3 Essential Steps To Live Out The 80/20 Principle
In 1906, an Italian economist by the name of Vilfredo Pareto discovered a revolutionary pattern. Pareto observed that 20% of the population owned 80% of the land in Italy and that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. This became known as The Law of the Vital Few. We see this law at work in almost every area of life.
- 80 percent of traffic jams occur on 20 percent of the roads.
- 80 percent of classroom participation comes from 20 percent of students.
- 80 percent of the time you wear 20 percent of your clothes.
- 80 percent of the profits come from only 20 percent of the customers.
- 80 percent of problems are generated by 20 percent of the employees.
- 80 percent of sales are generated by 20 percent of the salespeople.
- 80 percent of all decisions can be made on 20 percent of the information.
The same law applies to your strengths. Eighty percent of your impact probably comes from 20% of your effort. It’s in that 20% where your strengths lie. So, what if you could flip the scale? What if you could spend 80% of your time working in your strength zone? This would dramatically affect your success. The most successful people spend approximately 80% of their time only doing what only they should be doing.
What is your 20% that you should be spending 80% of your time in?
Where do you need to spend your time giving you the greatest ROI (Return On Investment)? You can’t allow “stuff” to steal your greatest contribution. If you are going to be highly successful and highly productive, you have to protect your 20% and make sure you schedule yourself doing it 80% of the time.
Here are 3 essential steps to live out the 80/20 Principle:
1) Discover Your 20%
Take some time to write down and categorize where you should be spending your time only doing what only you can do that gives you the greatest return. For me, I spend 80% of my time coaching, communicating, or creating. These are my 3 C’s that are my strengths and greatest ROI. If I am not doing one of these three things, I am not operating in my strength zone.
2) Schedule Your 20% To Fill 80% Of Your Schedule
Take the categories you discovered and make sure it is on your schedule before anything else can steal them from you. Get in on the calendar and force yourself to protect the time. If you are not intentional about creating time for your 20%, it will only happen 50% of the time, at best. If you only schedule your priorities when time allows, you’ll never prioritize your schedule to its maximum potential.
3) Delegate, Automate, Or Eliminate Your Excess
Stop allowing the good things you do to keep you from doing the great things you can do. You need to either delegate your excess to someone who can do it, automate it so it happens with minimal effort, or eliminate it altogether and let it go. If someone else can do it, let them do it. If something can be automated, figure out a way to automate it. If something is even remotely unnecessary, eliminate it before it eliminates you.
