簡單有效提高效率：用80/20法則優化任務清單
Many time management systems encourage you to waste time. Here's a simple way to spend time more wisely.
許多時間管理系統在鼓勵你浪費時間。在這裏要告訴你一個更明智地管理時間的簡單方法。
Rethink Your 'To Do' List
重新思考你的任務清單
Unfortunately, most time management is involves "to do" lists, which tend to treat the 20% of your work that really matters as equal to the 80% of things that don't. Having a simple list of things to do almost forces you to waste time doing stuff that doesn't really count.
很不幸，大部分時間管理都包含了任務清單，而這種方式把佔你20%光陰的重要工作和那些佔據你80%時間的無關緊要的工作都一視同仁。非常簡單地列一個任務清單幾乎相當於強迫你在那些不值得的東西上浪費時間。
That's true even if you prioritize according to importance. Plenty of important things take so much effort that, in the end, they're not worth actually doing.
即使你按照重要性劃分了優先級也還會如此。那些重要的工作佔用瞭如此多的精力，以至於到最後它們變得根本不值一做。
Here's how to use the Pareto Principle to manage your time more effectively.
以下是如何使用帕累託原則來更高效地管理你的時間。
When you make a "to do" list, prioritize each item by the amount of effort required (1 to 10, with 1 being the least amount of effort) and the potential positive Results (1 to 10, with 10 being the highest impact.)
當你製作任務清單時，把每個項目按照所需的精力和潛在收益劃分成10個優先級（1到10，1爲最少）。
Now divide the potential results by the amount of effort to get a "priority" ranking. Do the items with the lowest resulting priority number first. Here's a simple example:
現在，用潛在收益除以需耗費的精力來獲得一個“優先度”排名。優先做哪些優先度數字最低的工作。如下例：
Task 1: Write report on trip meeting.
任務一：就旅行會議寫一份報告。
Effort=10, Result=2, Priority=5
精力=10，收益=2，優先度=5
Task 2: Prepare presentation for marketing.
任務二：準備營銷陳述。
Effort=4, Result=4, Priority=1
精力=4，收益=4，優先度=1
Task 3: Call current customer about referral.
任務三：和當前客戶通電話討論推薦人問題。
Effort=1, Result=10, Priority=0.1
精力=1，收益=10，優先度=0.1
See your new priority-based order? You do Task 3 first, Task 2 second, and Task 1 last–if at all.
看出你新的優先度排名了嗎？你要先做任務三，其次是任務二，最後做任務一。
This simple method ensures that the 20% of your effort that really makes a difference always gets done first. As for the 80% that doesn't really matter, it's automatically postponed, and possibly tabled forever.
這個簡單的方法能確保你20%的精力花在那些確實能創造些變化的事情上。至於那80%不重要的工作，它們會被自動推遲，可能被永遠擱置。
I know this all sounds pretty simple; even simplistic. However, I can tell you from my personal experience that there has been nothing–and I mean nothing–that has added to my personal productivity than this kind of prioritization.
我知道這聽上去相當簡單，甚至有些過於簡單了。但是，我能用我的個人經驗告訴你，沒有任何其他調整優先級的辦法比這個辦法更好地提高了我的個人工作效率。
