Applying the 80-20 Rule

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) was discovered by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist. The law states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Pareto, observed that 80 percent of the land in England (and every country he subsequently studied) was owned by 20 percent of the population. He also noticed that 80% of Italy's wealth was owned by 20% of the population. That's definitely the case in Nigeria as well.

Pareto's theory of predictable imbalance has since been applied to almost every aspect of today life.

The 80/20 rule can help you focus on what is really important in various aspects of your life. I have listed below a few application of the 80/20 rule:

Friendships- 20% of your friends probably give you 80% of the support, care and satisfaction you need. 20% of your relationships give 80% of the value. Learn to recognise people that fall into the 20% and improve those relationships. Those are your true friends.

Relationship/Marriage- In the Tyler Perry's movie, "Why did I get married?" a "version" of this law was referred to with a different twist to it. “In love and/or relationship you get about 80% of what you need from your mate. Sometimes we meet someone who has that other 20% that we are not getting and the 20% looks real good, but if you trade your 80% for that 20%, then you’ll really see how good you had it.”

Work- Approximately 20% of your efforts produce 80% of the results. Find your productive time/condition and make the best use of it. Personally, I find that I am more productive in the mornings. By afternoon, my brain begins to work on slow mode. Since I have recognised this, I try to do my 20% in the mornings to achieve maximum results for the day.

Possessions- 20% of what you own is used 80% of the time. We wear 20% of our favorite clothes about 80% of the time. Only a small part of what you own is used often. This might help you to de-clutter the junk in your home. I certainly need this tip!

We all have limited resources, be it our time, money, or attention. So to get the most out of them, it’s important to invest your resources in only the most profitable places.

Note 1: the 80/20 rules are approximates

Note 2: More details on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

Note 3: I promised Rita I will do a post on the 80/20 rule based on a post she did, so this one is for you girl :)