Why the 80/20 Rule Isn’t Enough

In the business world, the 80/20 rule is pretty well known. You may also know it as Pareto’s principle, which is the idea that 80 percent of what you do is of very low value. And 20 percent of what you do is the percentage that really makes a difference in your business growth trajectory. I would go even a step further and say that in reality, it’s more like 20 percent of that 20 percent that really makes a difference, but as a business owner, you can’t stop there.

Value Your Time

Everything you do throughout the day has value. You have D-level tasks that don’t make any difference in your bottom line and are the lowest value items on your list. Then you have C-level, which are good tasks but still not the best use of your time, and then you have A and B which make the biggest difference on your bottom line. Figuring out where all your tasks fall on the A, B, C and D scale is the first step to becoming more productive and growing your business. You should immediately take the D-level items off your plate and delegate them to someone on your team. Then you should try to delegate your C and B-level tasks. And that is where the majority of business leaders usually stop with this exercise. They focus on the A and some B-level tasks and think that their job is done.

6 Months From Now

But doing the exercise once isn’t a good plan. Because over time you not only start to see more C and D levels creep back into your daily to-do list, but as you grow as a leader, more and more things should move down the list. An item that was once a B-level task, might become a solid C or D a year down the road. As you focus more on the things that matter most, your priorities and the way you handle your time should also change. So, for the best benefit you want to look at your task list every few months, and prioritize accordingly.