Totally Wild! HOW You Can Attain More by Doing Less!

Less is indeed more. The Pareto Principle describes a statistical phenomenon discovered by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. It is often cited as the Pareto effect, or the 80 to 20 rule. This states, in short, that 80 percent of all conceivable results can be achieved with only 20 percent of the total effort. We owe this insight, like that of the Newtonian apple, to Mother Nature. Vilfredo Pareto discovered the law named after him in his garden, based on the yield of peas. He found that only 20 percent of the plants available yielded 80 percent of the fruit. More detailed investigations soon suggested that this groundbreaking finding could be applied to virtually all areas of our lives. For example, we wear only 20 percent of our clothes, 80 percent of the time. Or non-fiction books, reading 20 percent of their content would be enough to comprehensively understand the quintessence of their message, 80 percent of the time. Unsightly detail on the side, 20 percent of the world's population actually owns 80 percent of the world's wealth. Applied to daily life, this means that we can look forward to the same results with much less effort. So less really is more. In this article, we'll show you a few examples of how you can successfully use the Pareto Principle for your own purposes.

At work.

It is well known by now that the net working time of an 8 hour day is 2 hours. This is not the fault of lazy or unmotivated employees, but also due to the Pareto Principle. It is therefore not surprising that many long-term projects have discovered the Pareto Principle. Setting priorities, milestones and clearly defined objectives are the first important steps in this direction. It also doesn't hurt to question work processes. Just because certain tasks have been going on for 10 years or even longer does not mean that they are optimal. Specialization and the decomposition of work steps are the next items on the Pareto list to be critically examined. Is everything that is practiced really necessary, or couldn't the same goal be achieved with much less effort? A significant role is played by internal control. Every company wants maximum supervision over its employees and their work performance. Currently very popular are time records every 15 minutes. Such and other complicated requirements, which inhibit and even slow down the actual productivity, contradict the Pareto principle 100 percent. The next important point for more output with less input are the rigid working time models, to which we are still helplessly bound. Staff is forced to stay at the workplace for 8 hours, even when orders are low, such as in the summer. If we follow the Pareto idea, flexibility would be a keyword here, but also a reduction in working hours with full wage compensation. If you want to keep your good people happy and, above all, keep them in your company, you should seriously consider such and similar thought experiments. Vilfredo Pareto was not a theologian, philosopher or philanthropist. He was an economist and thus clearly interested in using his thoughts to benefit the economy, not to harm it.

Acquiring skills.

Lifelong learning has long since ceased to be an empty buzzword. If we don't want to fall by the wayside prematurely, we have no choice but to keep learning about the latest technology or communication tools. Learning languages or manual skills as meaningful hobbies also has clear advantages. And even in these areas we reach our goal faster with the Pareto principle than with the classic nerd method, which the good old frontal teaching in school wanted to sell us as the only true learning method. When learning from books, or learning aids, or other documents, it is easy to refer to the Pareto Principle. By studying only 20 percent, we can acquire 80 percent of the content. If examinations or examinations stand, the Pareto principle pays off doubly and triply. The important thing is to develop a good sense of what the essential content of the subject matter is. One thing is clear, 100 percent of it will never be asked. Not even on the most important tests and exams of our lives. If you succeed in identifying the relevant 20 percent of the workload, you will save yourself a lot of time and unnecessary effort by not learning material that is not relevant.

Free time and everyday life management.

If you want to optimize your life as best as possible, you can even apply the Pareto principle to such private areas as maintaining friendships. That having fewer friends is a sign of intelligence has been proven many times by studies. But that maintaining only 20 percent of our acquaintances makes us happier, because this is where the true friendships lie hidden, is a new insight. 20 percent of our friends can actually provide us with 80 percent of the fulfillment and joy we expect from social interactions. Conversely, the remaining 80 percent of our so-called friends enrich our lives only 20 percent of the time. So setting clear priorities is definitely worthwhile here. A completely different chapter, which we can put on the road to success thanks to the insights of Vilfredo Pareto, involves a healthy lifestyle, fitness and dieting. No one can keep up 100 percent discipline in the long run without suffering psychological damage. However, we can motivate ourselves with the help of the 80 to 20 rule. People who spend 80 percent of their time trying to achieve their health goals to the best of their ability are less likely to fail than those who set unrealistic expectations. Last but not least, the Pareto principle is also worthwhile for such banal things as keeping one's household in good shape. Parents in double and multiple load mode have been following this economic principle for a very long time without knowing it. Sometimes only 20 percent of the time is left over to give the impression that one has the household and everyday life at least 80 percent under control. But this 20 percent is perfectly sufficient if we focus on the really important and obligatory things. Some things are non-negotiable in daily life, others are all well and good, but don't necessarily have to be done. Those who can't help it will soon become Pareto experts anyway. Those who still have a choice would be well advised with a search for the ultimate priorities. Our today's conclusion, 100 per cent remains 100 per cent. Critics criticize the Pareto principle for leaving 20 percent of the achievement unaccounted for. Those content with 80 percent, receive only that 80 percent. If you want the full package of output, you will not get around putting in the full 100 percent effort. The decision as to how much of the big picture is enough in each case must be made by each individual. The Pareto Principle is just one way to make your life easier in many areas. Achieving a return of 80 percent with only 20 percent effort sounds like a more than fair offer. However, if you want to play it safe and get the full score, you can't get around 100 percent effort for 100 percent output. That's it for today.