20/80 principle and the ability to listen to your inner procrastinator

We used to take our enemy lazy and desperately trying to eradicate it in himself. Procrastinator lives in each person, and then you can act in one of two directions: to try to deal with their nature, or learn how to use this lazy for their own benefit.

In this article, Perry Marshall talks about the process for the conversion of internal procrastinator in his friend.

Ten years ago, my friend Bill told me, "Perry, I have an idea in a million for you, but on one condition. If you earn that million, then you will give 10,000 as charity city school. "

I agreed, and then Bill have on my ability to earn a lot of money writing and publishing books. He advised me to expand the field of action and to enter into a consulting business.

I decided he was right. And you know what? The most difficult thing was to force myself to start implementation. When I sat down at the table to indicate the details of the project, my inner procrastinator told me: "Wait a minute, why would you not go to the hairdresser?".

This procrastinator became for me a signal that I'm definitely on the right track. I decided to finish the project, and ultimately it doubled my income. The school received a check for $ 10,000.

I am a passionate fan of the 20/80 rule. This principle applies to many aspects of business and life, including in how we spend your time.

Pareto's Law, or the Pareto Principle, or the 20/80 principle - the rule of thumb, named after the economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto, in the most general form is formulated as a "20% of efforts gives 80% of the results, while the remaining 80% of the effort - only 20% of the results."

I've found that this inner procrastinator, if you carefully watch for him, absolutely accurately indicates the things you need to do.

20% of efforts gives 80% of the results - it works even when you prokrastiniruesh, and instead planned to start deleting old email or watering the garden.

In the end I had to shut myself in the library without access to the internet to write a marketing plan for a new business, which is so scared in my heart. Those demons knew in my mind that this is a good idea, and I decided to listen to them.

As soon as my inner procrastinator tells me to check Twitter or pat shirts instead of what I had planned, I know - what I planned to do, it is a good idea. And I switch on it.

It's not that we do not want to work. In fact, we are afraid of the work that will entail significant change. Many of us are afraid of success.

How to use internal procrastinator to their advantage

• Daily list. You wake up in the morning and make up a list of 10 things you need to do today. One item on the list will be 10 times more important than all the others, but we like to postpone such matters to then invent diabolically clever things to not start doing that very thing. Trust your instincts and do it. Today.
• procrastination demon detector works when you have to look at the whole picture. When you are fully engrossed in the work, you do not have time to stop and ask yourself: "What do I do next week to double sales in the next year?". You will pose on this issue. The more confused you will feel better. Things that cause the greatest internal discomfort, definitely more than others need your attention.
• Use free time correctly. I encourage employers to hire staff to service homes and personal assistants in order to free yourself from the routine. What do you do with those two hours, which could free up for yourself? It can be pointless to waste them, or you can think specifically of the business strategy.
• Perfectionism - the root of evil. Most of us soothe your inner fears and maintain their own mediocrity by bringing to the perfection of things that should not be committed. You spend 15 minutes to edit the email before clicking "Send". You can clean the machine 2 times a week. Often procrastination is not that you are not doing anything, and that you do mediocre and comfortable things for themselves.
• Add your to-do list item "Do nothing." I am a proponent of having a day off in the week. Instead, to check e-mail, one must create for themselves a space where they can meditate or do nothing at all. Your best business ideas come to you when you are not working. Hobbies, pleasurable, nourish our creativity.

All this I have experienced in my own skin. For many years I lived in the rhythm of the "gas to failure", I worked 7 days a week. And that led me nowhere, because I did not like what he had to do first.