10 techniques (including 2 bad) to achieve 80% of your goals with 20% effort

 10 techniques (including 2 bad) to achieve 80% of your goals with 20% effort

You may have heard of this rule, also known as Pareto's law, before. I touched on the subject briefly in a previous post, but I wanted to dig deeper by offering you some techniques based on this notion that will help you achieve your goals by maximizing your efforts.

What is the 80/20 law?

Vilfredo Pareto is a 19th century Italian economist. During his work, he noticed that about 80% of the land in the country was held by 20% of the population. This observation was later made popular by engineer Joseph Juran, one of the creators of the quality management approach in the 1960s. Then, the concept was extended to other fields over the years such as as inventory management, sales, projects, management and, of course, personal productivity! Pareto's law therefore wants 80% of the effects to be the product of 20% of the causes. So here are some personal productivity techniques that take this concept into account and that I try to apply in my day-to-day activities.

Spend 20% of your time thinking and 80% taking action

Albert Einstein once said: “Insanity is always doing the same thing and expecting a different result. "Being in action is only productive if we do the right things. That’s why it’s important to dedicate some time to thinking. Devote a few hours per week (preferably Monday and Friday) to setting (and revising) your goals, planning your tasks, reviewing your results, and brainstorming innovative ways to be effective. A clear vision will make you a more productive person.

Check your results at 20% complete (and realign yourself)

Do you produce a report, spreadsheet or any other document that requires significant effort? Don't wait until you're almost done before confirming your results (or getting feedback from your collaborators). For example, have a report's table of contents validated before you start writing. The readjustment will be easier and you are less likely to have to modify important parts of it (or even worse: to have to cut content that you have produced!). Who likes to work for nothing?

Stop at 80% complete (you are probably done)

Perfectionists are generally unproductive. If, for example, a document you are preparing is nearing completion, consider whether the effort to complete it entirely will actually add value. Will the additional details you add to it be noticed and significantly contribute to its content? If not, it is probably not worth continuing. Please note: this does not mean that quality should be neglected! Develop the reflex to question the remaining 20% of a task at hand.

Set aside 20% of your time for the unexpected (but plan the remaining 80%!)

A productive agenda is an agenda in which periods will be dedicated to the most important tasks. Don't hesitate to block certain times to accomplish them (preferably the most difficult when your energy is at its highest). However, the unexpected is inevitable and uncontrollable. If your schedule doesn't allow you to address them, something unexpected could shake up your priorities (and take you away from your goals). By leaving (a little) flexibility in your schedule, you can deal with the unexpected without neglecting your most important tasks.

Read the documents to the end (80% of the answer is there)

The ability to synthesize is an important skill in personal productivity. This is why executive summaries and document conclusions should be read first. Chances are the most important information you need is there. If necessary, you can then read further. Senior managers use this technique a lot to assimilate large amounts of information!

Find the 20% that is the source of the problem

Sometimes a situation becomes so complex that it is difficult to identify an obvious avenue for solution. For example, the progress of a project may depend on several dependent tasks. In such a case, rather than seeking to resolve the situation entirely, unblock it by identifying the main blocking factor. The effect will be quick and you will have a better view of the situation. The same goes for personnel management. If the performance of one of your employees is not satisfactory, identify a main area for improvement that they can focus on (even if there are several). When you see a beneficial effect, both of you will then be able to adjust the others.

Know and delegate your 20%

Knowing that no one is great in everything, productive people know their strengths and weaknesses. Identify areas where you perform less well and seek to delegate them to someone whose skills are superior to yours. The effort you put into this (arduous and exhaustive) task may be attributed to activities where you will get more results.

Focus 80% of your efforts on 20% of your time

It's important to know the times of the day when your energy is at its best and when you are productive. Focus your energies on accomplishing your priority (and difficult) tasks during these times. You'll increase your productivity, have a greater sense of accomplishment, and be able to use the remaining time for less demanding or less important tasks. For a lot of people (I do) peak productivity is between 9:00 am and 11:00 am in the morning. So it's during this time that I perform the most important tasks, trying to minimize meetings during this time. Listen to your body, identify your most productive times and use them to their full potential!

Neglect the 20%

All of this Pareto-based advice is based on one simple principle: you will typically get 80% of your results in 20% of the effort required. However, we must be careful not to neglect the famous remaining 20%. Some tasks require a lot of thoroughness (producing financial statements, for example). Regardless of where you apply the 80/20 approach, don't blindly overlook what you don't. You will thus avoid unpleasant surprises!

Think of the 80/20 rule as immutable

Pareto's law considers that everything is not evenly distributed. However, the 80/20 ratio should not be taken literally. This is just an artificial metric, rarely exact, which must be adjusted according to the circumstances. Whether your results are the result of 10%, 20% or 30% of your efforts, the important thing is to integrate the concept into your daily activities and not to make it an immutable rule (which could have unfortunate consequences!) .

And you? How do you apply Pareto's law in your day-to-day activities?