I often talk about the 80/20 Priciple when working with people to determine their priorities and help them figure out how to get those priorities done. The 80/20 Principle, otherwise know as Pareto’s Principle, says that we get 80% of our results from 20% of the work that we do. If we’re able to identify the 20% of the work that yields the highest results, then we can focus on those tasks and figure out how to eliminate, delegate or otherwise reduce time spent on the rest.

Steven Covey has a great demonstration of what happens to the 20% if you “fill your bucket” with the 80% that doesn’t really matter as much.

So what are your big rocks? How will you make sure to get them done first, before you fill your bucket with the small pebbles? What strategies do you employ to focus on your priorities?