Do Less yet Achieve More

It’s out.

Imagine the following individuals quoting Pareto in their work. What might they say? (Yes, I have made these up…)

Paul McCartney: ‘You know, John and I wrote about two hundred songs together, but really, it’s forty or so of them that everyone remembers: Yesterday, Hey Jude, Let It Be….The rest? Well, they’re gorgeous, but those vital few are what changed everything. The trick is recognising your ‘Yesterday’ when it arrives at three in the morning.’

Isaac Newton: ‘In my investigations of celestial mechanics, I observed that a small number of fundamental laws govern the vast majority of natural phenomena. Three laws of motion explain countless movements: one law of gravitation accounts for both the fall of an apple and the orbit of the moon. Nature, it seems, is economical.’

Henry Ford: ‘I can reduce the manufacturing of an automobile to twenty critical operations. Perfect those, and 80% of your quality problems vanish. Most men waste time improving trivial steps. I improve the vital few.’

Neil Armstrong: ‘We trained for thousands of hours, but success depended on getting a dozen critical decisions exactly right. One small step-that single moment-defined the entire mission.’

Yoda: ‘Focus on the few vital tasks, you must. The many trivial things, distraction they are. Do or do not. But do the right 20 percent, hmm?’ William Shakespeare:

‘All the world’s a stage but mark me well-’tis but a handful of scenes that move the hearts of men. A thousand pretty speeches fade to nothing; yet ‘To be or not to be’ endures eternal.’ Marcus Aurelius:

‘Most of what we do and say is not essential. Eliminate it, and you will have more time and tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment: Is this necessary? Remove the superfluous, and you remove most of life’s obstacles.’

Steve Jobs: ‘Focus means saying no to a thousand good ideas so you can say yes to the great ones. We’re as proud of what we don’t make as what we do.’

Be Informed

It’s always good to know what you are talking about. For that reason, make use of AI. Of course it makes errors, of course it’s ridiculous at times and certainly it will take jobs. And those are some of the many reasons to use it and be informed.

Use it.

I use ChatGPT and I use Claude. I use them for research ‘tell me a little about Milan nightlife in the year 1952’. I use them for recipe ideas ‘I was thinking chicken and mushrooms….’. I use them for proofing. A few tips:

Insist on accuracy, sources and that the data has been double checked. For proofing insist that you only wish errors of punctuation grammar and syntax to be flagged. Do not (unless you wish it of course!) allow your AI assistant to mess with your tone, vocabulary, style or emphasis. A poorly briefed AI assistant will cause chaos!

I find with careful briefing an AI assistant can boost my productivity many times. Certainly I am learning a lot about the technology.

Go try it.

In The Pipeline…Coming Soon.

Do Less yet Achieve More The simple 80/20 principle that transforms productivity.

Once Upon a Time in a History Lesson

I must have been about 15 when our history teacher began his annual briefing on the forthcoming public exams. Mr Crowther covered familiar ground: three papers with different formats; read all the questions; remember to turn over and distribute your time against the marks awarded.

This was familiar advice, repeated before every exam and no bad thing of course for know-it-all teenagers.

But then he paused and said something that changed how I approached those exams and eventually work and life:

‘Finally, remember that examiners have only six hours to test what you have learned over two years. They cannot test it all and will not try. They examine what is crucial: the main themes, core concepts, and most important ideas.’

Mr Crowther never mentioned the term ‘80/20’; I suspect he was not formally aware of it.

That simple emphasis helped me succeed on those and other exams and shaped my future productivity strategies: focus on what matters most, since you rarely have time for everything. In the end, prioritising what truly matters is the key to meaningful achievement.

Coming soon: Do Less yet Achieve More. Kindle. Worldwide.

The Tools of Excellence

Number 32: The 99 Ice-Cream.

The 99-ice cream is time for a break.

A 99 ice-cream clearly isn’t a Tool of Excellence for nutrition: it’s one for joy. Sometimes excellence means allowing yourself to experience such moments without justification or guilt.

A good ice cream is a sensory delight: cold, sweet, creamy, melting on your tongue. It triggers endorphins, makes hot days bearable, and good days better. The British “99” with its soft-serve vanilla topped with a crumbly Flake is the classic example. Simple, affordable, and universally loved, it’s an iconic symbol of childhood holidays, beachfront promenades, and everyday indulgence.

The ritual matters as much as the ice cream itself. Walking to the local shop on a summer evening, choosing your flavour, and sitting on a bench watching the world while you eat slowly. A deliberate pause, a moment of presence and pleasure. I’m a rare ice-cream eater, and that’s what makes it an occasional, incredible pleasure especially after a hike.

Excellence isn’t relentless optimisation. It’s knowing when to stop and enjoy something delightful. Not every day. Not as a coping mechanism. But regularly enough to remember that life includes pleasure for its own sake.

One scoop. Pure enjoyment. Zero justification.

The other sixty-nine tools of excellence are here.

Uncertain Times

Never go away. Control what you can. Read widely the best literature for wisdom and comfort. Listen to the best music for mood management. Shop locally, enjoy cooking and eat well. Spend time with those who listen, support and create.

And walk daily, the greatest distance you can.