Midweek Special: Book Summary Series One (Cont'd)

CHAPTER THREE: APPLY THE 80/20 RULE TO EVERYTHING

Aww...welcome back!!!

So, here is the popular 80/20 rule also called the Pareto Principle. It is one of the most helpful of all the concepts of life and time management. The principle says that 20 percent of your activities/customers/products or services will account for 80 percent of your results/sales/profits respectively.

Keep your focus on tasks that are more important. The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and complex. Once you actually begin to work it, you will be naturally motivated to continue. The rewards are however tremendous. Resist the temptation to clear up small things first!

Effective and productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task; they force themselves to eat that frog

Start to think about starting and finishing an important thing or task because it motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination.

Effective and productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task; they force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is, therefore accomplishing vastly more than an average person.

Eat that frog!

CHAPTER FOUR: CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES

Every action taken has its own consequences either good or bad. It is however observed that successful people have a clear future orientation because they think a long time into the future.

People who take a long view of their lives and careers always seem to make much better decisions about their time and activities than people who give short or little thoughts to the future.

There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.

It is quite important to have a clear idea of what is really important to you in the long term as it makes it easier for you to make better decisions about your priorities in the short term. Thinking continually about the potential consequences of your choices, decisions, and behaviours is one of the very best ways to determine your true priorities in your work and personal life.

Obey the law of forced efficiency which says "There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing".

You can keep yourself focused on these three questions on a regular basis. They help to ensure maximum productivity.

• What are my highest value activities?
• What can I and only I do that if done well, will make a real difference?
• What is the most valuable use of my time right now?

The more accurate your answers to these questions are, the easier it would be for you to set clear priorities and overcome procrastination.

CHAPTER FIVE: PRACTICE CREATIVE PROCRASTINATION

Yeah!...you heard it right... Procrastination 😄 You might be wondering if the author is confused or...maybe you're confused as well 😂. Take a chill pill, we're still on point.

Creative procrastination is one of the most effective of all personal performance techniques...CREATIVE...🤔. The fact is that you can't do everything you have to do, you have to procrastinate on something.

The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on. Procrastinate on small tasks! Eat the biggest and ugliest frogs before anything else.

One of the most powerful of all words in time management is the word NO! Say it politely, say it clearly to avoid misunderstandings. Say no to anything that is not a high-value use of your time and life.

The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.

Most people engage in unconscious procrastination and therefore procrastinate on the big, valuable, and important tasks that can have significant long-term consequences in their lives and careers. You must avoid this at all costs.
Continually review your life and work to find time-consuming tasks and activities that you can abandon.

Remember, say no to anything that is not of value.

See you next week.

P.S Your comments motivate me, be generous about it 😉