80/20 Principle

• Applying 80/20 Principle in Our Life

The 80/20 rule tells us that a large proportion of effects is due to a small portion of causes.

20% of causes lead to 80% of results. These are what I call the 20% high-value tasks. High-value because they lead to high-impact results.
On the other hand, 80% of causes lead to 20% of results. These are what I call the 80% low-value tasks.
It doesn’t have to be a literal 80-20 ratio — for example, 70% of the effects can be contributed by 15% of the causes, or 60% of effects can be contributed by 30% of the causes. The percentages of effects and causes don’t have to add up to 100% either — 80% refers to the effect while 20% refers to the cause, meaning they are not of the same denominato

The point of the 80/20 rule is to know that (a) the relationship between cause and effect is often not 1:1, and (b) some causes have more weight than others.

Fact #1: Understanding that Less is More
Firstly, not everything is equal. No matter what you do, there are always a few vital tasks that matter. You want to focus on the vital few, the 20% high-value tasks, rather than spread yourself thin across everything. This is also known as “Less is More” where doing less will net you more results
Applying “Less is More” means asking yourself:

How can I remove the tasks that do not create as much value?
How can I focus my energy on activities that make me happier and more fulfilled?

Fact #2: Achieving More with Less

What if we don’t achieve “More with More”? What if we really achieve “More with Less”? Where we make more progress by focusing on the vital few? By channeling all our energy to the things that matter — not by trying to chase every shiny thing?
The 80/20 rule is about how to get more out of your life.
https://personalexcellence.co/blog/80-20/

• The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) is a phenomenon that states that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes

In other words, a small percentage of causes have an outsized effect

But what techniques do you use to identify what needs to get done first?

One common technique is called the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule.This technique can help you determine and prioritize your highest-impact tasks, increasing your productivity throughout the day.

This concept is important to understand because it can help you identify which initiatives to prioritize so you can make the most impact

The 80/20 rule is not a formal mathematical equation, but more a generalized phenomenon that can be observed in economics, business, time management, and even sports.

How to use the 80/20 rule

the Pareto principle is commonly used in business and economics. This is because the 80/20 rule is helpful in determining where you can focus your efforts to maximize your output. 

If you have any kind of work that can be segmented into smaller portions, the Pareto principle can help you identify what part of that work is the most influential.

Productivity

You can use the 80/20 rule to prioritize the tasks that you need to get done during the day. 

The idea is that out of your entire task list, completing 20% of those tasks will result in 80% of the impact you can create for that day.

To do this, list out all of the things that you need to get done that day. 

Then identify which of those tasks have the highest impact

Are there any tasks on your plate that are blocking projects from moving forward? These tasks may be simple in execution, but they can make a large impact to the rest of the team by allowing the process to keep flowing. 

Decision making

The Pareto principle can help you to make the best decisions during the problem-solving process. 

When there are many different causes to one problem, the Pareto principle can help you prioritize solutions

Identify the problems that your team is experiencing.

Identify the causes of these problems.

Categorize your problems into similar groups

Assign a value to each of these problems based on the impact to the business.

Develop a plan to focus on the top 20% of the problems that impact the business

The idea is that one solution can resolve multiple problems. Based on the values you assigned to each problem, calculate which ones are in the top 20%.

Once you’ve identified the main problem, develop a plan to create a solution that can result in 80% of the results

Quality control

The Pareto analysis and the Pareto chart are key tools used within the Six Sigma quality control methodology.

In the Six Sigma methodology, using a Pareto chart can help you visualize your data to identify how to prioritize actions. Six Sigma’s main goal is to reduce the amount of variation in a process with the goal of increasing the amount of production. Pareto charts are common in Six Sigma methodology because you can quickly identify what the majority of the variations are in a process.

Other benefits of using the Pareto principle:

    Clear priorities both for you and your team

    Increased daily productivity

    Ability to portion your work into manageable segments

    More focused strategy

Disadvantages of using the 80/20 rule

​​There's a common misinterpretation of the Pareto principle that with 20% of effort, you can achieve 80% of the results

The 20 and 80% numbers don’t refer to the amount of effort you’re putting in, but the causes and consequences you’re working on.

The goal is not to minimize the amount of effort, but to focus your effort on a specific portion of work to create a bigger impact

You still have to put 100% of effort into that 20% of focus to achieve 80% of results

Another downside of the 80/20 rule is that sometimes team members can get too focused and lose sight on other tasks

If you only focus on the important tasks and put aside the less important tasks, like email and other correspondence, things can get lost. The challenge is finding the right balance of using the 80/20 rule, and getting through the rest of your tasks—even if they don't result in 80% of results

https://asana.com/resources/pareto-principle-80-20-rule