Planning is paramount to our daily lives. The ability to plan is perhaps one of the key reasons to the advancement of the human species. Thanks to this ability, we have developed an acute sense of foresight regarding events that are most likely to happen.
To put it simply, we subconsciously put our brains on planning mode, ranging from huge, complex tasks and down to the trivial, seemingly non-consequential matters.
For example, we googled for the best time to commute to work. We make a grocery list when we head down to the supermarket. We work out on our budget to ensure that we are able to financially sustain ourselves. In essence, we strive to plan for the best and prepare for the worst.
The downside of planning too much
However, too much planning can often lead to analysis paralysis. The consequences result in getting us drained and tax our mental willpower. For the chronic planners like me, uncovering too many “what ifs” is counter productive and ironically, conclude that it would be better off to not plan at all.
That’s when I uncovered the beauty of rule 20/80, that is 20% for planning and 80% for action.
The original concept is based on the Pareto’s principle, which defines as such:
80% of the effects are caused by 20% of the root cause.
I have used this technique for almost all of my well intended plans as I believe that this improves clarity of one’s mind and intention.
About 12 mins of planning can potentially result to an hour’s worth of productivity, or at least translate itself to improved time management.
This one rule has given a significant improvement on how I work my day. In fact, I get so obsessed with this that I even took about 10 mins (close enough) on the bed by visualise the actions that I would do.
A typical day goes like this:
- Wake up, make the bed (remember Admiral McRaven) and immediately take a shower. Oh yes, I’ll need to refill the body wash, but I haven’t bought any lately. It’s okay, I’ll just use the shampoo as one.
- Head to the kitchen and whip up...Scrambled eggs with toast? Okay, that will do.
- Let’s see… I have to fill up the gas on my bike and probably have to visit the petrol kiosk. I’ll need to take a longer route before I tango in to work at exactly 9.30 am, ready to rock and roll.
Visualising the above scenario improves my productivity. I use up less of my willpower -which, is a limited resource- and started with a much clearer head before I even begin my day.
It works for me and might work for you too. So why not give it a shot?
Thank you for reading.
