One of the most common attributes of every successful person I know, is that they focus their energy and time intelligently.
They don’t waste major time on minor things.
The Pareto principle famously said that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. In reality, it could be that 80% of our results come from 10% or 30% of our efforts, however, the concept behind it is sound. Our job then, is twofold.
- We need to discover what the key activities are that produce the highest return for us.
- We need to ensure that whatever happens, these activities get done before we start on lower value tasks.
Failing to invest your time correctly, means you run the risk of mistaking movement for progress. I know many small business owners, who work hard and often long hours too, but they achieve very little. They are like the guy rowing his boat with all his strength in the wrong direction. The harder he rows, the more lost he becomes.
We have to be wiser than that.
We have to examine what we want to achieve and then determine what the key activities are, to get us from where we are to where we want to be. Once you know what these activities are, you need to ask yourself the following question throughout the day:
Is this the best use of my time right now?
If the answer is yes, then carry on. If the answer is no, then go and get to work on a more worthy use of your valuable time.