problems cause 80 percent of frustration and disappointment.
The list is infinitely long and diverse.
If you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.
This law is a powerful productivity law, it influences not only our professional but also personal life.
Number of Tasks Versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
Often one item of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together.
The problem is people usually spend most of their time working on least important task and procrastinate on the top 10 or 20 percent of task. This leads to very little results.
Focus on activities, Not accomplishments
You often see people who appear to be busy all day long but seem to accomplish very little. This is almost always because that are busy working on task that are of low value, while they are procrastinating on the one or two activities that, if they complete them quickly and well, could make a real difference to their careers.
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and reward for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have in top 20 percent left to be done.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"
When you know what the 20 percent of the activities that will get you 80 percent results are, start working on it. Soon it will become a habit.
The reason why most people fail at getting things done is they are unaware of the law maybe because it wasn't taught in schools and colleges. And even if some know the law, they don't apply it.
The key to results is action. If you don't act you don't get any results.
Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.
Remember, the minority of your efforts will give you the majority of results. Find out what the vital few activities are and then put your head down and work until it is complete and done. This is no magic formula, but it sure works like magic.
Share this with your friends and family if you liked it. Follow me to stay updated.
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ReplyDeleteWow!! This is really helpful👍
ReplyDelete