Friday Links 07-08-17

From the Web

30 Sleeps – Fantastic blog written by Brad Bollenbach. Similar topics to those explored here as well as dating and socializing. It’s only been around for two months, but I expect great things from Brad.

Videos That Change – A Squidoo lens by Seth Godin with video clips from prominent speakers. Scroll about halfway down to get a look at ZeFrank’s contribution to TED, very funny.

Make Habits Stick – An article I wrote for lifehack that got some publicity from Digg.

From the Archives

Do Less to Be More Productive – Guest post from Leo of Zen Habits. A great article demonstrating the need to simplify and focus.

From the Shelf

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch – Great book I read several months ago. Gives you some background information on what the 80/20 rule means and more importantly, what it isn’t. Unfortunately the rule is still misunderstood by many. Here’s a few errors I’ve seen lately from people misusing the rule:

• Eighty and twenty are arbitrary numbers, the fact that they add up to 100% is coincidental. The idea is that a small input creates a large output. It could easily have been the 55/10 rule or the 99/4 rule and the meaning would stay intact.
• The rule isn’t about the numbers. Some people pointed out that if you used the 80/20 rule recursively you would be left with nothing left. In reality the rule is about figuring out what to cut (or focus on), not a mathematical formula for perfection.