Denise Brouillette

Got so much on your spinning plates that you'd like to just toss the entire set of china out the window? You're not alone. Everyone is on overload. Especially with the economic situation we're in, the work that 10 people used to do is now piled on the plates of 4 or 5.

It's no surprise then that this might be a perfect time to revisit the 80/20 rule. To make your life easier and more manageable, it may be time to clear out some of the metal clutter so that you can focus your attention on the vital few things that are the most important. To remind us all about what the 80/20 rule has come to mean, it's that small amount of effort (20%) that's responsible for most of the results (80%). Or, less is more.

This all began when Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who died in 1923, discovered that 20 percent of Italy's richest people owned 80 percent of the land. He then concluded (he used a logarithmic formula -- smart man) that this distribution follows a regular pattern everywhere in the world. Joseph Juran (b. 1904), the quality control guru of our times, spoke of the "vital few and trivial many" referring to the 20% of a population that are always responsible for 80% of the results. Once again, less is more.

Now the 80/20 rule doesn't mean, as some incorrectly would have us believe, that it's about operating at the "B-" level or delivering just 80% of the needed results (you remember how a B- is figured in school; who could forget???). Nope. We can deliver 100%, but we don't have to kill ourselves doing it. If we're wise (aren't we all wise in some way or other?), all we need to do is figure out how we can get that first, fabulous 80% with only 20% of the effort. Yes, if we could only figure out the right 20% to focus on, we could all stop flailing our arms and getting nowhere.

Clear the Mental Pathway. Figuring out the right 20%, or the "vital few" and letting go of the stuff that doesn't matter all that much is a good start. But in order to SEE what the "vital few" are, we need to have an unobstructed mental pathway.

Step 1.  Make a Personal Commitment.  So here's that first step on the road to living the 80/20 rule: make a commitment to yourself to clear up the clutter and chaos (C&C) in your life. What do I mean by C&C you ask? C&C are a product of everything we put up with or tolerate in ourselves, in others, and in everyday situations. They're things like the every-day petty annoyances or the unspoken communications that we just can't let go of thinking about. If avoided, they float around in the gray matter and knock into one another like a bumper car pile up. With that kind of brain activity going on, it's no wonder we can't focus in on what matters.

Step 2.  Take an Inventory. Once you've made the decision that you'd like to clear up some of the C&C in your life, the next step is to take an inventory of the trees strewn across the road called MY LIFE - those various forms of C&C that you are putting up with in yourself, from others or from situations and that keep you occupied some or most of every day. Think about conditions that are not the way you would like them to be, where you say 'yes' to when you would prefer to say 'no,' and/or those things that are undone/incomplete. This ranges from things like putting up with a messy garage, to having a less than satisfying relationship with a parent/friend/spouse.

Step 3.  Rate the Items. You don't need to show this list to anyone. Who'd want to see it anyway? So go ahead and list everything. Clear your head; get it all out on paper. Once that's done, rate each one according to the mental burden you experience with each where a 5 is anything that seems 'almost overwhelming,' to a 1, which is 'practically insignificant.' 

Step 4.  Get a Removal Plan Going.  For those items that are rated 1, 2 or 3, get a removal plan going right away. For those rated 4 or 5, consider an incremental plan and designate a completion time which can be as long as you are comfortable with. 'Years' might be a little too long though.  Do this for a month or so and see what happens.  You'll be surprised at how much mental space you actually are able to access and then how easy it will be to see what's truly important in your work and in your life and make room for it.