Imagine a curve that slopes down from a high point on the left
to a low point on the right. This is your “Productivity Curve.”
At the high end of the curve, the things you do have great
value. At the low end of the curve, the things you do have little
or no value at all.
Where you choose to work on your own productivity curve
largely determines what you will accomplish in your work and
personal life. Successful people discipline themselves to work
The Principle of the Mass—Concentrate Your Powers
at the top of the curve most of the time. Unsuccessful people
unwittingly allow themselves to slide down the curve. They
spend the day working at things that are not particularly
important or valuable.
Here is the key point. Whatever you do repeatedly
becomes a new habit. You either develop the habit of working
at the top of your curve, doing things that really make a difference
to yourself and your company, or by default you will end
up working at the bottom of your curve, doing things that
really don’t matter at all. The choice is yours. And you make
this choice every time you select a particular task to work on.
The Pareto Principle
Perhaps the most famous time management principle of all is
the Pareto Principle, first developed by the Italian economist
Vilfredo Pareto in 1895. After years of research, he concluded
that society could be divided into two groups, the “vital few,”
the top 20 percent who controlled most of the money, and the
“trivial many,” the bottom 80 percent who owned very little.
He concluded, and proved mathematically, that the top 20
percent of people in any society ended up owning 80 percent
of the wealth.
Further studies with the Pareto Principle have
shown that this ratio applies to almost any economic activity.
For example, 20 percent of your customers will purchase 80
percent of your products or services. Of all the things you sell,
20 percent contribute 80 percent of the profits. On your staff,
20 percent of your people will produce 80 percent of the
results that your company achieves.
In time management, the Pareto Principle says that 20 percent
of the things you do will account for 80 percent of the
value of all the things you do. The key to high productivity is
for you to identify your top 20 percent of tasks and activities
before you begin. It is then crucial to work on those “vital few”
single-mindedly all day long. You must simultaneously avoid
getting distracted by the bottom 80 percent of tasks that contribute
very little value to your life or work.
