Back to work

Back to work with hop, skip and a crunch, the good news is that my plaster cast is off after only 10 days, but I do have to wear a large plastic boot for the next 4 weeks. Meant to keep it raised, just try to sit and type with one leg in the air! I will need a hip replacement instead. 

Sorry that sounds like a moan when in fact I am in a good place. With all the time on my back (steady), I managed to read the latest book by Donna Tartt, the Goldfinch. This has already won the Pulitzer Prize for literature. Don’t know if fiction is your bag but every now and then a really extraordinary book comes along. This is only her third book since 1992 but worth the wait.

I loved the life a PI, it was such an improbable adventure but the Goldfinch is right up there with East of Eden. I can’t recommend it strongly enough. 

Back to business, you have heard of the Pareto principle (80/20). It was Vilfredo Pareto that discovered the correlation between the richest 20% of the world that owned 80% of the wealth. Vilfredo was a French economist 1848-1923. Reported to be a, socialist, bit before his time really. Never the less research carried out since then makes interesting reading:

• 80% of people live in 20% of the towns (we are herding beast I suppose). 
• 80% of crime is committed by 20% of the criminals (It’s the Mad House Elf again). 
• 80% of profits come from 20% sales (interesting, worth exploring more, later). 
• 80% of ALL your results come from just 20% of your work (Now that IS interesting). 

There are many more natural phenomena that come close to these figures too, but let us return to the work related ones, as we are meant to be working. This information is quite eye opening. We are working at a much greater pace than our parents ever did, not physically, but coping with many more processes. We do our own typing; send our own mail; work our own telephone switchboard; arrange our own business travel, mostly. We now have so many “helpful” gadgets to get keep us in touch. We are encouraged to use social media, Facebook, Twitter, twatter and so on. We are busy, but then are we too busy? Sit back and think, 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. Each working day of a week is a 5th or 20%, mmm, so we could just spend Monday doing all our normal work. Then work at something different for each of the next 4 days, and then you may end up 5 times more productive/ richer! Or slow down, relax, who would know? 

Well I hope this has given you food for thought, it has made me think.