Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 50 seconds
Not every task is equally important.
A small number of actions often produce the biggest results.
Identify those actions and simply do more of them.
Here is today’s Wisdom Made Easy visual:
Pareto's Principle, often called the 80/20 Rule, suggests that around 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts.
It's not a mathematical law that everything abides by, but it's a useful way of thinking.
In many areas of life, a handful of actions make the greatest difference.
We often feel the pressure to do more, more, more, but the challenge isn't doing more.
It's identifying what matters most and giving those tasks your best energy.
Today’s Saying is:
"What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important."
If you’re familiar with Eisenhower and the Eisenhower’s Matrix, you’ll know that this person had a great framework for identifying what deserves your energy.
The Eisenhower Matrix helps you to see clearly the difference between what’s important and urgent, because they’re not the same thing.
To learn more about this, check out this collaboration I did with Sahil Bloom here.
One of the easiest mistakes we can make is confusing being busy with being effective.
We have all had to learn this lesson the hard way, right?
We answer emails, attend meetings, tidy our desks and tick off small task, but we sometimes avoid the handful of things that would make the biggest difference.
Pareto's Principle is a helpful reminder to ask yourself:
"Which few actions create the majority of my results?"
If you want to get better at applying the Pareto’s Principle in your own life, here are 3 helpful reminders:
Identify your highest-impact activities.
This might be easier said than done, but consider looking at your calendar and what you’ve done over the last week: the meetings you’ve attended, the tasks you’ve completed, the people you’ve met, the emails you’ve sent and so on.
In your work, what 20% of tasks create most of your value?
In your relationships, which conversations strengthen them the most?
In your wellbeing, which habits have the biggest impact on your physical, emotional or spiritual health?
Take a moment to identify what this looks like for you.
Protect your best energy.
Don't give your freshest hours to your least important work.
If you’ve already identified the high-impact activities, schedule your most meaningful tasks when you're at your best, rather than squeezing them into whatever time is left.
Eliminate or delegate the rest.
Not everything deserves your attention.
Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is say no, automate it, simplify it or stop doing it altogether.
I’ll be sharing more about this in an upcoming WISER, but there is a distinct difference between possibilities and priorities.
Just remember that a meaningful life isn't built by doing everything, but it's built by consistently doing the right things.
Let’s dive deeper into today’s wisdom with these 3 journal prompts:
What 20% of your daily activities create most of the value in your life?
What low-impact tasks are consuming more time than they deserve?
What is one high-impact action you could prioritise this week?
Today’s resource is The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch.
This classic book explores how Pareto's Principle applies to business, productivity, relationships and everyday life.
It will help you identify the few things that matter most so you can spend less time being busy and more time making meaningful progress.
I usually encourage you to support your friendly local bookstore when purchasing a resource recommendation, but if you struggle to find this one, you can buy it online here:
⭐️ Rate This Week's Newsletter!
If you have any feedback on the WISER Newsletter, I would love to hear it! Simply reply to this email, and I will get back to you. Alternatively, just DM me on social media.
Catch you in the next issue!
Thanks,
Michael