3 Productivity Hacks To Work Smarter Than 99% Of People

“How to 80/20 your work:

(1) Make a list of the 10 things you spend the most time on.

(2) Circle the two that truly drive your results. Do more of those.

(3) Look at the others. Eliminate ruthlessly. Automate or outsource what you can. Press pause on the rest.

(4) Repeat.”

The "80/20 principle" for founders

Traction: 80% distribution, 20% product

Growth: 80% retention, 20% acquisition

Revenue: 80% existing customers, 20% new leads

Pricing experiments: 80% positioning tweaks, 20% actual price changes

Brand building: 80% customer experience, 20% logo design

Sales: 80% listening, 20% pitching

Community building: 80% empowering... See more

If you get 10% more done and 1% better every day compared to someone else, the compounded difference is massive.

You can get to about the 90th percentile in your field by working either smart or hard, which is still a great accomplishment. But getting to the 99th percentile requires both—you will be competing with other very talented people who will have great ideas and be willing to work a lot.