Okay, so is the 80/20 rule new to just me? Seems like everyone around me has already heard a version of it.
My sister and I were talking about efficiency, and she said she'd heard (and tried to follow) a rule that says for any project (or study-time for that life-and-death Calculus exam), you should try to be 'focused and efficient 80% of the time, with 20% of your time being set aside as your 'breaks'. That way you are concentrating your focus in shorter periods of time, and consciously letting yourself 'breathe' during the process. In theory, this helps your mindset, because you know the work-time is finite, and my sister swears that this trick helps you keep up the pace of things through, oh...say, an entire semester. Even one that involves a math class.
Hmmm. Very interesting...
There's other versions of this rule out there, too, but apparently a popular one (it's even named for an Italian economist from back in 1906!) is described here:
Management.about.com
It says a lot of stuff in this article (time-management attempters may wish to skip it), but the jist of Pareto's Principle is that typically 80% of unfocused effort generates only 20% of results. And on top of that, 80% of your day is filled with trivial things that should not be wasted with your best efforts. "Of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results. Identify and focus on those things."
Oooh...also interesting. Although I may be confused on the math part. So am I supposed to spend the (most) crucial 20% of of my day with 80% effort? Or am I supposed to be giving 100% 20% of the time? Or does that mean that somehow I should have about 80% of my day free even though I feel like my schedule is 100% against me?
I think I may have to look at this more once I'm out of my math class, which I swear is frying my brain. Or maybe my time management skills aren't ready to handle Calculus and Italian economists at the same time...
huh, what an interesting idea! It makes sense though. The way that I perceive it is that during the 80% time, you give your 100% effort, so you can have the 20% of break. And I think it means that we should manage ourselves and really decide what we are spending our time on. I know there are days in my life that 80% is a complete waste of time, so thank you for this- it is definitely something I can work on! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure if my comment posted or not. Sometimes the internet is not my friend. But I like this principle. I'll have to start trying it out. I think I do more of a 90/10 thing, but 80/20 sounds better. :)
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