Understanding the 20/80 rule

A famous productivity system, the 20/80 rule, is often misunderstood as a system that allows you to have 80% of the results by putting in 20% effort. In fact, this system looks at causes and consequences: this means that if you prioritise the highest impact work, most of your results will come from that. That doesn't mean that you don't have to deal with emails or admin (although I personally despise those activities), but that if you only have one hour of undisturbed time you should dedicate it to the "deep work" tasks, those tasks that can have the biggest return and/or require your utmost concentration and effort.

Also, something that not many productivity gurus talk about, is thinking about your energy levels: when are they highest in your day? And, if you are a woman, in your month? Time the highest impact activities (if you can) for when you have your batteries full - and make sure you do recharge them by taking time off with no contact with work on a regular basis.

This is what working smarter means. 

What about the other low-impact activities (including endless meetings, emails, admin, day-to-day maintenance of systems etc.)? You have choices here:

  • Can you not do them?
  • Can you delegate them?
  • Can you automate them?
  • Can you make the process more efficient (e.g. batching emails)?

If you want a template to use for your weekly to-do list (I don't do daily, as that stresses me out and never goes to plan) that takes into account the 20/80 rule, you can download it HERE (I created it years ago and still use every week): you'll need to choose which ten key activities you need to carry out this week (and perhaps some very quick ones), then put at the top, in the shaded areas, the two highest-impact ones. It forces you to be disciplined and choose carefully. Let me know how it goes!

 This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/

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