photo by axinia

The 80-20 rule(known also as Pareto principle) is one of my favorite lifehacks. Again and again I have to admit its power.

The 20-80 rule (the law of the vital few) states that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. The idea has rule-of-thumb application in many places, but it’s also said to be unthinkingly misused.

I noticed that principle working many a times in my life, especially in team work and communication. If I recall any (NGO) project I was working on, the major communication and real work was done by something like 20% of team members. And even among that active 20% there was only 20% actually the most active!

The Parento principle could be applied to any sphere of life. The most important seem to me the usage of this wisdom in the daily life and work. 

So how do you know if you’re working on the twenty percent that really matters?

1. It makes you feel good because you are doing what you always wanted or you know it’ll help with your goals.
2. You are doing the tasks that you’d like to procrastinate, but know that it is essential.
3. You delegate tasks to others that you aren’t good at.
4. You are doing something that uses your creativity

And these are the signs that you probably do not use your time and powers that efficient (works for me 100%!)

1. You are doing things that other people want you to do.
2. You are doing things that you aren’t good at.
3. You are doing things you don’t enjoy doing (provided that it doesn’t also contribute to your goals).
4. You are doing things that always take you a lot of time and energy

Some more useful information on the 80-20 rule is here.

Enjoy and watch the rule working

LOVE, axinia