Legendary investor Warren Buffet has a gift for simplifying his incredibly busy life. At a time when so many of us are feeling overwhelmed by a never-ending to-do list, Buffet has a simple, but powerful technique for prioritizing time and energy.
First a quick story. During a cross-country flight, Buffett’s personal pilot once asked him how such a busy man sets his priorities. Instead of barking at his pilot to focus on flying the plane, Buffett calmly told his navigator to make a list of the top 25 things he wanted to get done and to rank those things from most important to least important. When the pilot’s list was completed, Buffett told him to select the top five items on his list and organize his time only around those top five items. As for the remaining 20, Buffett told the pilot to delete them. Why? Because he feels they’ll just be “seductive” distractions that interfere with one’s focus when the going gets tough on the top 5. Whether flying a plane, running an accounting firm or managing a busy household, we are constantly pulled in multiple directions with endless to-do lists and conflicting priorities. It’s easy to get spread too thin.
Buffett believes the bottom 20 items on your list are dangerous because they’re not important enough to matter, but they’re seductive enough to distract you from what matters most.
As the hard work starts on your top priorities, it’s easy to tell yourself: “Hmm. No. 18 looks fun, interesting and easier to do. Why don’t I spend some time on that one?” You may tell yourself you’re working rather than procrastinating, but in reality, you are avoiding the important problems. As a result, you end up with a whole lot of half-finished initiatives, but nothing gets fully completed, much less implemented.
Sound familiar? As with so many things in life, Buffett’s prioritization technique is easier said than done. But it’s not impossible. Here’s a three-step process that I’ve found helpful for getting the most out of Buffett’s 25/5 technique:
Step 1: Make a Top 25 list. Get creative. Do a brain dump of potential projects you are considering and then prioritize them from most important to least important. If you’re having trouble determining what’s most important, think about things that will have the biggest positive impact on your firm once completed. If you manage a team, invite everyone into a conference room for one hour of uninterrupted time to focus exclusively on ideas for making your firm better. Have each person write down five to 10 ideas independently, i.e., before they share them with the group. Otherwise, if everyone starts talking at the same time and throws ideas on the whiteboard, you’re going to get “group think” and then you won’t end up with many original or viable ideas. You’re especially susceptible to group think if the senior partners are in the room.
Only after each team member has made their unique list of five to 10 ideas do you start posting them on the whiteboard for all to see. First eliminate the duplicates and maybe organize the remainder into categories. Next have everyone in the room vote on what they think are the best ideas until you have a clear consensus on the top 25.
Step 2: Remove the bottom 20 from your top 25 list. After your team has come up with its 25 best ideas, bite the bullet and eliminate the bottom 20. There may be some spirited debate as the tough cuts are made to the list. But remember, these items are the seductive time-sucks and rabbit holes that can eat up all your firm’s valuable time. I realize making these cuts can be tough for many of you. But trimming your list to five essential items will free up a ton of mental energy for you and your team.
Step 3: Focus on “The One.” Now that you’ve cut your list down to the five highest priority items, circle the one that will deliver the most impact for your firm. That’s where your team should be focusing its time and energy.
In essence, you’ve applied the 80/20 rule to the 80/20 rule: 20% of 25 = 5 and 20% of 5 = 1!
For more about ways to prioritize strategically, see my recent articles:
Rinse and repeat
When item 1 is completed, go back to your top 5 list and give yourself a pat on the back. But don’t automatically move to item 2 next. With item 1 completed, the landscape may have changed. There might be other items on the top 5 list that are now higher priorities than the original No. 2 was. You may need to re-prioritize the four remaining items on the top 5 list and spend some time deciding which new item from the bottom 20 list to add to the updated top 5 list. As each new No. 1 item gets completed rinse and repeat the prioritization cycle.
In today’s world, when everyone is distracted and can’t go more than 20 minutes without scrolling through their phone, focus and attention are in high demand.
Buffett’s top 25-to-5 exercise for getting focused is elegantly simple and powerful. And you don’t need a billionaire’s resources to make it work for you.
