You’ve probably heard of the Pareto Principle (maybe even when you read my tips on being more productive or studying more effectively), but do you actually know what it is? Also known as the 80/20 rule or the law of the vital few, it’s a little confusing at first, but once you really understand it, you can manage your time better and get more done with less effort.
Prioritizing with the Pareto Principle – the 80-20 rule
Basically, the Pareto Principle states that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your effort. The principle was coined by consultant Joseph M. Juran in the 1940s and he named it after a sociologist and economist named Vilfredo Pareto, who was famous for his observation that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the people. You hear it stated a few different ways: 80% of the results come from 20% of the work or 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. No matter how you phrase it, it all means the same thing.
An often-cited example of how this works for everyday people is learning piano or guitar. You study individual notes, keys, time signatures, tempos, chords, and more, but when it comes time to jam, you probably fall back on a handful of the most common chords. In this way, a large portion of your actual playing depends on just one small thing you’ve learned. Or think about how a relatively small number of excellent players are responsible for the majority of the points your favorite sports team scores. For another example, think about the amount of work you do in a day: you do your job, any part-time jobs you have, housework, hobbies, raising children, studying for classes you’re taking, going to the gym, making time for friends — you do a lot, but you only get paid for a small portion of that work, which is why you may value your job more than any number of other things on that list, even part-time jobs, which pay less. That's why it's important to understand the 80/20 rule: it helps you prioritize your to-do list.
You can identify ways in which the general principle manifests itself in your work. For example, if you work for a retail company, you might find that a large portion of your profits come from a small, dedicated group of consistent buyers. The real trick to using this principle is to figure out how it applies to your own work.
