Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Parkinson’s Law

Because having few time helps us to use it and organize it more efficiently.

You don’t believe me? Ok. Answer the following question honestly: During which phase of a project do you achieve most of work? If your answer is “on the early stage” you are an extraordinary person (or a shameless liar). My short experience shows me most of us are more productive in the last 20% of a project…because of the fear of the deadline.

I remember when I was a student I always waited for the last moment to seriously start a project with always the same excuse ,“I have plenty of time…”. Result: I spent some nights working like a slave to finished assignments. It’s not a very good way to manage time but I learned a lot.

Why set very hard to meet deadlines

Focus on the necessary: we tend to prioritize better when we know we have few time to complete a task. As a software engineer, I always start to work on the killer feature of my application and leave secondary ones for later. Running out of time forces ourselves to focus on the 20% that matters.

Give yourself 8 hours to achieve a task and it’s gonna take you 8 hours. Give yourself 4 hours and you will complete the same task in 4 hours. (Tips for manager: realize this experience with your team members: ask two of them to complete the same task, one with a one day deadline and the other with a half-day deadline. I bet results are gonna be somehow similar). In fact, we have a unfortunate tendency to fill the void.

How I set deadlines

This is how I set deadlines. It’s not universal rule. I just noticed it works well for me. I call it “the 50% rule” (Yes I love percentages and numbers).

I try to think objectively about how much time I need to achieve the task. I find an appropriate amount of time. I eventually set the deadline at 50% of this time. That’s it.

And you how do you manage deadlines?

photo credit: TLMELO

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80/20 principle can also be applied to a field where numbers are generally not applied…like relationships.

Yes, relationships area is all about emotions and feelings but I am going to show you 80/20 rule may help you in this domain also.

Review your social circle

As usual with the 80/20 principle we are going to make a rough analysis. Think about all your friends and social circle members and rapidly estimate time and feeling for each relationship. When do you feel good, happy? Who make you often get frustrated or angry?…

Of course you can take paper and pencil and write down every feeling about you friends and family. Personally as I told you in a previous post I am rather a “80/20 thinking” person and don’t waste too much time to make full analysis…especially when it’s all about emotions.

Once we will be done with the quick review some evidence will become clear.

Find out fulfilling and toxic relationships

I know relationship field is not easy to handle and everything is not black or white but thanks to that you will detect toxic relationship. I mean relationship where you invest time on but that does not make your feel good or happy. Get rid of them (or at least invest less time) and on the opposite spend more time with your most valuable friends.

Thank you Scott for the post.
photo credit: Meredith_Farmer

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Some time ago I realized something that changed my life : I cannot control everything.

I used to like to control every part of  my life. I mean I needed to control every situation, every given moment, even control people (bouhouh)… Basically I leave nothing to chance, I prepare for every meeting, every trip, every second. Or at least I tried.

Being willing to control your life is great….

I always thought I could control my own life, my destiny. I don’t believe in a superior authority that decide for me and make my life.

This is a very interesting point and the first step towards a happy living but an extreme behavior it’s not good neither. Some control is OK, too much is not.

…but stop to try to control everything.

Trying to control EVERYTHING is a huge waste of energy. There are elements you have few or no impact on. You cannot control the weather, you cannot control others thoughts and feelings, you cannot control others actions…

Rather than focusing on most things I cannot control I redirect my energy on the few I can control: I can control my thoughts and feelings, I can control my actions and choices…

When I am in a tough situation I asked myself the following question :

Is there something I can do to improve the situation?

• If the answer is YES I figure out what aspects I can control and work on them.
• If the answer is NO I stop worrying about that. As a result I don’t think anymore about issue I have no impact on, my mind is free to tackle real problems I can control.

I am not going to talk about percentage today. Maybe the part of “controllable items” represents 20% of my thoughts or actions (maybe more, maybe less). In fact I don’t know and I don’t care. What I know for sure is that in focusing on things I control I can have a huge and beneficial influence on my life (and on others’ I guess).

Next step would be “How to ignore difficult situations?”…This is going to be the topic of a next post.

photo credit: *MarS

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Having dreams is good. But knowing how to make them true is still better. Too often dreams are unrealistic projects into a corner of our brain. Transform your dreams into actionable items can help your to become what your really want.

Having dreams vs having goals

I don’t know if there is a big difference between goals and dreams but I’m inclined to believe that if you see your life as dreams you will never do anything to make them come true…because this is the definition of dream: something not very real.

