Why the 80/20 Rule Applies to Everything
Balance is very important if you want to live a happy life but the truth is, we all struggle to find and maintain a healthy balance. We often give precedence to the things that we consider to be most important (like work) and spend most of our time and effort on doing these things. Why do we do this? Because it makes us feel better — it makes us feel like we are accomplishing something but, in reality, how much are we really accomplishing?
You may have heard of the 80/20 rule.
Simply put, the rule states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your actions. Also known as the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule has been used in business to encourage efficient management and better decision making. What is most interesting about the rule is that it is applicable in our everyday lives and it can actually be very beneficial to us if we take note of it — How? — Let’s put it into perspective.
Your Work Life
Typically, 20% of the time you spend at work account for 80% of your actual productivity. Think about it — what do you do on a daily basis that result in you being most productive and how much time do you spend doing it? We all have different tasks at work but take a second and really think about it. For me, when I get to work I check and respond to my emails, attend meetings and deal with different issues pertaining to work — all of this account for about 80% of my entire day. 20% of the time, I’d be at my desk and in that 20%, I am 80% more productive and get more meaningful work done as compared to the rest of my day.
Your Personal Life
Think about the things that you do on your personal time, where or how do you get the most fulfillment? Do you go to the gym? Travel? Binge watch your favourite TV show? Go out for drinks/dinner? You probably never gave it any thought but the things that you only get to do about 20% of the time are the things that usually give you the best feeling of fulfillment. For me, I really enjoy working out but I only spend about 45 minutes to an hour in the gym and in that short time I’m extremely happy. The same goes for vacationing, and I’m sure we can all agree that we enjoy taking vacations but how often do we take them in comparison to the other things that we do every day? The truth is, the things that we do 80% of the time only add about 20% of pleasure to our lives and vice versa.
So what should you do? — It’s simple: spend less time doing the things you do 80% of the time. In your business life, you’d be more productive and in your personal life, you’d be happier. The key is to first identify these things, make the necessary changes and use the 80/20 rule.
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