Richard Koch opened the doors of perception with his lucid and entertaining work "The Pareto Rule". Quite simply he dusted off the work of this long-forgotten Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto and applied it to modern business life. If applied consistently to all aspects of life - from the personal diary to the office to factories and automated systems - the Pareto rule promises and delivers a quality revolution.

The Pareto rule - also known as the 80/20 principle - famously shows that 80% of the outputs derive from 20% of the inputs. The economist Pareto came across this serendipitious discovery while researching land ownership in 18th century England and found - to his undoubted amazement - that it applied to all manner of causal relationships. Basically, 80% of the effort in any field of endeavour will yield only 20% of the results, and vice versa. This has two stunning conclusions. First, that the majority of things we do have little or no impact and can quite possibly be safely abandoned. Secondly, the 80/20 Principle teaches us that the few things that we do really well and add huge value should be maximised, stretched, expanded and developed.

This makes sense at both a logical and an intuitive level. If someone has a natural talent, then time they spend washing their socks or doing household chores - in fact anything that could be outsourced - is a waste of time. People should play to their strengths and identify skills that really are had to replicate and add value big time.

So how can people simply apply the Pareto rule to deliver sustainable and revolutionary results. Richard Koch's war-cry is clear - we need not time management, but a time revolution.  This is not a case of fiddling about with new-fangled organisers or systems. It's not about better filing systems, endless Outlook folders or colour-coded folders. It's about re-evaluating what works and what doesn't. Start from first principles and identify what those critical few items are, that according to the scientifically proven law of the Pareto Principle, consistently deliver successful outputs. Now go forth and multiply them!

photo credit: stars.alive

In this high paced technological society we now have, many people have become concerned with their ability for getting things done. Specifically there is a system by David Allen called "Getting Things Done." Perhaps you are one of the people who believes that if you simply employed a better system, then you would accomplish more, and have more time available to do the things in life that you enjoy.

However, I believe that the entire philosophy of doing more and more is the very source of the problem that so many are having with their lives. I encourage a mindset of focusing less on being productive and finding "hacks" for being more efficient, in favor of focusing more on enjoying the process of everything that you do.

I have found the the real key to getting things done is to simply find your flow. This means accessing the flow state. Some people call it being "in the zone," or "finding your groove." No matter what you call it, there are a few common traits that are involved in reaching a state of flow.

In order to get a state of flow, first you will need to stop trying to multitask. I know this goes against so much of what is put out there in terms of efficiency tips these days, but you simply cannot do more than one thing at a time anyway. You might as well do one thing at a time, do it fully, do it well, and do it to completion. Then move on to the next task.

You will need to attack every task that you do with all of your mind and body. By doing this, you will find that you actually just lose track of time, and finish before you know it. Since you are not being distracted by interruptions and worries, you will also improve efficiency by about double.

The best thing of all is that the state of flow is energizing, so rather than draining all your energy trying to keep up with doing ten different things at once, when you are finished work, you still have a great deal of energy available to enjoy your family and friends.