What?

Most people have heard of the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of your results come from 20 percent of your efforts. That's another way of saying 80 percent of the things you do every day don't really matter. A lot of extremely smart people have scientifically and mathematically proven it's a pretty accurate assessment of reality.

So What?

Although this rule sounds simple, it is one of the most powerful and overlooked time-savers and productivity enhancers available. It is often overlooked because it is very counterintuitive. As humans, we are hardwired to believe our results are equal to our efforts. For example, 50 percent of our results come from 50 percent of our efforts and 60 percent of our results come from 60 percent of our efforts, and so on and so forth.

Even when people intellectually understand the 80/20 rule, they often fail to translate it into changes in the way they behave on a daily basis. It is easy to recognize when someone else is wasting time and doing things that do not matter; it is not so easy to see this in ourselves. People continue to complain about not having enough time to get everything done and at the same time totally ignore the 80/20 rule.

Now What?

Here's an idea to try. If you work a typical eight-hour day…and if you get 80 percent of your results from 20 percent of your efforts…why not get real focused for 96 minutes each day (20 percent of eight hours)? Get a timer and set it for 96 minutes. Focus, without interruptions, on your No. 1 priority for the day. Try this as early in the day as possible, rather than getting bogged down with e-mails, voice mails and other things that are prime candidates for the 80 percent that doesn't matter. Many of my clients and friends have tried this idea and told me it works amazingly well. Try it for one week and see how well it works for you.

Start your day with 96 minutes of concentrated work on your highest priority. Most days, these 96 minutes will be more than enough to call it a highly productive and successful day.