Summary

The author uses Pareto's 80/20 rule to optimize writing productivity by focusing on the most impactful 20% of stories that generate 80% of profits and traffic.

Abstract

The article discusses the application of Pareto's 80/20 principle to writing productivity. The author emphasizes the importance of identifying the 20% of written work that yields 80% of the results, whether it be traffic, engagement, or income. By analyzing past performance, writers can prioritize the topics and types of content that resonate most with their audience. The strategy involves not only increasing the volume of stories written but also strategically selecting which stories to pitch to larger publications for a higher flat fee. The author suggests that by concentrating on the most profitable 20% of their writing, writers can maximize their earnings and productivity without necessarily increasing their word count or the number of articles published.

Opinions

The author believes that consistent writing is beneficial but should be focused on the 20% of stories that generate the majority of income.
It is important to analyze which stories perform best over a month to understand which niches drive the most traffic and profit.
The author advocates for writing more stories within the identified high-performing 20% to increase overall profits.
Prioritizing time to work on stories for major publications is seen as a key strategy because acceptance can lead to a significant portion of monthly income.
There is an acknowledgment that focusing solely on the high-earning 20% can be risky, and diversification by also working on the remaining 80% is prudent.
The author stresses the importance of working smarter by analyzing statistics to determine which topics to focus on for better results.
The principle of "something is better than nothing" is highlighted, suggesting that even the less impactful 80% of work contributes to overall profits.
The ultimate advice is to work smarter, not harder, by focusing on the most effective 20% of writing efforts to enhance both productivity and profits.

How I Use Pareto’s 80/20 Rule to Increase My Writing Productivity

Learn how to write more words daily.

One of the most troubling obstacles writers face is trying to publish a consistent number of pieces that perform well.

It can be hard to sit down and dedicate yourself to churning out a certain number of articles that suddenly flop.

A strategy I’ve found to be extremely helpful in motivating me to continue to write every day in the same niches is the 80/20 rule established by Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto.

What is Pareto’s 80/20 Rule?

A philosopher and economist, Pareto discovered that 80% of the healthy pea pods in his garden came from only 20% of his pea plants.

He applied this concept to different industries and found that typically, 80% of production and goods came from just 20% of sources.

In other words: 80% of results come from 20% of actions.

Things in life are not evenly distributed. A majority of results come from a minority of actions in our daily lives.

Some common examples, as well as some from my own life:

20% of posts generate 80% of traffic
20% of my clothes make up 80% of my weekly wardrobe (don’t lie, we’re all guilty of this one)
Microsoft reported the same 20% of bugs to cause 80% of software crashes

Only 20% of your actions will create 80% of the results you see.

How Can We Use Pareto’s Rule in Writing?

There are a few ways the 80/20 rule is applicable to your writing.

Writing consistently each day is great, but you have to focus your writing on the 20% of stories that produce 80% of your income.

Those stories may be about writing, poems, business, or anything else. You have to look back at your stats for a whole month and see which type of stories performed best.

We’re limited by how much we can write so we have to prioritize the niches that drive the most traffic to our work.

Understand which articles are the most important and publish more of those stories.

I promise you’ll start to see a trend.

If you wrote 10 stories in one month, it’s likely that 2 of them will have made up 80% of your monthly profits. Your remaining profits will be comprised of pennies from other stories that accumulated profit over time.

By identifying those 2 highest-earning stories, you can see which type of stories resonate with your readers the most.

That being said, increasing the number of stories will also increase the number of pieces that have a direct impact on your profits.

If you write 20 stories, 4 will contribute most of your profit. If you write 30, 6 will contribute to most of your profit. So on and so forth.

Pareto’s rule is really a case for why you should write as many stories as possible in your niche in one month.

Another way I use this strategy with my Medium writing is by choosing which stories I need to work on first. 20% of my writing time per month is spent working on stories that I pitch to Medium partnered publications.

If those stories are accepted, I’m paid a flat fee that makes up about 80% of my monthly income.

The rest of my time is then spent working on shorter stories that are directly through the Medium Partner Program. I prioritize the stories being pitched to major publications because I know they’re worth more in the end.

To be fair, there is a risk with this strategy because any of those publications could deny the story. The important thing is that you identify which stories of yours are the highest earners and why.

This will allow you to prioritize them and produce more profit in the long run.

Sometimes it’s not about increasing our word count or even the amount of articles we publish monthly. Sometimes simply focusing our attention on the 20% of writing that drives our profits is all we need to do to maximize those profits.

Additionally, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t just focus on that 20% of work. If I only focused on writing pieces to be pitched to Medium Partnered Publications and they all flop, I would make $0.

By working on the other 80% of my work, I still produce 20% of my profits. While this isn’t always a lot, it’s something. Remember, something is better than nothing.

So when it comes to your writing productivity, go through your statistics. Find the 20% of stories that produced the best results and write more on that topic.

If that 20 % resulted from working on pieces for major publications, then focus more on those.

Work smarter, not harder. You’ll see a drastic increase in your writing productivity as well as profits.