The 80 / 20 principle

I must say I don't think I've ever heard of this but have done a lot of thinking on it since reading your discussion and I honestly can say I see it true in my own life. I am guilty of a lot of 'waste' in my life, both time and actions. You've really got me thinking now though - do we have any control over this. I mean if this is the 'rule' so to speak then can we possibly control our actions to increase the numbers. I know it's dreaming but it would be nice to think that 100% of my efforts would be 100% effective.

The Pareto Analysis! 80:20 rule applies to most of the situations in life. I can give you a different example for this 80/20 principle. 80% of your sales are from 20% of your customers. 20% of your employees cause 80% of your problems. 20% of your work yields 80% of the results. It can be applied to almost any situation.

Hmmm....this is very interesting. I too, have seen 20% of workers doing 80% of work and 20% of workers causing 80% of problems although I never would have thought about it if I hadn't read this discussion. Maybe, in my own life, I can figure out what the 20% of what I do is effective and what the other 80% of what I do isn't and stop doing the other 80%? It would be a wonderful thing to give up the efforts that turn out to be a waste of time and be able to replace them with efforts that pay off. Maybe by taking a closer, more objective, realistic look at things I can shift the balance and make more than 20% of my efforts count for something?