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

by Damon Zahariades

80% of the property and wealth in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.

How To 80/20 Your Career

Streamline Your Job Search

Apply To Positions That Fit Your Background

First, zero in on the positions that match your qualifications. Second, identify the employers who are currently hiring for those positions. Third, tailor your cover letter for those specific employers.

Network With People Who Can Help You

First, when you attend networking events, focus on the 20% of individuals you know are able to help you. Nurture those relationships. Second, spend only 20% of your time talking about yourself. Spend 80% of your time listening to others. You’ll make a better impression. Third, invert the 80/20 rule when following up with new people you’ve met. Spend the majority of your time following up with the small number of high-value contacts.

Create A Plan With High-Payoff Potential

First, identify the type of job you want. Be specific. Second, set weekly goals. Determine how many resumes you’ll send each week, how many interviews you’ll schedule, and how many people you’ll reach out to in your industry. Third, select two or three high-potential job-search tools to use. Examples include industry-specific job websites, college alumni career services, and headhunting services.

The Pareto Principle As A Time Management Tool

Managing And Completing Your To-Do Lists

First, limit the number of items on your daily to-do list to seven. If you can get away with five, do so. It’s okay to maintain a brain-dump list. But your daily to-do list is something entirely different. Second, only include high-value tasks on your daily list. Eighty percent of the tasks you’ll be tempted to put on your list won’t contribute to your goals. Focus on the 20% that will. Third, use only one task management system. If you’d like to maintain your to-do lists online, your options include Todoist, Nozbe, Flock, Asana, Flow, Wunderlist, Toodledo, OmniFocus, Any.do, Trello, Producteev, Hitask, and others. Some are free while others charge a fee. Some are better suited for personal to-do lists while a few, such as Trello, are designed to support collaborative projects. The important thing is that you pick one that meets your needs and complements your style and stick with it.

Deciding What Projects To Take On

First, before you accept a project, make sure it aligns with your strengths. You don’t want to waste time learning new skills just so you’ll be able to deliver. You should only take on projects you’re qualified to handle. Second, focus on projects that promise minimal roadblocks. For example, avoid those for which you’re unable to identify the key stakeholders. Such ambiguity may prevent you from acquiring the resources you need to see a project through to its end. Third, devote your time to projects that interest you. It’s one thing to possess the required skillset. It’s another thing entirely to be absorbed by a project to the extent that you look forward to working on it. That level of interest ensures you’ll do a good job.

Checking Email, Voicemails, Texts

First, create a folder in your email app and label it “Requires Action/Response.” Place all emails that demand your attention into this folder. Second, pick two times during the day to clear out this folder. Be consistent with the times. If you decide to do it at noon, do it at noon each day. Third, refrain from returning voicemails and texts unless they’re urgent. In most cases, they won’t be.

Using The 80/20 Rule As A Manager

Identify Your Most Productive/Capable Employees

First, as a general rule, 20% of your team members will produce 80% of your team’s output. Identify the 20%. These individuals are your hyper performers. Second, figure out what motivates your top performers. Pick one or two of the largest influencing factors and deliver them. Third, provide additional training to your most productive employees. They’re going to drive most of your team’s output. Therefore, it makes sense to give them opportunities to broaden their knowledge and expand their skillsets.

Identify Employees Who Cause The Most Problems

First, once you identify your most difficult team members, spend a bit of time documenting the problems you’ve observed. These include issues involving performance, discipline, and attendance. Documentation is critical in the event you decide to fire them. Second, conduct monthly, or even weekly, performance reviews. These sessions will give you an opportunity to listen to your problem employees’ grievances and provide feedback and coaching. The sessions can be short, yet still have a huge impact on morale and performance. Third, spend 20% of your time with these individuals listening to their complaints and providing constructive feedback and coaching. Third, if you decide to fire a difficult employee, don’t dawdle. Don’t let the process drag. Instead, fire fast. Expediting the process will save significant time and allow the rest of your team to regain their momentum.

Identify Employees Who Need A Lot Of Attention

First, reassure these team members that you’re available and want to help them to succeed. But make clear that your availability is limited given the demands associated with your position. This simple reassurance can go a long way toward making them feel confident enough to be effective. Meanwhile, they’re forced to acknowledge that you can’t be expected to be at their beck and call. Second, set aside specific time periods that you can devote to your needy employees. For example, set aside an hour on Mondays and Thursdays, and schedule 10-minute “meetings” with each individual. Use these sessions to listen to their needs. Third, praise these individuals. It only takes a moment to recognize them for something they’ve done well. Meanwhile, the praise you give them will bolster their confidence and encourage them to continue performing at a high level.

The Pareto Principle And The Extraordinary Manager

You must leverage your best employees. You must also identify your problem employees and let them go when coaching and feedback fail to have a positive impact.

The Universal Applicability Of The 80/20 Rule

Apply The 80/20 Rule To House Cleaning

“work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” So if you give yourself five hours to clean your home, you’ll take five hours. If you shorten the available time frame to two hours, you’ll get everything done in two hours.

First, focus on the areas of your home that receive the most use. Your kitchen likely receives more foot traffic than your guest room. So clean the former and forget the latter (unless you’re planning to host someone). Second, set a time limit for each room. For example, allow 15 minutes to clean the kitchen, 10 minutes to clean each bathroom, and 5 minutes to sweep the porch. If you need to vacuum your carpets, give yourself 20 minutes. No more. Third, get rid of stuff you no longer use nor need. We’ll talk about this more in a few moments.

