80/20 Rule of Time
Using Pareto's Principle to Write More in Less Time
By understanding when you are most productive, you can spend less time working, create great results, and spend time off guilt-free.
Pareto's Principle states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts, and that the reverse is also true: 20% of your results will come from 80% of your efforts. While you won't always see these numbers as exactly 20 and 80, the theory holds true. You will spend the majority of your day accomplishing very little, and a small portion of your day accomplishing quite a bit. You probably notice this the most when you're rushed, or hyped up on caffeine. It seems like under pressure, you get a lot done. But we can't always run off of deadlines and espresso. The next best option is to find out what we are most productive at and spend more time on it.
How can you find out what you're most productive at? Keep a log.
For a week or two, preferably two, log the time you spend on your writing activities. There are a few key details you will want to keep track of:
1. The project you worked on
2. How long it took you to finish/how much time you spent on it
3. What time of day you worked on it
4. A word count (just for doing the math)
5. How you felt at the time and any other extenuating circumstances
After two weeks you'll have a long list of projects and times. Start your calculations by changing all your times to minutes. For each project, divide the word count by your time, then multiply by sixty to get your word count per hour. For example:
1486 words / 137 minutes = 10.85 words per minute * 60 minutes = 651 words per hour
You should begin to see a pattern of productivity throughout your two week time. You may notice, perhaps, that you had bursts of productivity before breakfast on days you got up early, or after lunch for fifteen minutes. You might also notice that on Friday nights you accomplish next to nothing, or on Tuesdays between dinner and picking the kids up from karate. When you're tired, you will notice how much less you accomplish than on weekends when you spend two hours writing after a nap. Use this information to your advantage by scheduling your work during your most productive times and not working during times you accomplish nothing.
(Check out the Resources for Writers Blog for more info on how I use this data.)
Over time, things may change. As your kids get older and their school and activity times change, you may find yourself more productive at different times of the day. If you move, new weather and light patterns might change how you work. A new outside job might force you to switch from a night person to a morning person. Keeping an ongoing journal of your productivity can help you make changes throughout. By knowing when you are most productive, you can use your time wisely and participate in non-writing activities, guilt-free, throughout your day.
