The 80-20 rule
Also known as the Pareto principle, the 80-20 rule is a common rule of thumb which states that 80% of the returns on any given project come from only 20% of the effort applied.
I happen to believe very strongly in this principle, and I try to put it into practice in my own life.
Lets examine the principle mathematically. Lets say that my effort is measured in E’s, and I have 100 E’s to spend. There are various projects I could spend my energy on and the return I get on them is measured in R’s. If I put 100 E’s into a project, I can expect to get 200 R’s back. But!…. The 80-20 rule says that for the first 20 E’s I put in, I’ll get 80 R’s back out. After that I have to put in 80 more E’s to get just 20 R’s back out.
So…. instead of spending my effort on just 1 project, I’ll put 20 E’s into 5 different projects. That means that I would get a total return of 400 R’s. That’s twice as much return, using the same amount of effort in the same amount of time. For me, the benefits are obvious and manyfold.
The drawbacks of applying the 80-20 rule to your life? Firstly you’ll rarely finish any project thoroughly and properly, and that’s something that most other people tend to see as a bad thing. “It’s all about the details, Chris” is something I hear a lot, I believe that to be wrong. That’s just an excuse for small minded pedantry. It’s all about making the most of your resources & getting as many R’s for your E’s as you can.
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[...] and relies on the least assumptions is most likely to be the correct one. If used along side the 80/20 rule the Occam’s Razor concept can help with the difficult process of deciding which 20% to focus [...]