What are your achievement islands?

When they first hear about the 80/20 principle, many people get the wrong end of the stick. The ideas all very well in theory, the head of a charity told me recently, but I havent been able to make it work in practice. I cant confine myself to the top 20 percent of what I do real life doesnt allow that kind of pace to be maintained for long.

What do you think your most valuable 20 percent is? I asked. Well, rushing around giving speeches, raising money, meeting the great and the good. I can do two lunches and two dinners a week where I make speeches, but any more than that and I get burned out.

But thats probably not your most valuable time, I countered. Think about the small amounts of time when you have been relaxed and yet have achieved a great deal. Have you had any of those times recently? Maybe when you had a brilliant new idea?

Oh, I see what you mean. There was an afternoon which was so beautiful and I was worn out, so I went home and sat in a deckchair in the garden. I was goofing off, really, but then I had the idea for our new campaign. And its true, we raised five times more from that campaign than the one a year ago.

Achievement islands are the small time periods when you are your most productive or creative: when you get more with less, accomplishing the most with little apparent effort in very little time. What are yours?

Do they have things in common? Do they happen at the same time of day? Are the activities similar, such as selling, writing, or making decisions? Do they happen in a special place, with particular colleagues, or after the same event or stimulation? What mood are you in? In a group or alone? Rushed or relaxed? Talking, listening, or thinking?

How could you multiply time on your achievement islands and reduce time on everything else?

Richard Adams was a bored, disillusioned, middle-level bureaucrat. When he was 50 he dreamt up a bedtime story for his daughter , Juliet, who loved rabbits. Watership Down sold over seven million copies, transforming Adams life.

Could you spend more time on the things you enjoy, even without quitting your day job? Could a hobby, interest, or sideline in your life blossom into a new career? Find out: spend more time on the things you enjoy. Try out your new projects while you are still working at your normal job. Experiment with different ideas until one clicks.