Everyone knows that the 80/20 rule can help you improve your time management. So what is the 80/20 rule? An Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto had found an unequal distribution of wealth that 20% of the man owns 80% of the money. This principle can be applied to other industries. This principle is also called “vital few and trivial many”. 20% of something is always responsible for 80% of the results.
So what does this mean to you? And what is the rule of 80 20 in time management? Think of it this way: 20% of your work can cost 80% of your time. Sounds like a lot of wasted energy, okay? Meanwhile, we can consider another angel, which is that 20% of the tasks you do can result in 80% of the result. Bingo, this is the 20 80 rule of time management! So to use your time effectively, you need to focus on the 20% of tasks that can result in 80% of the result.
This way you can get more effective work results by concentrating on that 20% of work there. Once you’ve figured out that the task belongs to the 20% that bring you big profit, you need to focus on them. And, here comes the question. How to determine what type of task will belong to the 20%? Here is a question you should ask yourself: do you usually work on urgent tasks? Does it cost you a lot of time to work for other people, and those people do not have priority for you? Are tasks taking longer than expected? Are you complaining most of your work time? Are the tasks you’re doing not what you’re good at? And does it take too long? Well, if the previous answer is yes. You can determine that you are doing tasks within 80% and they may only result in 20% effectiveness. You have to take a bow here:
Is the task you are implementing really what you want to do? Will the activities you are doing now lead you to your goals? Do you feel happy during your work? If there is a task here that you have to do, but you are not good at it, do you hand those tasks over to other people? Is it very relative to your long-term goal if the task you’re doing isn’t what you like? Ok, if your answer is positive, well, your task belongs to the 20% and will result in an 80% result. At this time, you should make a list to write down all the homework you are going to do during the next week. And divide them into two parts. One is 80% and one is 20%. Here now, all your good working time must cost 20%. In this way, you can achieve more than before.
