Are you tired of running out of time at the end of a working day? Do you wish you could find a way to help you meet your deadlines and help you feel like you’re actually achieving something?
If you’re nodding your head, don’t worry because you’re in the majority!
Most people wish they could feel accomplished at the end of a long day at their office desks, as though they used their working hours in the best possible way and really made headway. Unfortunately, most of us struggle with time management in general, and fail to make the best of the time we have. The good news is that we can learn!
There are several time management techniques you can try, such as time challenges, the Pomodoro Technique, and another method called the Pareto Principle.
What is the Pareto Principle?
The Pareto Principle is sometimes called the 80/20 rule, and it is the thinking that 80% of the rewards or effects come from just 20% action.
That basically means that you can put in 20% of your effort and receive 80% of the results, simply by making a few changes and using wise decisions. For instance, a freelancer might decide to cut down on low paid jobs and instead focus on the clients who are reliable and pay well. As a result, they will work less at their office chairs, because they’re not constantly trying to catch up with small, low paid jobs, and they’ll receive better cash for it.
The 80/20 rule was developed by an Italian economist, named Vilfredo Pareto. This was developed in 1895, when Pareto suddenly noticed that society has the rich and those who aren’t so rich. He split these into the “vital few”, i.e. the top 20% in terms of cashflow and the “trivial many”, the 80% who aren’t getting anywhere fast. For instance, he realised that in his home country of Italy, 80% of the country’s general wealth was owned and controlled by only 20% of its general population.
If you’re not sure how all of this ties into a working situation, check out this useful video, which highlights a little more on the 80/20 rule, and how you can use it to prioritise and get more done.
As you can see, using the 80/20 rule is about looking at your current situation and working out what tasks aren’t required, i.e. they pay very little, they have no reward, and which bring greater rewards. You would then focus your attention on those. We mentioned the freelancer example a little earlier, and this is a good one to think about. You could also look at this in terms of a business and its customers.
Perhaps you have 1000 customers, but 200 of those customers only ever placed very low value orders, many of which were sporadic at best. In that case, you would sit around the modern boardroom tables and identify the customers making regular orders of medium to large amounts and concentrate on marketing to them and keeping them loyal to your brand. Yes, you lose a little cash on the sporadic customers, but these aren’t as key to your success as the others. You’re putting in 20% effort and getting back 80% rewards!
You can use this method in terms of getting more done in the time you have. You simply need to sit down and identify the tasks which will get you somewhere, i.e. the tasks which will contribute to completion of a large and important task, versus the small tasks which could be perhaps delegated elsewhere. You would then place your effort in the most sensible area, giving you extra rewards, without the added stress, pressure, and lost time.
It takes some getting used to, but the 80/20 rule could be a real time saver for you!