On the other end imagining goals as reachable destinations may help you to make them fulfilled. It’s not a magical formula but it’s a good start: Being aware that your dreams can come true…

Step 1: Transform your dreams into goals

I make a big difference between goals and dreams: For me goals are measurable, dreams not…

Example:

• Being a professional poker professional is a dream. Earning 60000$ a year playing poker is a goal.
• Being a basket-ball coach is a dream. Coaching the high-school team of your town is a goal.
• Being a runner is a dream. Effectively running a marathon is a goal.

Got it?

Don’t forget to put a deadline. Becoming a poker player in 40 years is not interesting. Try to earn 5000$ by the end of the year playing poker is better.

The first step to live your dreams is to transform them into goals defining precisely what they are. Your goal must be measurable.

Step 2: Divide your goals into small tasks

I studied IT project management and one of the first thing you learn when you start a big project is to break it up into smaller subprojects. Then you take these subprojects and divide them into smaller tasks. Do it recursively until each task is well-defined and simple enough to be performed easily in a short amount of time.

Why do that:

• Because you have a better overview of your project and don’t feel overwhelmed. Smalls tasks seem more easy to complete than the whole project.
• Because you can organize and plan your work easily.
• Because you can measure progress and see how far to the objective you are.
• Because you get ahead once step at a time and don’t tackle several problems in the time.

Your goals are your life projects. You are your own project manager. Apply the same method to make them come true.

Example: You want to learn how to play guitar. This project divided into small steps could be:

• Google to find guitar teachers in your neighborhood.
• Call 2-3 potential guitar teachers.
• Choose one.
• Buy a guitar
• Take 2×2h class per week

Apply the 80/20 principle and eliminate every step that doesn’t make you immediately closer to your goal and keep only high-priority tasks. In the example above buy a guitar is not a priority because you can actually borrow a guitar to someone you know and wait. Like that you will gather information and advice from your teacher that help you to choose a good guitar.

Step 3: Take the first step NOW!

Once your life project is well-defined and broken up into small steps, focus on the first step and do it NOW. Don’t spend to much time looking for information online or into books. It leads to paralysis and you will never start. Tim Ferriss in his book The 4-Hour Workweek gives a great advice: Find someone who’s already done it, ask for advice and how to do the same. You will save a lot of time.

photo credit: Pensiero

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Keeping my life simple helps me to calm down my mind and focus on my goals. Some people like to be busy and overwhelmed, they think they exist. Unlike them I truly believe that simplifying my life allows me to see well and make better decision.

Here is how I avoid complexity and enjoy my life.

Why we usually love complexity

Complexity is challenging. So we are inclined to complicate everything in order to make our life exciting. However complexity doesn’t bring happiness, it fights boredom but instead of making us fulfilled complexity makes us overwhelmed.

In companies, managers love complexity because it gives us power and control about their job and coworkers. High salaries have to be justified. Nevertheless they will be more efficient and effective making processes and structure easier to understand.

Before to revolutionizing professional environment I’m gonna tackle personal issues.

Simplify my mind

Thinking about how my stress is related to the 80/20 principle I identified :

• 80% of my stress comes from 20% of my life
• 80% of my stress comes from 20% of my relationship
• 80% of my customers requests came from 20% of my customers.

I first think “How can I get rid of this 20% that pollute my life?” Some are easy to avoid but it’s hard to disconnect from every problem (dealing with your rebellious teenager son for instance). So I decided to focus on the few things I can control and try to follow some principles.

Zen my mind

Zen attitude is trendy nowadays but I don’t speak about meditation, yoga or relaxation. I just talk about stopping to occupy my mind with low importance stuff.

First step I try to keep everything out of my mind. I have a powerful memory but trying to remember everything tire me out (and sometimes I forget things). So I write down everything….todo tasks, ideas, piece of information. I eventually setup a trustworthy system that allows me to keep a trace of everything that cross my mind. It’s a rule advised by David Allen in his Getting This Done book, put everything in you inbox in order to free you mind.

However you need to trust your inbox system (if not it’s useless since you will still be worried about forgetting anything). My system is a mix between software Evernote and my phone when I’m away from my computer. (I should use more often the Jott.com’s voice-to-text services linked with Evernote). You should find the system that fit your way of life and needs. It could be a notebook you carry all the time or your iPhone.

Disconnect with what you don’t want

Don’t hate, ignore

Sometimes the easiest solution is to run away from the source of the problem. All your issues at work come from one coworker, try to no longer work with him. One of your “friends” brings drama, stop hanging out with him (even though I try to talk before to find a solution.) …

I cannot always stir clear of every problems but some of them don’t worth energy and time I could spend to solve them.

