Learning to Focus on The Critical Few
In my most recent newsletter, I wrote an article entitled The Critical Few, about Pareto’s 80/20 rule (link to newsletter), which basically posits that 80 percent of your achievements come from 20 percent of your efforts. If you’re a glass-half-empty person, you could interpret that to mean life is full of a lot of wasted effort. But if, like me, you’re more of a glass-half-full person, you’d be more apt to realize this concept could help you stop running on a treadmill and really move ahead in your career and personal relationships—in life!
As I pointed out in the article, this is clearly a critical concept in terms of health and safety. If you can learn to focus attention and energy on those issues most important to the health and safety of your people—the 20 percent of issues that will have the most impact—you can save money and time AND go a long way toward creating a safer environment.
But, ever since I wrote the article, I’ve been thinking about all the other ways following the 80/20 rule could improve our lives as individuals and communities/societies. I mentioned a few of these in the article, but thought I’d take this opportunity to jot down a few more:
Personal Relationships: The old adage, “You can count the number of REALLY good friends you have on one hand,” has never been truer. It’s important to spend the precious free time you have with the friends that add the most to your life. That will enrich your life immeasurably.
Family Time: Focus on those activities that bring your family together and offer chances for communication. For some families, that means nightly dinners. If that’s not possible, a weekly game night may offer the chance to come together as a family.
Leisure Activities: What do you need most to accomplish in those scant hours off you have every week? Is it physical activity to help stay in shape? Quiet time and relaxation to recharge your batteries? Figure out what’s most important and refuse to spend your free time any other way.
Housework: Is it really important that your house is perfectly clean at all times, or should you focus on organizing your household so you and your family can live with less stress? And, by spending less time on unnecessary household tasks, you may have time to cook a few of those special meals your family will remember.
Extending the rule to the political/social realm, our leaders would do well to apply the 80/20 rule to the way they govern. Societies everywhere would be stronger and healthier if the people in charge focused attention on the really important issues in people’s lives—like health, education and good jobs.
I’d love to hear your ideas for improving life through the 80/20 Rule. Please email me at firstbesafe@shaw.ca
Barb