The 5/95 Rule

I think the notion of a book tour is interesting because ideally, I would like to tour BEFORE the book comes out because the people I meet give me so many great ideas and help me refine my thinking. That said, it's having the book done that helps me get into speak to groups, companies, and associations.

Chicken and the egg.....

About 2/3 of the way through the tour I started thinking about and using the term the 5/95 rule. And I really like it because it stresses the importance of those little actions that catalyze BIG things. The 5/95 rule goes something like this:

You have heard about the 80/20 rule right? It's the notion that there is generally 20% (of effort, sales, customers, you name it) that produces 80% of the results. The top 20% of your actions produce 80% of your results. I think we are too busy for the 80/20 rule and it does not have the power to generate BANG! moments.

The 5/95 rule holds that most of the new momentum you experience toward your goals will come from a few small actions completed each day. Not counting sleep, we are awake for about 16 hours per day. 5% of that time is 48 minutes. If you are focused and in action for 48 minutes or less each day, these actions will account for the vast majority of your progress.

For all you numbers people out there, this is not scientific (and yes, I know that if I were talking apples and apples I would say the 95/5 rule, but I like 5/95 better - I like 80/20 better too, but I did not name that rule). I have seen (and experienced) that it's the small actions done each day that make the big differences. The 5/95 rule is a nice way to create a vision or story for how we can generate breakthroughs.

So:

Eat 40 grams of fiber a day AND
Do the 5% that will generate 95% of the momentum you need to generate breakthroughs.

Comments

[Scot Herrick]

This is a very interesting concept in today's "always on" world. I think the 5/95 rule is a great way to organize around the most important goal you have right now.

There is also a related concept that works with 48-minutes -- the 48-minute hour. The idea is to shut out all distractions, instant messenger contacts, phone calls and e-mail and just work one thing for the 48-minutes and then take a 12-minute break.

And because you mention the 80/20 rule, I can't help myself: using the 5/95 rule to get to 48-minutes working on your goal also results in 48-minutes being 80% of an hour.

So you really get back to the 80/20 rule all over again!

Good post; good concept here (and the book is good too; I'm in the process of reading it...)

[Lisa Haneberg]

Scott - it did not occur to me that 48 minutes was 80%....The notion of focusing for 48 minutes is right up my alley, though, it would be considered chunking, which I talked about in Focus Like a Laser Beam (other people call it other things, I certainly did not make it up).

Thanks for furthering the conversation, I like your thinking on this!

[Lori Richardson]

As an over-doer multi-tasker, I find 5/95 very refreshing, and in fact, what I often do to "really" get something done.

great insight.

Lori

[Lisa Haneberg]

Yep - I am in a 5/95 mode this week on a couple projects!