80/20 Principle

#hardwork #8020 #diligence #focus

Burnout is a major problem we face today. The push for people to work longer hours and be constantly available through technology has lead to a situation were people don't fully take breaks. It is so easy to just have your phone and be getting work messages when you are supposed to be relaxing. Although this might not seem like much, thinking or worrying about it can distract you and lead to less meaningful interactions with those you care about. We need to come up with a way to be more focused, while at the same time realize that there is a point where more time doesn't equal more results. This is the 80/20 principle, the idea that 80% of the outputs come from 20% of the inputs. Meaning that the 20% of meaningful work that you do is going to give you the majority of the results. Those emails sent at night when you aren't focused are not going to be effective in any meaningful work. It is better to protect your focused time without distractions to get the most done and make the biggest difference. Doing this will allow you to achieve most of the same results and to minimize as much of the busy work as possible. It will also help you to be able to focus on downtime and recharging so you can continue to be at your best. I've written this mostly from the perspective of working, but this can also be applied to every area of your life.