ZAP // FROM-2
The origin, practical application in different contexts and how it can help with studies. But it has no scientific value.
80% of the fruit in the garden came from just 20% of the plants. 20% of the Italian population owned 80% of the land. 80% of production was produced by just 20% of companies.
You may have already heard about 80/20 ruleor the Pareto Principle – because it was the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who presented it, more than 100 years ago. Yes, which reached the conclusions of the previous paragraph.
Originating from economic issues, as already noted, the rule argues that 20% of actions are responsible for 80% of consequences.
The key idea of this principle, which is presented as a concept in the productivity method, is: If there are actions that yield more, that give rise to more consequences, these are the actions that should be prioritized. This is where this concept applies as a productivity method.
Nowadays, it is applied in practice in several business contexts, as we remember: 80% of sales come from 20% of customers, 80% of a school’s problems come from 20% of its students, 80% of traffic queues occur on just 20% of a city’s streets. And so on.
It can also apply in other moments of everyday life: 80% of the time we spend on our cell phones will be spent on just 20% of the applications; 80% of the clothes we wear will only be 20% of our wardrobe; 80% of free time is spent with 20% of the people we know; 80% of the time we spend driving will be on just 20% of our city’s streets.
Taking advantage of this apparent relationship, the 80/20 rule can serve to to improve our calendar, our tasks, our priorities, our goals. Even our relationships – giving priority to the people who value us most.
Or improve our studies: 20% of the content to be studied can correspond to 80% of what will appear in the exam; Do the 20% of your priorities when studying really correspond to 80% of your grade?
But… The 80/20 rule does not apply to everything and is not scientifically rigorous.. It is not a universal rule and does not apply to everything – nor is that its goal.
For example, if you realize that focusing on just 20% of your life, or some aspect of your life, will leave out essential parts, ignore the rule.
And the same principle brings a risk: Focusing only on the 20% and ignoring the 80% may be synonymous with ignoring something that, today, is not important – but in the future, among that ignored 80%, there will be something that becomes the 20% priority.
