This is the sixth week of the ten week series entitled “10 Weeks to Supreme Productivity.” This week, I explore another way you can be smart in your work environment by having you apply another simple gem: the 80/20 Rule. Also known as “Pareto’s Principle,” the 80/20 Rule helps you manage your life for maximum results. This rule was first stated by Italian Vilifredo Pareto, who noted that 80% of Italy’s wealth was held by only 20% of its people.

Week #6 Tip: Apply the 80/20 Rule

Subsequently, this “80/20 relationship” has seen a much broader application. The essential premise is that only a few of a large number of root causes will account for the vast amount of a particular result. Simply applied, 80% of your revenues will come from 20% of your customers; 80% of your personnel issues will come from 20% of your employees; and 80% of safety infractions will come from 20% of the possible violations. This rule shares the same beautiful attributes as our previous focus: the Hawthorne effect. Each principle is simple; each is free; and each is incredibly powerful in enhancing your productivity.

So how can you apply this rule? What if you focused your time and energy on the types of customers (the top 20%) that yield 80% of your revenue? And when dealing with a problem, what if you focused on remedying the 5 suspected root causes that would give you the biggest immediate bang for your buck? Not all actions give you the same benefits, and not all meetings are equally important. Figure out what actions or activities are important and do those things more often.

I remember having safety issues at the mining company I ran. I used the 80/20 Rule to solve the problem. I took the list of “the top 20 violations” from the Mine Safety and Health Administration website, and we proactively sought out and prevented those violations which accounted for about 80% of the total fines assessed by the agency. By ensuring that those top twenty violations didn’t occur (out of the hundreds of potential violations out there), we ended up with MSHA’s highest safety rating, and very few citations.

So tip #6 is to apply the 80/20 Rule: figure out what actions, activities, and meetings that maximize your results, and focus on those items. Minimize or eradicate your less productive actions, activities and meetings. The end result: greater productivity with less effort! (And, maybe, more time off.)

Next Week: “Do the Worst First.”