80 - 20 Principle

80 – 20 Principle

By Richard Koch

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist who studies about the wealth distribution and income of England people back in 1895. In his research he found that only some persons holds the most part of the wealth in their hand, incase only 20% of the people was the lord of 80% wealth and land. After founding this weird statistics he further continued his research and found that this wealth distribution ratio was not only same in this timeline but it was same in another timeline also. In fact this wealth distribution is common in almost each and every part of the country. When he researched more on this principle then he found that this principle is not only working in wealth distribution but it was also working in almost every field. Like in his pea garden he found that 80% peas are obtained from the 20% of pea pod and then he further concluded this principle as 80-20 principle or Pareto principle. He concluded that this principle is applied almost in every field like business, relationship, study, etc. in this principle it states that the 80% result we get from our 20% effort. This fact is almost opposite from the fact we believe till now is that “more effort more result”, but true fact is that or little effort makes the great result. After the popularity of this principle many people researched on this principle on different fields like 20% of the offenders are responsible for 80% of the offence, 20% drivers are responsible for 80% of the accidents,20% roads have 80% traffics, 20% clothes we wear for 80% times, 20% beer drinkers drinks 80% of beer worldwide, 20% land gives 80% foods and minerals, 20% clouds brings 80% rain,20% actors get 80% people’s attention, etc. The numbers would be little differences but this principle remains same in every place, that “less effort gives more output”. This principle doesn’t teach us not to work but it encourages us to work on that fields or objects which give us more output. If author talks about business because this principle was only used in this field, but later on this principle get used to on other fields also.

80 – 20 principle for business

On a business startup the business person or members spends lot of time, energy and money on that part of the business which gives least output or it will not be effective for the business, like logo of the company interior designing and decoration of the offices, company website, etc. these all things are important but for startup its least required because the people will not purchase your product nor they will use your service after looking at the above parameters. But in starting your main aim should be making the product or service better and best so that the people will find it easy to purchase your product or service, and then afterward you should invest your time and money on the marketing but on that part which will give you more output. Further in this business field 20% of the client will give you 80% profit, but on the other hand 20% of client will complain you 80% times for your products so you should focus on this 20% client who in the future will increase your profits. So, overall you should focus on that 20% part of your business who will give 80% of the profit.

80 – 20 principle for social life and happiness

Many people think that the more friends they have they will get more help from them and they will be very happy, but according to this principle you are wasting your time in meeting those people who does not make you feel good and by doing this you are simply wasting your time because you can give your precious time in some other work which can give you more productivity and wisdom in life. Most of the time we think that more means better. But according to this principle your 80% happiness and fulfillment comes from 20% of your friends. So instead of making more friends you should spend your time with that 20% of friends who really make you feel good and you also like to spend time with them. This will not only save your lot of time but you can focus on different things which are also important for you.

80 – 20 principle for studying

Tom and Mark were two friends and they were studying together in same class. During exam time Tom works hard day and night and tries to finish his entire syllabus. But on the other hand Mark studies only 4 to 5 hours a day and the rest of the day he focuses on that work he likes the most. On the result day Mark’s performance was better than Tom and from his other classmate also. When Tom asks about his good result, Mark told that he does not study like him day night for better performance. Mark score well than Tom because unknowingly he was using 80 – 20 principle in his studies. The entire students can follow Mark technique to score good marks in their exam by following points

Firstly, plan what to study, Mark planned what are the things he has to read and he took advice from his teachers and his friends about the important questions. He also takes help from the previous examination question papers and tries to solve it first. But on the other end Tom tries to learn all the questions and answer at the end time and by this way he was unable to remember all the answers and neither he could write properly the answers of the questions.

Secondly, plan the time of study Mark kept away all the distracting elements from him and then he tried to learn with full concentration. On the other side Tom studies day and night and in between he get distracted easily by mobile and some other elements, because humans cannot focus constantly at one place for several hours. But Mark knew his timing he knew what is the time when can concentrate more on his studies and he prefers that time for his studies, also in between he takes a little break when he had lack of focus so that he can freshen his minds.

How does Pareto principle work?

The Pareto principle is a concept that suggests two out of ten items, on any general to-do list, will turn out to be worth more than the other eight items put together.

The sad fact is that most people procrastinate on the top 10 or 20 percent of items that are the most valuable and important, the “vital few”, and busy themselves instead with the least important 80 percent the “trivial many”, that contribute very little to their success.

How to apply the 80 20 rule to goal setting

Here’s what you should do in order to effectively apply the 80/20 rule to setting smart goals which will boost your overall productivity.

Number of tasks versus importance of tasks

It takes same amount of time to finish each work within ten tasks. But within that, one or two task would be more important than the other one and will give you more effective result by doing it. So this is the task you have to finish first.

Resist the temptation to clear up small things first

You would have seen many people who are busy whole day doing and completing their works. But instead of accomplishing their jobs it would further continues till next morning and on. The reason is clear; they busy themselves doing that type of work which gives them low productivity. But in their work list there is some important task which would have given him more productivity in business and result if he would have done effectively and efficiently. The day’s valuable works are difficult and complex but if he or she could complete this then he might get good and rewarding result. So, before you start the work ask yourself which is the top important 20% task you will finish first.

Motivate yourself

Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. The fact is that the amount of time required to compete an important job is often the same as the time required to do an unimportant job. The difference is that you get a tremendous feeling of pride and satisfaction from the completion of something valuable and significant.

Finally, I want to tell you about a study that has just been done about the attitudes of successful people versus losers in regards to goal setting. What they found is that 85% of successful people have one big goal that they work on all the time. So if you want to be successful then pick one big goal and work on it all the time and if you do it will change your life.