How do you prioritize your work?

“Focus on what matters.” I wrote that on a single yellow post-it in 2016 and stuck it to the bottom of my computer monitor. I’ve brought the reminder with me to every new desk I’ve had, even giving it a permanent sign on the wall at my home office in San Francisco.

It’s a reminder of the 80/20 rule — 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. 80% of sales come from 20% of clients. 20% of employees are responsible for 80% of the results. 20% of tasks bring 80% of success.

Every day, I try to make sure I’m paying attention to that 20%. And it’s not easy to do. I’m guilty of spending too much time finding the right photo, nudging the image to be just right, spending too much on the wording of an email.

The details are important, but there are times where I feel that post-binge guilt for spending too much time on a single thing.

I ask myself a few questions to help me stay centered: am I being detail-oriented or detail-obsessed? Does the task I’m working on really matter or am I fidgeting with it because I feel like I need to be in control? And being fiercely honest about a question that’s really hard to be honest with myself about… does it really matter?

Katrina