Accept and deal with

If there’s no solution, there’s no problem.

This is a quote from The Shadoks, a famous old cartoon in France. I don’t know if my interpretation is correct but this is what I think:

Problems exist because you try to solve them. If you stop trying to solve them it’s no longer problems. You can’t apply this every time but I used to look for solution when there were no issue. I learned how to accept and deal with some of my worries. I cannot control everything, I just focus on what I have the power to change.

Simplify my environment

Everything I talked about in previous paragraphs are also applicable with objects. I never liked to get tons of bibelots that pissed me off every time I need to sweep them up. I try to keep my closet simple and useful and don’t keep clothes or stuff I don’t use anymore (move out every six months helped me to get rid of my old stuff). I’m not a huge fan of gigantic house where you spend most of your time cleaning it.

I’m a kind of practical guy who enjoy simple environment. It makes my mind peaceful and give me more time to activity that matter. Less things to think about, less things to clean or repair, just the essential.

And you? How simple do you like your life?

photo credit: moogs

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Living the 80/20 way means be more efficient and effective perfoming tasks. One activity I used to waste a lot of time is email management.

These are the rules I encourage myself to follow in order to not be overwhelmed by emails.

Step 1 : Use Gmail

Gmail is THE service provided by Google you cannot ignored…after research of course. I don’t dislike the other webmails but Gmail features are so complete and make your email management much easier and faster.

I like Gmail for:

• The powerful search engine
• The possibility to fetch emails from external accounts
• Labels and filters
• Conversation threading system
• Hotkeys
• …

Step 2 : Group all my emails into the same inbox

I stopped checking several emails inboxes. It’s a waste of time. To do that Gmail provides a great feature: get email from external accounts. Go in the settings of your Gmail account then in the Account tab. In the Get mail from other accounts part click on Add another mail account. Enter email address, username and password. From now Gmail will check this external account periodically and it will display emails into your normal inbox. There is only one limitation: your external account needs to use POP3 protocol, Hotmail don’t for example…

Thanks to this feature I have centralized all my email in the same place.

Step 3 : Delete, delete and delete again.

The goal is now to keep in my inbox only the bare minimum.

I delete every emails I won’t need later. Example: As a Amazon customer I receive occasionally by email special offers. If I’m not interested by products advertised I delete the email, if I am I check Amazon Web site and delete the email once it’s done because I will probably not need it later.

Keep only emails that contain useful information.

Step 4 : Archive aggressively

I keep in my inbox only immediately vital emails, I archive the rest.

I keep visible emails I need to answer or that contain immediately useful information.

I archive emails that contains useful information I will probably need later. (Ex: A link I want to remember, an address, interesting conversation etc…). When I need it I use the powerful search engine to find it. Don’t forget research is the main job at Google.

Now I have in my inbox only actionable messages (pending answer…) or immediate added-value. My mind is no longer overwhelmed by tons of useless emails.

Step 5 : Subscribe only to indispensable alerts and newsletters.

This step is not about how to manage emails efficiently but about attacking the cause of the problem, reducing the quantity of useless emails I received.

I unsubscribed to almost every newsletters. To do it I follow the following rule:

I ask myself: “Does this newsletter worth the five minutes I spend to read it?” If I hesitate more than 3 seconds I unsubscribe.

I think about it also before subscribe to a new one. Most of the time I think about ten seconds and don’t subscribe eventually.

Moreover most of social network Web sites have alerts feature every time someone add me as a contact or tag me on pictures. I’ve deactivated all these notifications that bring no value. To do it yourself just go in your favorite social networks into settings panel.

Step 6 : Use labels and filters

Labels in Gmail work as tags. I use labels to organize emails and find them faster. I create label for projects or specific topics. The main advantage in comparison with Outlook-like folders system is I can apply several labels to the same message. Thus, I can tag an email “Project A” and “todo” for instance.

Filters are automatic actions achieved according to criteria. I use them to automatically apply a label when I receive emails from specific people or directly archive some emails without displaying it in the inbox.

Step 7 : Batch your email session

I used to be an emailaholic, checking my inbox every five minutes, waiting for important messages. This method is not very efficient.

A much better solution is to check new emails only twice a day. (11am and 5pm for example) and process all my message in one session.

When I process my emails I follow the two minutes rule from David Allen (author of Getting Things Done). Idea is simple : if I can answer within two minutes I do it immediately and archive the message. If I need thinking or research that can exceeded two minutes I keep it in my inbox and label it in order to find it more easily. Then I process next email and get back to the previous one later.

