“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” 

We draw wisdom from the genius of Socrates. The structure and organizational skills of the masters inform and educate us. In 1906 two giants, one American and one European developed theories and plans to increase productivity and enhance time management.

In the 1906 in Western Europe a French/Italian named Vilfredo Pareto set out to study the distribution of wealth in Italy and found that a few families owned most of the wealth of the country. More specifically he found that there was an imbalance in that 20% of the families owned about 80% of the wealth creating an unequal distribution. Pareto was an economist but he also noted that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. Others found this to be the case in many situations and many countries so the 80/20 rule was formulated and ultimately named after Pareto. It became a rule of thumb after it was obvious that 80% of a company’s complaints came from 20% of its customers and 80% of a company’s sales come from 20% of its sales staff.

The 80/20 Pareto Rule in relation to time management: there is imbalance in what we do and what we achieve. 80% of what we achieve comes from 20% of what we are doing. Therefore, that is the equivalent of getting everything done in just one day of work and the rest of the week only tiny amounts get done. This is a major concept and one worth intense study.

The concept or principle applied means spending more than 20% of your time on what really matters creates better time management resulting in a huge amount of increased productivity in both your personal life and business work programs. The trick here is identification of what matters and application of prioritization to omit imbalance.

In 1906 in America a Princeton University graduate named Ivy Lee was setting the stage for becoming the founder of American public relations and publicity. In the process, his methodology created amazing productivity in the workplace. Mr. Lee established a philosophy called Declaration of Principles and along with his business partner George Parker they formed Parker and Lee one of the first public relations firms in America. Parker and Lee met working for the Democratic Party in the Presidential Election of 1904.

Lee was first hired and worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, then was hired by Charles M. Schwab. Mr. Schwab was president of Bethlehem Steel. Mr. Schwab asked Lee to consult on better productivity at Bethlehem Steel. It was at this point Mr. Lee who was operating his own corporation developed and introduced the Ivy Lee Method. Ivy Lee was so confident of increased productivity that he made the deal with Mr Schwab not to pay him for three months and only if the method worked effectively.

The Ivy Lee Method of increased productivity and Time Management:

1. At the end of each day write down six tasks you need to accomplish tomorrow.
2. Prioritize these tasks in order of importance, not if they are easy or fun.
3. When you begin focus only on the first task until you complete it.
4. Repeat the rest in order from the list.
5. Move anything not completed to the next list.
6. Repeat the entire process.

Mr. Charles M. Schwab sent Ivy Lee a huge check three months after implementing this plan at his corporation. That check for $25,000 would be equivalent to half a million today. Mr. Charles M. Schwab is not Charles R. Schwab from the brokerage fame. What are the odds of two men with the same name becoming billionaires?

Time Management:

1. Ponder the organizational skills needed to increase productivity.
2. Visualize the tasks to be completed.
3. Prioritize the plan.
4. Metacognitive techniques and routines should be incorporated.
5. Procrastination needs to be omitted or controlled.
6. Clear the chatter in your head: meditate and single task.