The 80/20 Principle

Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. Goethe

The Top 10 low-value uses of time

Things other people want you to do
Things that have always been done this way
Things you’re not unusually good at doing
Things you don’t enjoy doing
Things that are always interrupted
Things few other people are interested in
Things that have already take twice as long as you originally expected
Things where your collaborators are unreliable
Things that have a predictable cycle
Answering the telephone

The Top 10 highest-value uses of time

Things you have always wanted to do
Things that advance your overall purpose in life
Things already in the 20/80 relationship of time to results
Innovative ways of doing things that promise to slash the time required and /or multiply the quantity of results
Things other people tell you can’t be done
Things other people have done successfully in a different arena
Things that use your own creativity
Things that you can get other people to do for you with relatively little effort on your part
Anything with high-quality collaborators who have already transcended the 80/20 rule of time, who use time eccentrically and effectively
Things for which it is now or never

7 Steps to a Time Revolution

Disassociate effort and reward
Give up guilt
Free yourself of the obligations imposed by others
Be unconventional and eccentric in your use of time
Indentify the 20 percent that gives you 80 percent
Multiply the 20 percent of your time that gives you 80 percent
Eliminate or reduce the low value activities

10 Golden Rules for career success

Specialize in a very small niche; develop a core skill
Choose a niche that you enjoy, where you can excel and stand a chance of becoming an acknowledged leader
Realize that knowledge is power
Identify your market and your core customers and serve them best
Identify where 20 percent of effort gives 80 percent of returns
Learn from the best
Become self-employed early in your career
Employ as many net value creators as possible
Use outside contractors for everything but you core skill
Exploit capital leverage