In the past two months, I’ve read 37signals’ ‘Getting Real‘ and (re)read Tim Ferriss’ ‘The Four Hour Work Week‘. The overarching takeaway, seems to be the fanatical application of the Pareto principle.
A variant of 80-20, much easier to apply to mundane, near-subconscious situations every day is to ask ‘does it matter in the larger scheme of things?’ (define ‘larger scheme’ as applicable). Do I overtake that slowcoach in the fast lane from the left? Does it matter in the larger scheme of things? Should I microwave the water first so I can set up the coffee filter in parallel? Does it matter in the larger scheme of things? Should I boot up my computer first so it downloads email while I check up on the team? And on and on. It gets easier if you ask yourself.