80/20 Your Life! How To Get More Done With Less Effort And Change Your Life In The Process!

by Damon Zahariades

Ignore 80% Of The Things That Annoy You

Second, recognize that 80% of the things that annoy us are inconsequential.

Third, remind yourself that “this too shall pass.” This practice may seem silly, but consider this: we usually become annoyed in the heat of the moment.

For example, consider the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator.[1] It identifies 16 distinct personality types. One of them is labeled ISTJ, which stands for introversion (I), sensing (S), thinking (T), judgment (J).

When it comes to food, moderation yields better long-term results than deprivation.

You’ll find that eating an 80% healthy diet is ten times easier than trying to maintain a perfect diet. And importantly, you’ll still reap a majority of the benefits.

You can get into shape and stay fit with compound exercises. These are movements that target multiple joints and muscles.

Second, pick compound exercises that support your top priority. For example, if your goal is to gain lower-body muscle mass, do barbell squats and barbell deadlifts.

If you want to reduce fat, try plate twists, weighted bench dips, and walking lunges.

specific (S), measurable (M), attainable (A), relevant (R), and time-based (T).

Bottom line: regular physical activity is important.

I strongly recommend exercising at home.

Another way to think of this is that you don’t need to do more exercises. You just need to do the right ones.

Experiment With High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training can be one of the purest applications of the Pareto principle when it comes to fitness.

Another example is to do 10 rapid-fire pushups followed by a 20-second rest. After resting for 20 second, you’d do 10 more pushups.

Once you identify the items that take up most of your budget, you can determine which of those expenditures are necessary and which are not.

First, note the stock’s P/E ratio. Compare it to the P/E ratios of its competitors. Lower is better. Second, calculate the company’s return on equity (ROE). That may sound daunting, but it’s actually simple. All you have to do is divide the company’s net income by its shareholders equity. Net income can be found on the company’s income statement. Shareholders equity can be found on the company’s balance sheet.

Third, calculate the company’s price/earnings growth (PEG) ratio. Again, this sounds complicated, but it’s easy. All you have to do is divide the P/E ratio by the company’s earnings growth rate (EPS). EPS figures can be found online at places like Nasdaq.com. PEG ratios under 1 are favorable.

Incidentally, I advocate a buy-and-hold strategy when it comes to stocks. It simplifies investing and is more effective than trying to time the market. And the best part? It takes a lot less time.

There’s an easier way to invest in real estate: buy shares in real estate investment trusts, or REITs.

Choose A Distraction-Free Learning Space

If you find it difficult to focus, there’s a simple solution: find a distraction-free study environment.

Use Time Chunks For Concentrated Study Sessions

It’s tempting to power through long study sessions. After all, you want to maintain your momentum and avoid wasting time. But in truth, taking breaks is beneficial to your learning. Your brain needs frequent downtime to process new information and commit it to memory.

If you study without taking breaks, your focus and retention will inevitably erode. Worse, the rate of erosion will increase as time passes. Eventually, the time you spend studying will be wasted as your brain b...

recommend studying in 30-minute chunks, each of which is followed by a 5-minute break. Having said that, I encourage you to experiment. You might find that you’re able to focus for 60 minutes, and can make better use of 15-minute breaks between sessions.

For example, rather than checking Facebook, take a walk outside, fix a healthy snack, or phone a friend for a brief chat.

So carving out time to learn new things is easier said than done.

First, start with your purpose. Ask yourself why you’re learning the new material. How do you intend to use your newfound knowledge or newly-developed skill? In other words, what is your desired outcome?

Second, identify the aspects of your subject matter that’ll help you the most in accomplishing what you’d like to achieve. For example, suppose you’d like to learn to play the guitar. If you’re mainly interested in playing simple songs, you’d do well to focus on chord construction. On the other hand, if you’d like to play like Eddie Van Halen, you should focus on scales, modes, and dexterity exercises. Third, ignore the rest.

There’s simply no time to learn every detail about y...

As I implied in the introduction to this section, we’re not striving for perfection. Rather, we’re learning new material and developing new skills for specific purposes.

notes that the law of diminishing returns takes hold at that point. Each additional unit of time and effort generates a steadily-decreasing return.

