Get More Done by Working Less
Do you ever find that no matter how much more work you do you never seem to get to the bottom of your 'to-do' list?
Are you a busy bee going from flower to flower in the hope of finding a bit of nectar?
Well then let me introduce you to the 80/20 principle. This simple technique is what most of the highest achievers in the world use to make sure they get plenty of profits as well as plenty of time to relax and is one of the reasons why having a traditional 9-5 day doesn't work.
The 80/20 Principle
The theory goes that 80% of all work you do creates just 20% of the outcome and vice versa~ that means that a massive 80% of your profits come from just 20% of your work or customers. Sometimes it's even more extreme than that with some companies wasting up to 98% of their time and resources!
So how can you make this work for you?
- Take a long hard (honest) look at your business/day-to-day life~ with data if possible.
- Categorise and write down your products, services & marketing strategies which you have tried for at least 1 month, into each of the following sections... 'Popular/Very Profitable', 'Little Interest/Minor Profits' and 'No Interest/Outcome'.
- You will most probably find that the 'Popular/Very Profitable' catergory is the shortest and the other 2 categories combined likely make up to around 80% of your work, products & costs.
- Where possible use your data to compare and find patterns in the most popular category~ where is most of your traffic coming from? Who is your average customer (and hence your Target Market)? What are your most popular products/services? and so on.
- Focus your attention, time & resources on this top 20% and cut the rest. If you can't bring yourself to cut the entire other 80% then at least cut everything from the 'No Interest/Outcome' category~ it's wasting your time and remember being busy is not the same as being effective!
Have You Ever Tried the 80/20 Principle?
Why does it work?
By focusing your attention on proven methods (you proved them yourself!) and applying them to getting more of the same type of customer/profits you are directly targeting those that are more likely to hand over the cash rather than chasing 'anyone/anything in the hope of a sale' and by cutting out the work that wasn't generating any income you should find overall you'll have more time AND more profits.
This princple can actually be applied to pretty much anything and everything including your personal life. Do you actually need 80% of what you buy? Can the chores be done in just 20% of the time you normally take for it?...try it out it's fascinating and quite fun & liberating. Like having a Spring Clean of your life and business!
