If there was a way you could go from making $3000 a month and working 40 hours a week to earning near 7 figures while working on 5 hours per week, would you be interested?

That’s the story of my business The Recording Revolution over the past few years.

And while that might seem like a stretch or a fairy tail, it has much to do with the power of Pareto’s Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 rule.

Today I want to show you how you too can earn more while working less, and how it’s not as hard as it seems.

Two Secrets About Work

First of all it’s important that you know two important secrets about work:

1. Not all activity is worthwhile
2. More hours doesn’t equal more revenue

I hate to break it to you, but not everything you do in your week is driving the business forward.

And throwing more hours at it won’t help either.

Those who don’t know (or believe) these truths fall prey to the #hustle myth and they commit to the only strategy they know of – working themselves to death.

I don’t want that for you and I certainly don’t want that for me.

Pareto’s Principle (The 80/20 Rule) gives us a powerful and more elegant perspective on work.

One that can actually set us free.

Simply stated, the 80/20 Rule tells us:

80% of your results (revenue, sales, growth) will come from 20% of your activity (and products, and strategies)

The ratio might be closer to 85/15 or 90/10 – either way it’s disproportionate, and that’s the point.

Remember, not all your work activity is equal (or worthwhile). Some things truly have more impact than others.

Two Questions and Two Lists

Doing a proper 80/20 analysis begins with two simple questions:

What 20% of my activities are creating 80% of my stress and frustration?

And the flip:

What 20% of my activities are resulting in 80% of my happiness or revenue?

Most business owners have never asked themselves these questions, and even fewer have taken the time and effort to dig deep and figure out the answers.

Taking the time to identify these things will give you two lists: a to-do list and a not-to-do list.

Literally you will know what few things you need to be doing every week to drive the business forward and what things you need to stop all together.

For me early on in The Recording Revolution I discovered that being in email, getting lost on Twitter, and dealing with customer support issues (like refunds or download links) was leading to all of my frustration and time drain.

On the flip – creating blog posts and videos, emailing my list, and shooting content for my membership site all led to the bulk of my revenue and I enjoyed doing those things.

Here’s a pro tip – jot down your not-to-do list and stick it to your computer screen or desk so you see it while you work.

Having it stare you down each day will be a form of accountability – a reminder of what NOT to do that day.

If you want to take a step further, have a timer on your phone that pops up every couple of hours during the day and asks you one simple question: “Am I being productive or just active?”

Or put another way –  “Am I inventing things to do in order to avoid the important?”

Eliminate, Automate, or Delegate The 80%

After doing a proper 80/20 analysis and creating your two lists, you should know exactly what activities need to be gone.

But what do you do with that 80%?

You have only three options: eliminate them, automate them, or delegate them to someone else.

That’s it.

And you want to treat them in that order.

Most tasks can simply be eliminated. No point in paying someone else to do them if they don’t really contribute to business revenue.

If the task simply cannot be eliminated, consider automating it (like an email auto-responder with FAQs).

And worst case, if it can’t be eliminated or automated, outsource it to someone and move on.

It’s worth noting that you likely will lose SOME revenue by eliminating these 80% of tasks (or products or services).

But what you gain in return is a lot of TIME!

This means you can double down on the 20% and theoretically double revenue – by doing less than half of what you did before! 

That’s the power of the 80/20 rule!

It shows you the truth, that most of what you do in your business isn’t important – so you can stop doing it!

This frees up time that can be used to either relax OR double down on the few things that DO work and create more revenue…while still saving time!

What Is Your 20%?

Earning more and working less is not a fairy tale.

It’s the product of strategic thinking and analysis.

By committing to 80/20 throughout your business you dramatically upgrade your quality of life (and bank account!).

Now I want to hear from you – can you identify what your 20% of activities are that lead to 80% of your business revenue?

Leave a comment below and share!