We have only limited resources, be it our time, money, or attention. So to get the most out of them, it’s important to invest your resources in only the most profitable places. The 80/20 principle can be very useful here. The principle says that for many events, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. As such, it’s important to invest your resources in that top 20% causes.
Of course, the 80 and 20 figures here are not fixed (and the sum doesn’t have to be 100 either). In some cases, maybe 10% of the causes gives 85% of the effects, or 15% of the causes give 75% of the effects. The bottom line is, a small portion of the causes gives majority of the effects. For simplicity, in this post I will just use the 80 and 20 figures.
To use the 80/20 principle to boost your life, there are essentially two things you should do:
- Identify the causes which are in the top 20%.
- Move resources away from the causes in the bottom 80% to the ones in the top 20%.
These can be applied to practically every aspect of your life. Here are some ways to apply them:
1. Spend most of your time to nurture the most important relationships
Reason: 20% of the relationships gives 80% of the value
From all our relationships, only a small portion of them gives the most value to us. These are the few people with whom you have strong emotional bond. Usually these people are your spouse, your family, and a few close friends. You should spend the majority of your time to nurture these relationships.
2. Focus more on creating memorable moments in your relationships
Reason: 20% of the time in a relationship gives 80% of the memories
Well, the figures here are actually more like 5%-90% than 20%-80%. From all the time we spend in our relationships, there are only a few moments which give us unforgettable memories.
Can you identify the moments that are most touching and memorable in your relationships? What special things did you do to create such moments? You can focus on doing more of those to improve the quality of your relationships.
3. Allocate much more time to read and reread a few important books
Reason: 20% of the books gives 80% of the value
Some books give you much more value than the others, so they deserve more time and attention. These are the few books which could significantly improve your life. While for most books it is enough to read them just once, for these important books you should reread them until you can effectively apply their lessons. I call such books most important books.
4. Read only the important parts of a book and skip the rest
Reason: 20% of the content of a book gives 80% of the value
This is an important lessons if you love to read. There are so many interesting books to learn from and yet so little time. But, if you master this skill, you can extract value from many books in much shorter time.
What you need to do is identifying the critical parts of a book which make its top 20%, read them, and skip the rest. The same principle can be applied to other kinds of reading such as articles.
5. Pack unused stuff or simply throw it away
Reason: 20% of the stuff is used 80% of the time
Only a small portion of the stuff you have is used often. The majority of it is rarely used, if ever. While you do need some of it to anticipate certain situations (for example, first aid kit to anticipate if someone got injured), most of it is practically useless. So identify the useless stuff and pack it or - even better - throw it away.
6. Invest time to better learn the tools you use most
Reason: 20% of the tools are used 80% of the time.
Take your computer for example. 20% of the software installed is used 80% of the time. Since you spend most of your time with these tools, why don’t you invest time to better master them? You can read the manual (who knows you could discover some useful features you are not aware of), learn the keyboard shortcuts, or find tips and tricks on the Internet.
7. List unproductive or meaningless activities and eliminate them
Reason: 80% of the activities give only 20% of the value
List and look at all your activities. Only a few of them give the most value and meaning. So do you need the rest of them? Can you eliminate those activities so that you can focus your effort on the most rewarding ones? Be ruthless; don’t be afraid to say no if you need to.
8. Focus on your strengths
Reason: 20% of your skills give 80% of the returns
The few skills that give you the most returns are your strengths. It’s important to identify them so that you don’t waste time working on things which give you only small return. To be effective, you should do only a few things, the things you are very goot at.
9. Focus your saving effort on some major expense categories
Reason: 20% of the categories makes 80% of the expenses
While trying to reduce your expenses on the small expense categories is good, you will get the most results if you focus your effort on the major categories. With personal finance software like Quicken you can easily see what your major expense categories are. You can then think of ways to minimize your expenses there.
10. Eliminate unproductive income sources, unless they are passive
Reason: 20% of the income sources gives 80% of the income
Building multiple income sources is good, but some of them may not give you comparable returns for the effort and time you invest in it. Of course, you can experiment with new income sources, but if after some time you could not get comparable return,are they worth it?
So identify these least productive income sources and eliminate them. This way you can focus more on the productive income sources to make them even more productive. The exception is passive income sources which do not need any active effort from your part.
11. Find your productive time/condition and make the most of it
Reason: 20% of your work time gives 80% of the results.
Everyone has different energy cycle which determines when they will be most productive. Some people are most productive in the morning while some others are most productive in the evening. Also some people are most productive when they are in solitude, while some others are most productive when they are in a crowded place (such as a cafe). Whatever the time or condition is, try to identify yours. Then try to create more it (for example by eliminating some other activities) and use it as good as possible.