Step 8 : Answer briefly

I try to answer emails in five sentences maximum. That forces myself to be concise and only get to the heart of the matter.

I don’t like five pages emails and prefer when people get down to basic essentials. So I try to do the same writing only short and useful content. I said “try” .

What do so think about my email management method?

Source: Problogger, The 4-Hour Workweek, Getting Things Done and Problogger again

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Mind map is a amazing tool I do use everyday to plan, learn or solve problems. They use the wonderful power of your brain to help you think.

How is related with 80/20 principle? Because few keywords, lines and drawings will make you remember or think about a huge amount of information. Let’s go further…

What is a mind map?

According to Wikipedia a mind map is:

A diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea.

photo credit: Richard Scott 33

Modern mind map concept was invented in the 70’s by Tony Buzan, a British psychologist specialized in memory, learning and brain. For him a mind mapis a visual representation of what is going on into our brain. Mind maps are created around a central word to which associated ideas are added. Indeed our brain uses mostly association and visualization.

Different elements make a mind map more ‘attractive’ for our brain. Tony Buzan recommends to use curved lines, colors and drawings to make associations and memorization easier.

Uses of mind map

Mind map are mostly use to organize ideas, structure our thinking, classify knowledge or simulate memory and creativity. It’s also helpful in learning, decision making or problem solving.

We can find a lot of practical applications daily: notes taking, planning, meeting or presentation preparation.

This following mind map summarizes main possible uses:

I’m gonna focus on one I’m familiar with: taking notes class. I was still a student two years ago and of course I needed to understand many concepts and assimilate a lot of information. I was not a huge fan of scribbling away dozen sheets of paper during one hour class. So mind map became an ideal tool for me:

• First, mind map focus on keywords. Thus I spent less time writing and more listening to lecturers.
• Then, reviewing my notes and adding ideas took less time than reading three sheets of paper.
• Studying before a final exam for example took also less time. Indeed I didn’t need to review a bunch of sheets but only one mind map. At a glance I reminded course structure and main concepts.

Here is a mind map I did during a Software quality management class. You can see I don’t follow every mind map recommendations. In fact I didn’t have my color pencils with me.

Your brain is extraordinarily powerful (more than you think ). You just need to help it get started…this help is called mind mapping.

Mind map limitations

You cannot apply mind map principle with any domain. Hierarchic organization doesn’t fit every problem. You should know that and don’t believe mind map is THE magical solution.

Nevertheless even for situations mind map isn’t recommended you can use some mind map principles like using color to stimulate your brain.

Mind mapping computer software

Despite my technology fanaticism I’m pretty old-fashioned about mind map: I prefer handmade ones rather than use software. I believe it’s more lively and much more creative. Above all I can practice my great drawing skill. Yeah I swear ;).

However you will find a lot of software to draw your mind map on your computer. Here is a list:

Web application:

• MindMeister The one I use
  
• Bubbl.us
• Mindomo

Free software :

• FreeMind
• Cmap
• Vym

Commercial software :

• NovaMind
• MindManager
• Inspiration
• ConceptDraw MINDMAP
• OmniGraffle

I didn’t test every software. Let me know if I forgot some and feel free to give your feedback if you use one of them.

Conclusion

This is a video of Tony Buzan who explains mind map concept, basic rules, memory… Nothing beats the master explanations.

I will publish soon another post with different examples of mind maps like planning mind map, meeting mind map, presentation mind map… See you then.

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If you are reading Unbalanced Man blog I’m pretty sure you face personal finance issue. Almost everybody does. (Although I’d like to have no money concern).

In this series I will share tips on how to apply the 80/20 rule to save money daily. I don’t pretend to know everything in this topic but I will give some advices and thinking that may help you. I will be also very interested to hear your way to save money.

The first post will discuss the following statement : 80% of your expense amount come from 20% of your expense area.

The full series of saving money applying the 80/20 principle is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

photo credit: kiki99

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I’m gonna give away a secret: You are already an expert in a bunch of areas. Feel free to think the opposite but check this post out, you may change your mind.

What is an expert?

According to Wiktionary an expert is

A person with extensive knowledge or ability in a given subject

OK…but what does extensive mean? Does it mean an expert needs to know everything about a topic or just a lot? In this case what is a lot?

To answer these question I’m gonna quote Tim Ferriss who give his own definition of expert in his book, The four-hour workweek:

First, “expert” in the context of selling product means that you know more about the topic than the purchaser. No more. It is not necessary to be the best.

