Being Effective vs.Being Efficient

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"It is vain to do with more what can be done with less" - William of Occam (1300-1350), originator of "Occam's Razor".

Have you ever been in the situation where you have a major project that you want to carry out, but can never quite find the time to get moving on it? We each get the same 1,440 minutes each day. What's important is what you do with your allotted time. Do you use your time wisely?

Very often the projects we are putting off are essential to the future success of our work or business. We frequently know exactly what we want to do and what we need to do in order to achieve it, but somehow find it very difficult to make the connection between the idea in our minds and the reality of actually taking day-by-day action to get it done. 

A lot of this difficulty we have in introducing a new project is due to the fact that during the day we spend our time on, checking email 30 times per day, doing repetitive tasks or requests that need to be completed but often interrupt high-level work, meeting, discussions, phone calls and email that are unimportant, etc.


Pareto and his 80/20 principle.
In 1895 in Italy, an economist named Vilfredo Pareto discovered a principle that has had an enormous impact on economics and business ever since. The mathematical formula he used to demonstrate a grossly uneven but predictable distribution of wealth in society - 80% of the wealth and income was produced and possessed by 20% of the population. This is now called "Pareto's Law" or the "Pareto Distribution", in the last decade also popularly called the "80/20 Principle" and it has proven to be universally valid in virtually every study of economic activity.


When I came across Pareto's Principle, I decided that I was going to do whatever it took to get into the top 20%. The next morning, I began to analyse my business and personal life through the lenses of two questions:

• Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
• Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?

For the whole day, I put aside everything apparently urgent and did the most intense truth-baring analysis possible, applying these questions to everything from my friends to customers and advertising to relaxation activities.  The goal is to find your ineffectiveness in order to eliminate them and to find your strengths so you can multiply them. The next day, I made several simple but emotionally difficult decisions that literally changed my life forever and enabled the lifestyle I now enjoy.


So Why Is This Useful?
The Pareto Principle helps you realize that the majority of results come from a minority of inputs. Knowing this, if…

• 20% of workers contribute 80% of results - focus on rewarding these employees;
• 20% of bugs contribute 80% of crashes - focus on fixing these bugs first;
• 20% of customers contribute 80% of revenue - focus on satisfying these customers.

The point is to realize that you can often focus your effort on the 20% that makes a difference, instead of the 80% that doesn’t add much.


7 Tips of Being Effective vs.Being Efficient

Ask yourself:
1. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
3. Ask yourself: What are the top-three activities that I use to fill time to feel as though I've been productive?
4. If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?
5. Make a list every day, before you begin work. Organise your list on the basis of the 80/20 Rule. Select two or three tasks that are potentially more valuable than any of the others.
6. Put a Post-in on you computer screen or set an Outlook reminder to alert you at least three daily with the question, "Am I being productive or just active?"
7. Do not multitask. If you prioritize property, there is no need to multitask. Eating while doing online research and answering emails at the same time just doesn't work.
Remember: most things make no difference. Being selective - doing less - is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest. Don't feel rushed - lack of time is actually lack of priorities. And take time to stop and smell the roses.

If you want a Business Acceleration session of how you can use this in your business, please Click here to schedule a call with me.

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