In this article I am going to tell you about some of the things I read in The 80-20 policy book and learned from it. Let’s start reading the article without wasting time.

Book Name : The 80/20 Principle

Author Name : Richard Koch

Year of Publication : 1999

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist. He was studying Wealth Distribution and Income Generation about England in 1897. What he discovered while studying about it was that just over 20% of the population in the England owns 80% of the wealth. After discovering this, Pareto started studying a lot about it.

What he learned then was that this 80/20 principle was consistent across all time periods and in all countries. Looking deeper into this research, this principle is not only relevant to wealth. He discovered in a lot of other things it is related. He realized that 80% of the peas in his garden were only available from 20% of the plants. 

Today we call this principle the 80/20 principle or the Pareto principle. We can apply this principle in all aspects of our lives such as business, health, study, relationship.

What this principle says is that 80% of the results we get are from the 20% of actions we take. In general, what we think is that we get a lot of results only if we do a lot of actions. But according to research it is wrong. Some good actions that we do give us 80% results. After discovering this principle, a lot of people researched whether it is compatible in all respects. In many respects this principle was then in perfect agreement.

Examples :

1. 20% of criminals are reason for 80% of crimes

2. 20% of drivers are reason for 80% of accidents

3. 20% of married couples are reason for 80% of divorce

4. 20% of roads are reason for 80% of traffic

5. 20% of clothes are wore by us for 80%

6. 20% of lands are reason for 80% of minerals

7. 20% of clouds are reason for 80% of rain

8. 20% of actors are reason for 80% of public attention

9. 20% of scientists are reason for 80% of inventions

10. 20% of book writers are reason for 80% of book sales.

How do we apply this 80/20 principle?

 This principle does not teach us not to work. It teaches us to focus on the things that give us the most results.

1. The 80/20 Principle For Business

This principle was used extensively for business. Only then did they begin to apply this principle in all things. Business start-ups waste 80% of their time focusing on things they don’t need. For example, things like how the company logo should look like and how the website should look. All of these things are important. But these things alone do not impress people. First and foremost our ambition is to focus on developing the company’s products and services. Only then should we focus on other things like marketing and sales. Business people need to remember one important thing. Only 20% of our customers give us 80% profit. Similarly, only 20% of customers are 80% compliant. If we focus on these two types of 20% customers we will get 80% winning results. 

2. The 80/20 Principle For Social Life and Happiness

Some of us will think. That we would be better off if we had a lot of friends. So let’s start spending time with a lot of friends. But all this is perfectly understandable. That we have wasted a lot of time. Thus we would not have focused on our important things. Whatever our mind set is, it would be better if we had more. But according to this principle 80% of Happiness and Fulfillment we get only from 20% of friends. So instead of spending time with a lot of friends, spend time with the 20% of friends that suit you. Focus on other things as well.

3. The 80/20 Principle For Studying

For example, suppose you have two friends. The first friend is studying from morning till night. The second friend just reads for 3-4 hours. But when it comes to results, only the second friend will get good results. Because the second friend is unknowingly following the 80/20 principle. He is following two things and using the 80/20 principle. What they are,

* Deciding what to read *

The first friend thinks he should read everything. Doing so will prevent him from remembering exactly what he reads. But the second friend will read the important ones first and read the rest if there is time left.

 * Deciding what time to read *

Humans cannot focus too much time on the same work. But since the first friend was studying from morning till night there is a lot of distraction during the break. Thus no matter how long he studies it will not be a quality study. The second friend reads only from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Focused on things that give freshness like walking while taking a break. Thus he can read with full attention without any distractions while reading.

Similarly, find that 20% in your work which gives you results. It gives double results in less time. Then you can use the rest of the time for other important work.