Accept That Good Is Good Enough

Identify The 20% Of Your Possessions You Value Most

First, categorize all of your belongings into one of two groups: things you frequently use and things you use rarely often. Do this for your clothes, shoes, kitchen appliances, DVDs, knickknacks, bed sheets and pillowcases, makeup, hair care products, condiments, etc. Then, throw out everything you’ve placed in the second group. Second, scrutinize each item in the first group. Ask yourself whether it truly brings you happiness. In some cases, you’ll find that you’re using certain items out of habit rather than for a specific purpose. If so, discard them. Third, whenever you’re about to purchase something, consider whether it’ll become one of the possessions you use 80% of the time. If not, resist the temptation to buy it. It’ll only clutter your home.

Use The Pareto Principle To Simplify Cooking

First, focus on dishes that require few ingredients. I recommend limiting the number of ingredients to five. Second, collect easy recipes. Save them so you’ll never be at a loss for dishes to prepare. And remember, easy doesn’t have to mean boring. Countless meals are easy to make and will light up your taste buds. Third, learn to love leftovers. That’ll give you the freedom to prepare dishes you can enjoy night after night. And that’ll cut down on preparation time. For example, a scrumptious beef stew will be just as tasty tomorrow night as it is tonight. The only difference is that you won’t have to spend time preparing it tomorrow night.

Avoid Trendy, High-Maintenance Diets

First, take a look at how the diet is organized. Note whether it requires you to follow a complicated daily regimen (e.g. eat food X on day 1, food Y on day 2, and food Z on day 3, and so forth). Also, note whether it follows an intricate points system, such as the one used by Weight Watchers. If either is the case, avoid it. Second, consider whether the diet aligns with your lifestyle. If you enjoy the outdoors, don’t hitch yourself to a diet that requires lengthy meal preparation or meals that must be kept refrigerated at all times. Third, don’t feel as if you must follow a particular diet to the letter. Be willing to cut corners if doing so will save you time without severely affecting the outcome. Being a stickler can backfire, prompting you to give up when you lack the motivation to continue. Concentrate on getting 80% of the way there.

Focus On Natural, Nutritional Foods

First, focus on foods that offer nutrition. If a particular food offers no nutrition, refrain from including it in your meals. An example is white rice. It has zero nutritional value. So avoid wasting time preparing it. Second, make a list of your favorite nutritional foods. Categorize them by type: fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, etc. Doing this serves two purposes. It gives you something to reference when deciding what dishes to prepare. That way, you’re never at a loss. It also streamlines the ingredients you’ll use, simplifying your meals. Third, make a list of your three favorite lunch dishes and three favorite dinner dishes. These will be your go-to meals. It’ll drastically reduce the number of potential meals you can prepare, which, in turn, will simplify decisions regarding what to eat.

Enjoy Your Hobbies To Their Fullest Potential

Limit Binge-Watching Television Shows

First, if you subscribe to multiple streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, etc.), pick one and cancel the others. I realize that might mean abandoning shows you enjoy, but that’ll always be the case. There’s no better time than the present to cut the cord. Second, review the shows you watch. Rate them from one to ten in terms of how much you enjoy them. Abandon any shows that rate below eight. Third, limit the amount of time you spend watching TV. U.S. adults watch an average of five hours per day. Over seven days, it’s practically a full-time job. Commit to watching only two hours a day.

Select Hobbies That Provide The Most Satisfaction

First, make a list of every activity you enjoy. Once you’ve completed this list, pick the five you enjoy the most. Second, think about roadblocks that might prevent you from pursuing the five favored activities on your list. For example, you may enjoy skiing, but location and transportation might present problems. You might enjoy skydiving, but time and money may be limiting factors. Pick the two hobbies for which there are the fewest roadblocks. Third, consider whether you need others to participate in the two hobbies that remain. For example, you need others to play poker, basketball, tennis, and billiards. But playing the guitar, cooking, gardening, and crossword puzzles? Those can be done on your own.

Combine Hobbies With Your Goals

First, make a list of your goals. This might include running a full marathon, meeting new people, and building muscle mass. Second, think of hobbies that align with these goals. For example, jogging complements your desire to run a marathon. Attending Meetup events is a great way to meet new people who share your interests. Weight training supports your aim to build muscle mass. Third, choose two hobbies from your list. Start with two to avoid overburdening yourself, and if time permits add a third down the road.

Can You Turn Your Hobby Into A Business?

First, make a list of hobbies you can do on your own. These are activities you can enjoy without needing other people to participate. Second, brainstorm products and services you can deliver while pursuing these hobbies (e.g. handmade jewelry, baked goods, family portraits, etc.). Third, identify the hobby that offers the simplest and easiest path to the market. That’s your ideal hobby, at least in the context of starting a side business.

Make The Most Of Your Leisure Time

Stop Reading Novels You No Longer Enjoy

First, select novels that dovetail with your interests. If you enjoy science fiction, don’t pick up a literary fiction novel. If you prefer psychological thrillers, don’t pick up a satire. You might ultimately enjoy literary fiction and satire, but unless you specifically intend to explore a new genre, it makes sense to stick to your preferences. Second, commit to jumping ship at the 25% mark if a book fails to engage you. If you don’t find a book engaging after a quarter of the way, you’re unlikely to find it engaging later. You might, but you’re better off cutting your losses and moving on. Third, when you find a novelist you enjoy, stick with him or her. Read everything written by that author. I’ve found that if I love one novel by a particular author, I’ll probably enjoy his or her other novels.