80 rule of effective thinking

80 rule of effective thinkingThe 20/80 rule of effective thinkingHow much time should I spend thinking instead of doing? Its one of the biggest questions I struggle with. One side of me says, Without doing you will never achieve anything.Aleidher side says, Without thinking things through, you might end up doing thewrongthings.Thinking by itself is worthless because if you never do anything, whats the use? And if you only act without thinking, youll probably end up in jail or in a ditch. Thats why this topic is so important. But most of us never even consider living by a thinking/doing ratio.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraI live by a 20/80 ratio.Before I explain why that is, and how you can create yourownratio, lets look at some of the most respected individuals of our time Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, two investors who are celebrated for theirgood decisionsand thinking p rocesses.They are not only thinkers, but they are also successfulpractitioners.?What Are YouDoing?Its well-known that Warren Buffett spends most of his time reading and thinking. Its the first thing he does when he comes to his office in Omaha. According to his biographer,Alice Schroeder, Buffett reads at least 5 hours a day. He reads newspapers, magazines, annual reports, and books.To many people, reading looks like inactivity. Theres nothing active about reading. And from the outside, it looks like youre not doing anything.I think thats the first problem with the challenge were addressing in this article. Our western society is biased towards doing. Just think about how often people ask you this question What are youdoing?You probably heard it at school. And you probably hear it at work or at home all the time. People want to DO something at all times. Activity is the key.My guess is that the thinking/doing ratio at most organizations is something like 10/90. We spend far more tim e doing than thinking. If we take a lesson out of Buffett and Mungers book, we can say thats not an effective ratio.According to Peter Bevelin, author ofPoor Charlies Almanack, Buffet and Munger have a habit of committing far more time to learning and thinking than to doing.That means the ratio these guys have is more like 80/20- thinking/doing. To be clear, Im only guessing here but by the looks of it, thats the ratio Buffet and Munger have.Whats Your Nature?So should weallspend 80% of our time thinking? It depends on two factorsYour natureYour workSome people are natural thinkers. They love to spend time in their heads. They love to read. And they love to talk about ideas.There are also people who hate that. The lesson here is that everyone is different. Youre probably someone who likes to think, otherwise, you would not read this article. A person who only acts and never thinks will not take five minutes to read this.But theamountof thinking we need also depends on our work. Warr en Buffett is a value investor. He makes very few decisions. But when he does, he makeshugedecisions and large bets. Outside of investing, there are few professions like that. Most of us need more execution. We need to make calls, write emails, have meetings, and create things.So even though Ive found an ideal ratio that works for most people (which Ill talk about later), remember to always look at your nature and your work. Your ideal ratio depends on those two things. But what about people who dont like to think and want todomore?Writing 500 Books In 42 YearsIsaac Asimov is considered one of the most prolific writers of the 21st century. His first book,Pebble in the Sky, was published in 1950.By the time he passed away in 1992, he had written about500 books. Sure, some of his books were very short, but still, its an impressive bibliography.That comes down to about one book per month. Thats a lot ofdoing. It seems like there was very little inactivity in his life during those years . He cranked out one book after the other.It almost looks like his ratio was 100% doing. He could probably think and do AT THE SAME TIME. Most of us are not like that. We do either one or the other.Be DecisiveWeve looked at two extreme cases. Buffett and Munger spend most of their time thinking. Asimov spent most of his time doing. Unfortunately,outliers do not represent reality. However, we can learn from them. What Ive learned is that we need to be decisive.Warren Buffett would not be this famous if he didnt make big bets. And Asimov wouldnt write 500 books without committing to writing every day. The lives of both men were different, but both were decisive in their actions. And thats the key to figuring out your ideal thinking/doing ratio.Its not the amount of thinking we do, its thequalitythat matters. If you spend 40% of your time thinking while being indecisive and all over the place, youre wasting your time.In contrary, if you spend only 1% of your time thinking and if you ar e very decisive,youre being effective.The 20/80 Rule Of Effective ThinkingI live by what I call The 20/80 rule of effective thinking. I think for most professionals in todays age, that ratio of thinking vs doing is sufficient. Even though Im a natural thinker, I need to remind myself to execute more than Ithink.Again, its not the ratio that counts, its thequalityof your thinking. And ultimately, the quality of your thinking impacts the outcomes you achieve.Remember that poor outcomes in life are excusable but poor thinking and decision-making are not.The reason is that you do not have any control over the former- but you do haveallthe control over the latter. Thats why the 20/80 ratio will probably save you a lot of time, money, and worry.When you take time to think things through, youre less likely to make emotional decisions.When youre decisive, you make a decision andstickto it- which is ultimately how we achieve our goals.This article originally appeared on Darius Foroux.You mig ht also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people