Recognize That Doing A Perfect Job Is A Short-Lived Success

First, acknowledge that perfectionism is an unhealthy compulsion. Second, accept that time spent using your newfound knowledge or newly-developed skills to do a perfect job is time wasted. Third, remind yourself that your ultimate goal in learning new things is to become more effective, more productive, and ultimately more valuable. Perfectionism has nothing to do with these outcomes.

He or she is ultra-efficient. I can guarantee this person isn’t obsessed with producing perfect results. Imperfect results are the accepted cost of sustained efficiency.

Give yourself the freedom to abandon perfection in the name of getting more done. You’ll be able to leverage your time and effort and take quicker advantage of your new expertise.

This mindset does more harm than good. It suggests that failure is absolute and worthy of criticism. Worse, it encourages the individual to feel as if they should give up.

The idea of a growth mindset was popularized by Dr. Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success.

So, how do you develop a growth mindset? First, look for opportunities to learn new skills and concepts that align with your goals. Recall our earlier example where you’d like to learn how to create pivot tables within spreadsheets to be more effective at your job. Look for video tutorials that teach the subject on Youtube. Or take an online class that teaches pivot tables in a business-related context. Second, be willing to meet challenges head-on. Learning new material and putting it to productive use is sometimes difficult. You’re bound to confront roadblocks. Face such challenges directly and you’ll become more resilient to them in the future. Third, maintain your sense of purpose. If you can articulate your reason for developing an expertise, you’ll be more likely to accomplish the goal you’ve set for yourself. Cultivating a growth mindset gives you the confidence to learn new ideas and develop new skills. All you have to do is apply yourself whenever the need arises.

Embrace Constructive Criticism It’s natural to feel defensive when someone criticizes us. Criticism feels like an accusation of failure.

Ergo, we immediately feel as if our competence is under attack.

First, recognize that people don’t offer constructive advice to make you feel bad. They do so in the hopes that you’ll benefit from it. So there’s no need to feel defensive. Second, ask the person offering the feedback to give you specifics. It’s one thing for a friend to say, “Your guitar playing needs a little polish.” It’s much more helpful if your friend points out that your chords sound muddy, you’re playing too fast, and you’re strumming too hard. Third, take action on the advice. For example, practice forming clear-sounding chords, playing more slowly, and strumming more softly. The more you act on the (good) advice you’re given, the more you’ll see future feedback as an opportunity to improve.

In order to do these things, you must get and stay in front of your audience. That’s the purpose of sales and marketing.

you can identify the 20% of the tactics that bring in 80% of your revenue, you can achieve rapid growth. Moreover, you can do so without needlessly spinning your wheels on ineffective sales and marketing ideas.

Again, there are hundreds of ways to promote your small business. For example, you can attend trade shows, advertise on the radio, ask customers for referrals, write press releases, and hand out business cards to everyone you meet. Unfortunately, most of these practices will be a complete waste of time.

First, identify your target audience. Create a simple customer profile that defines your ideal customer. Include details such as age, gender, occupation, salary, and education. Second, identify the best ways to reach this audience. You may find that your ideal customer discovers new products and develops brand loyalty via webinars. Or he or she might do so via social media, review websites (e.g. Consumer Reports), or simply by looking up specific terms on Google. Third, identify the two most promising tactics. Devote the majority of your marketing resources to reaching customers through them. It’s tempting to try everything. But doing so will result in a lot of wasted time and money. Focus on the measures that work. You’ll generate more revenue with less effort.

First, ask them. Have a sincere conversation with each member of your staff. Encourage them to be specific about their skills. Just be aware they might express particular interests while being better suited for other duties. Second, review your employees’ employment histories. What did they do before you hired them? How long did they do it? Is there evidence of success - for example, multiple promotions? Third, keep your eyes open. Observing your staff at work can be just as valuable as speaking to them. You’ll invariably notice things certain employees do extremely well, from planning presentations and communicating with customers to analyzing data and solving tough problems.

The Pareto principle suggests that 20% of your staff will generate 80% of your staff’s performance-related problems. So it’s worthwhile to address these problems head-on. Otherwise, you risk allowing them to fester and eventually bring down the morale of your entire team.