80/20 in your "day job"

[Ziv]

Hi,

I have been trying to implement the 80/20 rule in my "day job" and could not really find 80% of the inputs that can be eliminated.

Can you guys help me with some of your examples ?

The one example in the book is not very helpful in my case.

Thanks

[jonparker83]

Hi there,

Why not try looking at it the other way - Which inputs contribute MOST to your overall productivity??

It also doesn't have to be things you would initally think of such as actual tasks. For example, one of the biggest things that fits into the 80% is actually the act of switching between tasks, as this wastes a lot of time.

So try thinking along the same lines e.g distractions etc etc

Hope that is some help


Jon :)

[FrozenCanuck]

I'm with Jon on that comment.

Biggest wasters for me are (or should I say "were"):

1) interupting writing of a report to check on a new email
2) interupting writing to answer a phone call from an unrecognized number
3) interupting some online research to discuss unimportant (non actionable) industry news with a colleague

4) not having made a very clear to-do list and not-to-do list with 2 major tasks for each day (hence focusing only on non-important tasks)

5) not giving myself a TIGHT deadline to kick my butt into gear to deliver results

6) not batching "small stuff" together

Anyway, now I only check email 2 times per day at my desk, and on my BlackBerry when I'm in an elevator or on public transport since that is otherwise wasted time and saves me having to look at email while I am actually working. I batch my small tasks together and I always ask myself if I can give the task to an assistant or subbordinate. Then I look at my projects and figure out if any of the grunt work can be outsourced to India through a VA (making tables from publicly available data on internet, etc).

I figure that if people are HONEST, most "office workers" put in MAX 4 hours of quality work per day. If you actually did 4 hours per day with the tricks we talk about here, you'd be producing WAY more results than yoru colleagues. If you only wanted to match them, probably 2 hours is enough (and you are out of pocket a bit for a virtual assistant).

That's my take.

[final_id]

One thing I JUST CANNOT DO is work on something I "don't want to" work on. For whatever reason, procrastination techniques set in (some of them very productive! I actually get a lot done when I'm procrastinating!) when there's a task that looks to me like something "boring" or "this is what I planned to do today because it's on my list."

Things on my list are always the things I end up doing the worst on, doing last, hating doing. It's on the list because I didn't jump to do it immediately, it got pushed to the bottom of the pile ten times, I finally had to admit that it was part of my responsibilities, so I ... gasp ... WROTE IT DOWN. Things on a to-do list are THE WORST. Hate 'em.

[MikeFromMarz]

From my understanding the 80/20 principal applies far more to some work situations than others.

Somewhere in the book Tim talks about how he got a large amount of work done in a short time while working at an ice cream shop by doing it all at once (then got fired for doing nothing for the rest of the day.) He shows (between the lines) here how he was expected to "look busy" as part of this lower level job. Unfortunately, due to micromanaging in some positions and a constant flow of customers in others (like retail) it would be difficult to incorporate this principal into some of your job tasks as assigned.

Like Tim I would always try to find sneaky ways to get my work done fast/efficiently so I could goof off/do more important things when I was younger. Getting fired isn't bad ;) I still do a lot of work on my website/other muse(s) while at work. My own way of incorporating 80/20 into a job that doesn't allow it. Taking back my time, so to speak.