The 80/20 Day

Most of us have heard of the 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle) in lots of different contexts –

You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time

20% of people own 80% of the world’s wealth.

Folks in the productivity world use the 80/20 rule to explain how 80% of our results come from 20% of activities.

While ‘productivity’ isn’t my thing, being intentional and letting go of what doesn’t matter is.

So, today, rather than getting overwhelmed by all the things I would like to do but don’t have the ‘umph’ for, I’m thinking intentionally about what, amongst all the To Do’s on my radar, will make the biggest impact.  This involves accepting that there just won’t be time for everything I’d ideally like to fit in, rather than hoping that there will be.

Asking these questions helps –

·         How will what I put my effort into be seen, heard or felt? In other words, what difference will it really make?

·         What are the things that only I can do, and what are the things it wouldn’t matter if someone else did (and wouldn’t we all love to have that someone else to do those things!)? It could be a conversation with my kids, taking an interest in a loved one’s day, or using my gifts and talents in paid or unpaid work.

·         Where can I put less effort into low value tasks (chores and the like) and put more effort into places it will make an impact?

·         How can I manage my day so that I don’t use up my best energy on relatively unimportant things and have energy for what matters?

·         Fast forward to the end of the day – What will I be most pleased to have done (or most frustrated not to have done)?

So, accepting that there won’t be time for everything, and that some things will always be more important than others, how can you be most impactful today, and let go of the things that don’t really matter?