You may have heard of the 80/20 rule. AKA the Pareto Principle – simply put 80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs) for any given event.. One way of looking at is that eighty percent of your income will be generated by twenty percent of your actions. For most business owners that means they’re filling their days with tasks that aren’t truly valuable.
In business, a goal of the 80-20 rule is to identify inputs that are potentially the most productive and make them the priority. When you know what these tasks are, you’ll be able to make smarter business decisions. These are the questions you need to ask yourself to determine if a business activity is truly valuable.
At its core, the 80-20 rule is about identifying an entity’s best assets and using them efficiently to create maximum value.
Can this task be done by someone else?
Your most valuable tasks will always be the ones that can only be done by you. If you’re a New York Times bestselling author, then your most valuable task would be writing. If you’re a coach, your most valuable task would be coaching your clients.
If you’re working on a project and there are elements that someone else can do, don’t be afraid to outsource. By outsourcing, you’ll be able to concentrate on bringing your very best work to the project.
Does this task make me money?
Your most valuable tasks are income generators. This is important to understand because many business owners spend too much time on activities that aren’t profitable. Tasks like spending two hours fussing over your Facebook header or nitpicking the colors of your website are not producing income.
If a task doesn’t earn you money, then you need to ask if this is something that truly needs to be completed by you. Outsourcing mundane tasks lets you focus on big picture tasks that increase your income.
Am I energized by this task?
Your most valuable tasks are the ones that energize you. If you love a task and it fires you up, chances are high that it’s a valuable task. Most business owners dread the small, mundane tasks because they already know these tasks don’t matter that much.
When it comes to activities that you don’t enjoy, you need to evaluate whether they even need to be done in the first place. It could be that you’re holding onto outdated advice or that your business has changed so much that you no longer need to do this task.
At the beginning of each new year, you should evaluate your work, looking for the truly valuable tasks that are on your plate. Don’t be afraid to let go or outsource your eighty percent tasks so you can embrace your twenty percent ones.
“If we did realize the difference between the vital few and the trivial many in all aspects of our lives and if we did something about it, we could multiply anything that we valued.”― Richard Koch