译文:
80/20原则：提高你生活质量的11种方法
我们拥有有限的资源，即我们的时间、金钱和精力，因此为了将这些有限的资源的效用最大化，将自己的资源运用到利润最大的地方变得尤为重要。80/20原则在这方面大有用处。这一原则认为，对于许多事情来说，结果的80%取决于20%的原因。就此而论，重要的是将自己的资源投入到20%的最重要事情上。
当然，这里的80和20的数值是不固定的（同样他们的总和也不一定必须是100）。有时候，可能是原因的10%产生结果的85%，或者原因的15%产生结果的75%。最重要的是，原因的一小部分产生结果的大部分。为了简单起见，在这里我就用数值80和20。
用80/20原则提高你的生活，从本质上说你有两件事需要做：
确定哪些事情是最重要的20%。
将资源从80%的次要事情移向20%的最重要的事情上。
事实上，这些适用于你生活的每个方面。这里是一些应用它们的方法：
1、用你的大部分时间去培养最重要的关系
原因：关系的20%产生80%的价值
纵观我们所有的关系，只有其中的一小部分产生对我们最重要的价值。这是和你有着很强感情纽带关系的少部分人，通常这些人是你的配偶、家人和一些亲密的朋友。你应该花费大部分时间去培养这些关系。
2、 在你的人际关系中更地集中于塑造难忘的时刻
原因：人际关系时间的20%产生80%的怀念
这两个数值在这里更像是5%-90%而不是20%-80%, 纵观我们人际关系所用的全部时间，仅有非常少的时刻给我们留下了难忘的回忆。
你能确定在你人际关系中的那些最动人和最难忘的时刻吗？你要有什么特别的事情来塑造这些时刻？你可更多关注于做这些重要的事情来提高你的人际关系质量。
3、 分配更多的时间去读和重读少数重要的书
原因：书的20%产生80%的价值
有些书给你带来的价值远大于另外一些书，因此它们值得用更多的时间和精力。这些就是那些可以明显改善你生活的少数书。虽然对于大多数的书只读一遍就可以，但是对这些重要的书你应该重复读直到你可以有效地运用其中的原理。我称这样的书是最重要的书。
4、 仅读一本书的重要部分，跳过别的部分
原因：一本书内容的20%产生80%的价值
如果你喜欢读书，这是一个重要原则。有许多有意义的书要学，然而时间太少。但是如果你掌握了这个技能，你就能用更少的时间从许多书中汲取有价值的东西。
你需要做的就是确定一本书的关键部分，也就是构成最重要的20%的部分。读这些部分，跳过另外的部分。这一原理同样适用于其它类型的阅读，比如文章。
5、 把不用的东西整理到一起或者直接扔掉
原因：东西的20%用掉80%的时间
仅有一小部分东西经常使用，而大部分是不常使用的。当你确实需要某些东西来应对特定的情况时（例如，如果有人受伤就预先使用急救箱），大部分东西实际上是没用的。因此，需要确定用不着的东西然后整理起来或者把它扔掉会更好。
6、 时间投入更好地学习你用的最多工具上
原因：工具的20%用掉80%的时间
以你的电脑为例，安装软件的20%用掉80%的时间。既然你大部分时间要用这些工具，为什么不投入时间更好地掌握他们呢？你可以阅读使用指南（你会发现一些你没有意识到的有用特征），学会使用键盘上的快捷键，或是在网上寻找方法和技巧。
7、列出没有价值或无意义的活动，然后把它们除去
原因：80%的活动仅产生价值的20%
列出和分析你所有的活动，只有一少部分最有价值最有意义。因此还需要另外的活动吗？你可以除去其余的活动致力于最有回报的活动吗？要无情一些，如果需要不要害怕说不。
8、 集中力量在你的强项上
原因：你技能的20%能给你80%的回报
给你回报最多的少数技能是你的强项。明确他们很重要，以便使你没把时间浪费在回报很少的事情上 。效率第一，你应该去做仅有的少数你最擅长的事情。
9、 集中你的节约的精力到一些主要的支出类别上
原因：类别的20%占用了80%的支出
尽管在一些小的支出类别上减少支出是对的，但是如果你集中精力到主要的类别上，你会得到最多。利用个人财务软件例如Quicken,你可以轻松地知道你的主要支出类别是哪些。然后你就可以考虑支出最小化的途径。
10、 除掉没有价值的收入来源，除被动收入来源外
原因：收入来源的20%产生80%的收入
建立多种收入来源很好，但是你在其中一些收入来源上付出了时间和精力可能得不到可观的回报。当然，你可以尝试新的收入来源，但是在一段时间以后，得不到可观的收入，你认为值得吗？
因此确定这些回报最少的收入来源然后抛掉它们。这样你可以更加集中于回报率高的收入来源上以取得更高的回报。 不需要任何主动努力的被动收入来源不包括在内。
11、找出你有价值的工作时间或工作状态，然后充分地利用它们
原因：工作时间的20%产生80%的成果
每个人都有不同的能量周期来决定他什么时候效率最高。有些人早上效率最高，有些人晚上效率最高。同样，有些人在单独的环境中效率最高，有些人在拥挤的环境（比如咖啡厅）中效率最高。尽力确定你究竟在什么时候和什么状态下的工作效率最高。然后尽力多去营造它（例如通过去掉其它一些活动），并尽可能好地利用它。