Where does the time go? Do you feel confident that the majority of your time is spent effectively growing your Business, or does it feel more like your time is scattered across a variety of activities and you are just trying to keep up?  We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It’s not how much time you have, but how you use your time that determines whether or not you are successful. In order to be successful, you need to keep your time and energy focused on your most important money-making activities. This is where the 80/20 principle can help us.

The 80/20 principle says that 20% of your efforts will drive 80% of your results. We can see examples of this in all aspects of life, from Business and economics down to what clothes you wear. Picture your  clothes closet for example, and think of all the shirts you own hanging in a line. Would you say you wear all your shirts equally, never wearing the same one twice until you have worn every shirt once? More than likely, there a handful of shirts that you wear quite often, and quite a few that you hardly ever wear and probably should get rid of.  This is the 80/20 principle in action!  This principle was first discovered by Vilfredo Pareto in 1896, he observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Since then, this principle has been observed across many industries and facets of life. But how we can take this principle and become more effective with our time and further grow our Businesses?

Let’s look at this principle as it applies to real estate. It’s likely that 80% of your Business comes from 20% of your clients. To more effectively manage your time and energy, you should actually spend as much time as you can on that 20% of your clients, because it will yield back the most results.  Do you have a to do list for today? Take a moment to analyze which of those tasks are the most important, not just necessarily the most urgent. Focus on doing the most important activities and either delegate the rest or let them go. 

Be productive, not busy. Try using the 80/20 principle today and think about how you can budget your time, money, and resources to focus your efforts on the activities that drive the majority of your results.  The bonus is that you will actually feel like you have more time and more energy when you focus on what is most important first!