Concentrate on Results, Not on Being Busy | Time Management

This year I am going to be vigilant on improving my personal time management skills in order to be more effective. I need to have a shift in focus so I can "concentrate on results, not on being busy." Sometimes I feel bombarded inside a frenzy of activities, which achieves little because I am not focusing on the right things. I need to spend time on high payoff tasks that achieve the greatest benefit possible. I learned something today called The 80:20 Rule.

The 80:20 Rule

This is neatly summed up in the Pareto Principle, or the '80:20 Rule'. This argues that typically 80% of unfocused effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently as to be the norm in many areas.


This applies to my business.
You know 20 percent of your stock takes up 80 percent of your warehouse space and that 80 percent of your stock comes from 20 percent of your suppliers. Also 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of your sales staff. 20 percent of your staff will cause 80 percent of your problems, but another 20 percent of your staff will provide 80 percent of your production. It works both ways.

20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources.

I have got to learn to work smarter and not so inefficiently, so that I can be on the right side of  The 80:20 Rule. Here are a couple of things that help me.

1. Making lists
2. Prioritizing 
3. Having a routine
4. Setting time limits
5. Organization
6. Delegating/Outsourcing
7. No waiting/procrastinating

Now that I am running a business, time really is money, so these are just a few things that help me stay on top my game. I try to live a stress free life and waiting until the last minute to do something is a great stress inducer, so I DON'T DO IT. Give yourself enough time to do things correctly the first time and relax and enjoy these activities; live in the moment and be present in your own life. It helps me.





Enjoy!

As always, be well
Dannette