Achievers have an eye for the essential. They have acquired the habit of aligning their long-term goals with their day-to-day actions. They are aware that while they can decide to do whatever they want, they cannot do everything. They live their days by Pareto’s Principle: a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards._1. Achievers focus their attention on what’s important, and say _no to other things so they can produce extraordinary results.
The key to modern productivity lies not in more exhaustive to-do lists, but in identifying what really impacts your work and focusing on those tasks. Efficiency is doing a thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing. Some things matter more than others. Focus on being productive, not busy.
- cfr Richard Koch, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More with Less. ↩