If you have too much to do and not enough time to do it, if your to-do list is never-ending and continually growing, if your “someday/maybe” list has cobwebs growing on it, the 80/20 rule can help.
Remember, it says, “a minority of causes, inputs, or efforts usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards.” So, the first thing to do is go through your lists and identify your 20%-ers.
You can do this in one sitting, once a month, or once a day.
Ask yourself, “What can I do today (this week, soon, next) that will deliver the biggest results?” or “What can I focus on right now that will bring me closer to achieving my most important goal?”
NB: The answer will often be something you’ve been putting off.
The next step: take everything else and eliminate it.
Delete or delegate. Or, if you are having trouble letting go of things, bury them–in another app, another file, or somewhere else you won’t see them.
Eliminating things is difficult for most people but it is key to achieving extraordinary results in your life. In Essentialism, Greg McKeown said, “It’s about making the trade-off between lots of good things and a few really great things.â€
And you need time to do the really great things.
Warren Buffett put it this way: “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.â€
What can you say no to today?
Say yes to referrals
