The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of our results come from only 20% of our work.
We are all just so BUSY doing, doing, doing! But what are we actually spending our time on?
Are we working on tasks that are really helping us reach our goals? Or are we just fiddling with things that won’t add much value?
I was recently drafting an email to send to some colleagues. There was a paragraph in the email that didn’t look, well, quite right. I wasted a good 20 minutes messing about with it. I didn’t NEED to do that, the email communicated the message I wanted to get across, it was FINE! I could have just sent it as it was. But no, I had to get it just right.
The Pareto Principle was spot on when I think back to that example!
So, why do we spend so much time on this stuff that isn’t really helping us get where we want to be? For me, it’s that old frenemy – perfectionism!
If I hadn’t been so intent on making that paragraph read just that little bit better, I probably would have had more time to work on the passion projects and the exciting stuff that gets me out of bed in the morning!
Sure, some things are worth spending the time on and obsessing over.
I think about the academic articles I’ve written, and the hours I’ve spent reshaping and rewording them to get the points across succinctly and clearly. That’s worth doing. Those articles are published in academic journals, people read them. I need to convey my arguments in an accessible, helpful way. I want others to benefit from my work and use it to advance their own understanding. It’s important to get that stuff right.
But an email to five people about something that no one will even remember next week? NOT so much of a big deal!
Maybe smashing through the Pareto barrier is about sometimes saying ‘it will do’, ‘it’s fine’, ‘it’s good enough’. It might not be excellent or incredible, but it’s not appalling or rubbish either. It’s sufficient, satisfactory. Does everything you produce have to be perfect? No! Will it matter a year from now? No!
What assignments are you working on at the moment? When you’re working on them, what things are you doing that aren’t really adding much value? What could you be doing instead?
For example, are you hunting high and low for a quote that will make that paragraph look great? Could you do that later, and focus on writing the next paragraph now?
Being aware of our “waste of time” activities can be really valuable, Once we identify what they are, we can look out for them and nip them in the bud before they steal away even more of our time!
Could you spend 5 minutes making a list of the things you tend to drift into? The next time you sit down to do an assignment, pull that list out and look out for those red flags!
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