Get this definition out of the selling context and you will discover the secret: You are an expert in a given area because you know more than most people.

Example: I’m fond of computer since I’m a kid. I started to play on Amstrad CPC, having just learned to walk. I had my first PC in 1990, when I was 6 years old and I continued to fuel this passion until today. I remember when I was a teenager, I spent more time in front of the computer than in front of my school textbooks, people around me always ask me questions about computer. I was not an expert but family and friends always come to me when they had computer related questions or issues. Why? Because for them I was an expert. Even if I was not the best one I know more in this topic than them.

How to become an expert

Accepting the fact you are already an expert in some areas you can apply this method to increase your knowledge in these fields or become an expert in a new domain.

Learn a few about a topic and you will know more than 80% of people about this topic.

• Read and understand top-selling books on this topic: It is the easiest way to learn. Ask a librarian or just look up on the Web using Amazon or Google. In a couple of hours you will know more than most people.
• Start a blog: Blogs are not only run by expert, they may help you to become one of these experts. In writing a blog you will need to search information or share with people. In a couple of months not only you will be an expert but also you will be regarded as an expert by readers of your blog.
• Attend a class, seminar or conference about this subject: One of the best way to become an expert is to learn from other experts. Check the course directory of the nearest university.

Assignment for today

Identify your domain(s) of expertise

Take a piece of paper and a pencil and keep thinking during five minutes about your domain of expertise. Which topic are you expert in? Answering this question is simple, you may try to answer the following question: what do you do regularly?
If you do gardening for instance I’m pretty sure you have already read a magazine about that or discuss with other gardeners. You are a so a garden expert.
If you listen Jazz music and you are able to identify different jazz styles or artists you are a jazz expert.

Feed and improve your domain(s) of expertise

1. Go to the library and find out the two or three best-selling books in your topic. Read and understand them.
2. Look up for one or two blogs written by other experts in this domain. Subscribe to them using RSS or Email.
3. Attend a seminar or conference in  the university or college close to you.

I did the first part of this assignment few months ago and these are my domains of expertise :

• Technologies (Computer related stuff, programming, Web…)
• Mac/Apple
• Sports (Running, Football, Soccer)
• Blogging
• Relationship/Seduction
  
• Personal development
• Electronic music
• Learning
• 80/20 Principle

And you? What are you expert in?

photo credit: bondidwhat

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In his book, The 80/20 principle, Richard Koch shows there is two ways to understand and live THE rule: the 80/20 analysis and the 80/20 thinking.

On one hand the 80/20 analysis is a kind of scientific approach, you collect data, analyze them and try to find a 80/20 relationship between two different set of data. This relationship will allow you to make efficient decisions.
On the other hand 80/20 thinking calls for you intuition: no numbers, no calculation. You know things are not fairly distributed, so try to identify the minority that matters and downplay the rest. You don’t care whether it is a 80/20 relationship or a 90/15 or even a 75/25. The point is focus your energy, your time, your skills to get maximum result, work, rewards.

Why is 80/20 thinking important?

You don’t always have data: 80/20 analysis needs data. If you are a sales person and want to examine your work it’s easy to collect data about your customers and sales amount and analyze them but in plenty of other situations you cannot get data easily. For example you want to setup a new habit to get back in shape. In this case it is much more tough to determine how much food, exercise or rising early contribute to your goal.

You don’t always have time to analyze data: The goal of the 80/20 approach is to make smart decisions. Sometimes smart decision means quick decision. In some case you cannot wait a couple of weeks to gather data and spend one hour analyze them deeply. You need to get to the point fast. Using your guts, your logical to define what are the small amount of input that leads to great result.

Make the 80/20 thinking an habit

Think the 80/20 way is not natural. We would like to think the world is balanced and fair but the key is that not all things are equal, some contribute more than others. Not every work hour has the same impact, not every unit of your energy make you reach your goal in the same proportion.

You need to train your mind to identify things that matters.
Here is your assignment for today (and more) : every time you do something, try to figure out if yes or no your action is going to have a big impact. If the answer is no can you avoid it or minimize it?
But be careful several actions cannot be avoided: you have to pay your bills or do your laundry for example…
After some time asking yourself this question you will do it automatically and without thinking about it.

Your feedback

I will be interested to get your feedback about this topic. Are you more 80/20 thinking or 80/20 analysis? And why?
Don’t hesitate to give your opinion also if you just start your journey into the 80/20 principle world ;).

photo credit: khalid almasoud

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