80/20 Rule
Thanks for all your great responses to last blog's question (both privately and on the blog). I'm glad to know many of you are interested in the creative process!
Ever heard of the Pareter Principle? It explains how successful results come from 20% of your hard work and the other 80% is just wasted effort. In business this is a well known principle and has been proven true time and time again. As writers I think we can all relate to this principle whether it's wasting time on chores that don't really need to get done or wasting 80% on starting numerous writing projects without getting any of them completed. Boy if we could just foucs on that 20% all the time how wonderful that would be!
The question is - "How do you know what the 20% is that will get you results without having to waste the other 80% to get there?"
Calm your mind. Pure and simple. When you are calm you develop 20/20 vision and can see which actions will give you that 20%.You can calm your mind before you decide what needs to be done in a day, or which projects to work on, with meditation, deep breathing, soft music or any number of calming activities you enjoy. In one sense Julia Cameron's daily pages serves to accomplish this task, I know many of you love to write daily pages and swear by them.
Just a thought. Being more productive with your time will help you get those projects completed.
Ever heard of the Pareter Principle? It explains how successful results come from 20% of your hard work and the other 80% is just wasted effort. In business this is a well known principle and has been proven true time and time again. As writers I think we can all relate to this principle whether it's wasting time on chores that don't really need to get done or wasting 80% on starting numerous writing projects without getting any of them completed. Boy if we could just foucs on that 20% all the time how wonderful that would be!
The question is - "How do you know what the 20% is that will get you results without having to waste the other 80% to get there?"
Calm your mind. Pure and simple. When you are calm you develop 20/20 vision and can see which actions will give you that 20%.You can calm your mind before you decide what needs to be done in a day, or which projects to work on, with meditation, deep breathing, soft music or any number of calming activities you enjoy. In one sense Julia Cameron's daily pages serves to accomplish this task, I know many of you love to write daily pages and swear by them.
Just a thought. Being more productive with your time will help you get those projects completed.
posted by Victoria at 2:09 PM
3 Comments:
Now that's great advice. I'm just starting to realize that, also--I take time each morning or each evening before bed to relax and figure out what needs to be done. It helps me to focus and not spend time on things that don't matter, but I'm still struggling with being distracted during the day. :)
Camy
Good advice, Victoria, thank you. I can see where focusing our minds and organizing our activitied would help, instead of allowing ourselves to be pulled in multiple directions at once.
I have quiet time in the morning, but I'm thinking of ending it now with time spent considering my day and what needs to be done.
Thank you!
It's called the Pareto principle after it's promulgator Vilfredo Pareto.
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