Another great bit of wisdom that’s come out of reading Deep Work is the 80/20 rule, formally known as the Pareto Principle and also known as the ‘Law of the Vital Few’. The rule is as follows:
Roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
Through the context of Deep Work and business, the rule can be interpreted a few different ways:
- 80% of our delivery is produced in 20% of our time.
- 80% of our revenue is generated through 20% of our efforts.
What if instead of trying to be/do everything we simply focus on the 20% that’s extremely high-value, whether it be how we spend our time or revenue sources?
Another way to think about it: What constitutes the 80% of our time/energy that is of little value/consequence and how can we remove that from our day-to-day?