Why focusing on the top 4% of activities turbocharges your bottom line
When Lina launched her online jewelry store, she proudly did everything herself—packaging orders at midnight, managing social media, answering every email, even washing the studio floor. By month six she was exhausted and sales growth had stalled. One morning, she discovered the 4% rule: only four tasks drove most of her profits. She listed every activity she did and realized that custom design consultations, writing Instagram captions, shooting product videos, analyzing ad performance, and brainstorming new offers were her top five money-makers—the 4%. The rest—the 96%—were busywork: packaging, invoicing, tending live chats that never converted, and updating spreadsheets.
Determined to change course, Lina invested an hour daily on her critical 4% and delegated the rest. Packaging went to a small local team, an intern handled invoicing, and she switched chatbots on her website. Within two months she doubled her revenue—without working extra hours. Lina was finally living the entrepreneur’s dream: focused on what mattered, free to innovate, and watching her profits climb.
This breakthrough isn’t magic; it’s the nested 80/20 principle in action. Pursue the 4% tasks that yield the bulk of your results, and the rest becomes someone else’s problem. You free your time and amplify your impact—just like Lina did.
You start by listing everything you do, no matter how trivial, then highlight the small slice of activities that truly move the money needle. Next, carve out dedicated time blocks—think meetings with yourself—to focus on that golden 4%. Finally, you assemble your team or adoption tools to take over the rest so you can stay in the driver’s seat of revenue-building efforts. Give it a try this week and watch the difference!
What You'll Achieve
By applying the 4% Rule, you’ll gain laser focus on high-impact tasks, reduce overwhelm, and free up time for strategic growth, resulting in significant increases in revenue and personal bandwidth.
Pinpoint your revenue-driving 4% and offload the rest
List every task you do
Spend 10 minutes writing down every work activity you perform in a typical week, from meetings to email checks to strategy sessions. Be brutally exhaustive—no detail is too small.
Calculate your 80/20 breakdown
Mark the 20% of tasks that generate roughly 80% of your sales or results. Then narrow again to the top 20% of that 20%—your critical 4%.
Prioritise the 4%
Block out daily time slots dedicated exclusively to these high-leverage tasks. Treat them like unbreakable appointments on your calendar.
Delegate or automate the 96%
Identify team members, freelancers, or tools to handle the remaining 96% of tasks. Set up simple checklists or automations to ensure quality without your constant involvement.
Reflection Questions
- Which tasks consume most of your day but add little to your bottom line?
- What would your business look like if you could outsource 96% of your current work?
- How can you restructure your schedule to protect time for your 4%?
- What tools or team members could you recruit this week to handle low-value tasks?
Personalization Tips
- A high school coach spends 80% of her time recruiting but only 20% of that time coaching athletes—she refocuses on drills and outsources scheduling to parents.
- A freelance designer finds that two types of logos bring in 80% of her revenue—she automates billing and delegates invoicing to an assistant.
- A parent realises meal planning and bedtime reading yield the best family bonds, so they hire a housekeeper and automate grocery orders.
Sell Like Crazy: How to Get As Many Clients, Customers and Sales As You Can Possibly Handle
Ready to Take Action?
Get the Mentorist app and turn insights like these into daily habits.