Understanding and living the 80/20 rule can unlock significant potential by having more time to achieving extraordinary results. Learn how it works and how you might use it.

I heard about it in college the first time, and since then, it fascinated me. In short, it asserts that 20% of the inputs produce 80% of the results. 20% of my working time generates 80% of the desired result. 20% of my customers contribute to 80% of my revenue. 20% of my videos on YouTube make 80% of the views. And so on.

That means, if I focus on the most valuable tasks, I can get most of what I want. The following figure illustrates the concept as well as what we should aim to do.

There are two ways of using the 80/20 rule. We minimize the 80% of the activities that only yield 20% of what we want. And we can do more of the high-value activities that generate 80% of the desired results.

Stop at 80% when it is “good enough”

“Perfect is the enemy of good”

-Voltaire

Let’s take the example of working on a new presentation.

You could spend just one hour developing the outline and some rudimentary visual aids. That might give you 80% of what you need and just good enough.

You might also be tempted to spend four additional hours perfecting your script and visual aids. The message would be the same but might look more beautiful. The problem is that the four hours give you only a fourth of the desired return.

So, if you focus on getting to the point of achieving “good enough,” you can save lots of time while delivering significant value. If you go for perfection, you might end up wasting precious time that you could save for higher-value activities.

Focus on 20% high-value activites

Suppose you are working for a consulting company, and you can create value in two ways. You can bill hours or sell more work. As a consultant, you could focus on your hours and maximize what you charge. The impact is one billable resource, which is an ordinary result.

If you were to focus some of your time on finding ways to placing additional resources on a project, then you’d be billable as well as other people. Throughout the year, you might find different ways to sell more work and quadruple the impact you have for your company. The effect would be extraordinary.

Conclusion

The 80/20 rule teaches us to work on the right activities to create extraordinary results. It also encourages us to stop when the result is good enough, so we have more time for higher-value tasks.

So, what high-value tasks might give you extraordinary results? My invitation to you is to take a sheet of paper and write down all the tasks that you do at work. Then ask yourself, what are the 20% that create 80% of the value? How can you expand the time that you spend on these high-value tasks? And, how can you eliminate, delegate, or innovate the tasks that take considerable time without bringing you much of the desired results?

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