The underlying concept behind every piece of timemanagementadvice you’ve ever received is that you should spend more focused time on what matters most and less or no time on distractions from what matters most. The trouble is that that choice is rarely black and white but, rather, filled with all sorts of things that matter in different shades of gray. You need a way to think about these shades. The 40-30-20-10 rule will do that for you and give you a framework for allocating your time.
The 40-30-20-10 rule: Spend
- 40% of your time on your most important priority
- 30% on your second priority
- 20% on your third
- 10% on everything else combined
Inherent in this are choices around 1) focusing on your top three priorities, 2) prioritizing within those three, and 3) setting aside some time for everything else – but not too much time.
Focus on your top three priorities
A million years ago I was asked to manage a team of five people. The first week I asked each to lay out his top three priorities for the week. Each of them came back with 10-12 priorities. Try as I did, I could not get anyone to take anything off his list. But I was able to get each team member to highlight the three most important.
The next week I asked each how he’d done on his top three priorities. Each had completed one or two of the top three. None had completed all three. In each case the explanation was that the man had had to work on something else on the list, which he wanted to tell me about.
I wasn’t interested. I was only interested in talking about how each did on his top three priorities.
After a couple of weeks of this, each of them were listing only three priorities each week knowing that was all I was going to let them talk about.
And then a funny thing happened. Instead of their collectively working on 50+ things each week and completing few of them, they started completing a combined 15 priorities each week. The morale of the story is that focus produces results.
Prioritize within your top three.
The 40-30-20-10 rule suggests you should spend twice as much time on your first priority as on your third. All animals are created equal. Some are more equal than others. Generally your top priority is going to have much more impact than anything else you do. It’s your top priority for a reason. Move it from being theoretically important to practically complete by investing time against it.
Time for everything else – but not too much time
The math is simple. If you’re going to devote 90% of your time to your top three priorities, you can devote only 10% of your time to everything else. There are two parts to this 10%.
First, it is 10%. You’re unlikely to be able to spend 100% of your time on your top priorities. There will always be some relatively unimportant person (like your boss, board chair or top customer) who thinks you should pay attention to what matters to them. Of course you should. Hopefully what matters to them has made it into your list of top priorities. But, if it hasn’t for any particular stretch of time, you must set aside some time to react to their needs. If you haven’t, it’s going to come out of time you’d set aside for really silly things like sleep.
Second, it is only 10%. Think about this. If you’re working a 10-hour day, it’s one hour. This means you’re going to have to deal with priorities number four through forty, all your administrative duties and others’ distractions combined in an hour a day. You can do it if you choose to do so by masteringthe art of delegation. And you should.
FAQs
Prioritize within your top three.
What is the 40 30 20 10 rule of time management? ›
40% of the time is spent on the things that matter most. 30% of the time is spent on the second most important things. 20% of the time get the third most important things done. 10% of the time to do everything put together.
How to answer a time management question? ›
One way to answer could be, “I approach multitasking by prioritizing tasks and breaking them down into smaller, manageable steps. For instance, in my last role, I often had to juggle client meetings, team management, and project deadlines. I used time blocking to dedicate specific hours to each task.
What is the 60 30 10 rule at work? ›
The 60–30–10 rule of time management means allocating 60% of your workday to high-value activities; 30% to low-value tasks that still contribute to your goals; and 10% to other activities that can help you better prepare for tomorrow.
What is the 10 30 rule of productivity? ›
The 10/30 Rule is a mantra that will keep you accountable, motivated to bring every task across the finish line. As a productivity expert, Page touts the benefit of taking “10 extra steps or 30 extra seconds to do it right.”
What is the 40 30 20 10 rule? ›
The most common way to use the 40-30-20-10 rule is to assign 40% of your income — after taxes — to necessities such as food and housing, 30% to discretionary spending, 20% to savings or paying off debt and 10% to charitable giving or meeting financial goals.
What is the 30 30 30 rule of management? ›
The 30/30/30 rule is a strategy for investing your engineering, product management, and design (EPD) resources across three segments evenly. The ratio is: 30% on your current customers 30% on growing your business 30% on paying debts.
What is the star answer for time management? ›
During the interview, structure your answers using the STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, and Result. This will help you provide clear, concise, and relevant examples of your time management skills.
What is time management one word answer? ›
Time management is the process of organizing and planning how to allocate your time between different tasks and activities. It allows you to work smarter, not harder, leading to greater productivity and reduced stress.
What is a sample answer for time management strength? ›
Sample answer: I strongly believe in single-tasking and find managing multiple projects challenging. For that reason, I've learned to prioritize important tasks and tackle them first. I delegate certain tasks of the project, so I can stay on top of my responsibilities and get things done on time.
In the workplace, the Pareto principleOpens a new window means that 80% of the responsibility and work are shouldered by only 20% of your employees. Meaning, most of the work and effort are from the minority of your staff. They are the floor leaders, managers and other key thinkers in your organization.
What is the 80 20 rule for work time? ›
Simply put, the 80/20 rule states that the relationship between input and output is rarely, if ever, balanced. When applied to work, it means that approximately 20 percent of your efforts produce 80 percent of the results.
What is the Golden Rule 60 30 10? ›
This is the rule: 60% main color + 30% secondary color + 10% accent color. 60% of the main color of the room includes the walls, the sofa, the main color of the carpet of your area, and maybe even your closets or tiles (if we are talking about kitchens and bathrooms).
What are the golden rules of time management? ›
Take care of what bothers you the most.
We lose energy, time and motivation when we let things go day after day. Whether it's completing your taxes, getting the brakes fixed on the car or creating a complex report, you need to complete these tasks and get them out of your head so that you can focus on other things.
What is the 50 30 20 rule for productivity? ›
What is this? The 50/30/20 budget rule suggests splitting your income into needs, wants, and savings. It's an intuitive and straightforward method that can make budgeting easier for those who aren't used to it.
What is the 80 20 rule in productivity? ›
The basis of the Pareto principle states that 80% of results come from 20% of actions. If you have any kind of work that can be segmented into smaller portions, the Pareto principle can help you identify what part of that work is the most influential.
What is the 40 30 20 10 ratio? ›
It goes like this: 40% of income should go towards necessities (such as rent/mortgage, utilities, and groceries) 30% should go towards discretionary spending (such as dining out, entertainment, and shopping) - Hubble Money App is just for this. 20% should go towards savings or paying off debt.
Is the 50/30/20 rule realistic? ›
The 50/30/20 rule can be a good budgeting method for some, but it may not work for your unique monthly expenses. Depending on your income and where you live, earmarking 50% of your income for your needs may not be enough.
What is the 3 3 3 rule time management? ›
The 3/3/3 method is a time management technique introduced by Oliver Burkeman, author of "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals." The method involves spending three hours on the most important current project, three hours on smaller tasks, and three hours on maintenance activities every normal working day[1 ...
