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Becoming more efficient
How to get out of the everyday hamster wheel, become more efficient and finally have more time for other things is discussed in this article based on the Pareto principle. How often are we busy all day with a full-time job that we can’t stand for a long time and fall into bed exhausted in the evening, after we have perhaps even been completely exhausted for a few hours on the couch and watched TV? And the following day, the whole thing repeats itself. We long for the weekend, hoping for mood-lifting and revitalizing leisure. But even then, we often still have various tasks to do. The household had perhaps been left to drag a bit over the week, the week is already piling up in the laundry basket.
The kids run around the house and leave a trail of devastation in their wake. To make matters worse, something in the house may have broken and needs to be repaired. Once again, the longed-for recovery time fails to materialize. And not only that, no, we haven’t achieved any of the things we’ve been wanting to do for so long. The idea of self-employment, for example, or the new or old hobby that we would like to start or take up again. Maybe you’ve been postponing a meeting with an old friend for months or don’t dare to look for a job again because a change is also associated with risks. Whatever it is with you, we all certainly know a variation of everyday routines that we would actually like to turn off and change.
The problems in everyday life
When we are stressed, we become significantly less productive and inefficient. The whole thing quickly develops into a vicious circle. You can’t do everything you set out to do and you get stressed and maybe you’re under time pressure. The fact that you literally run after your life causes even more stress. And the fact that we are under so much stress slows down our creativity, reduces mental clarity and thus makes us even more unproductive and efficient. Which in turn causes even more stress. In the worst case, it goes on like this, until perhaps even a burnout finally forces us to make a hard stop in this routine.
Methods against the stress cycle
A great way to be more efficient, to get more done without burning out, is to apply the Pareto Rule. This states that 80% of the results are achieved with 20% of the total effort used. And the other way around, that with the other 80% of the total effort you only achieve the remaining 20% of the results. It is therefore important to first recognize and define exactly what work you have to do in everyday life and what proportion of it is included in the more efficient 20% of the workload, which delivers 80% of the results.
In the second step, you should definitely try to accept that, firstly, you will never reach 100% anyway and secondly, that you don’t have to.
An 80% result is great. And can also be optimized at a later date if necessary. In other words, perfectionism makes life extremely difficult unnecessarily. I can also report from years of experience, because I fight perfectionism every day. But having something done is better than doing something perfectly and never finishing it. Even if it is not always easy to implement, try to completely eliminate the 80% inefficient work that delivers only 20% of the results from your life. Think about how much time and energy you would save if you had to do 80% less, but still manage everything or just about everything?!
The genesis
The Pareto principle goes back to Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). He was an Italian economist, engineer and sociologist. In 1906 he studied the distribution of land ownership in Italy and discovered that about 20% of the population were landowners of about 80% of the land. In 1989, almost the same result could even be detected worldwide. Pareto also examined the income situation in different countries and developed the “social pyramid” in which society is arranged. In this, the richest people in society are at the top and the poor form the foundation. From this, Pareto develops the so-called Pareto distribution. This describes the statistical phenomenon that a small number of high values of a set of values contributes more to its said value than the high number of small values of the same set. From this, the Pareto principle already described is derived, or the 80/20 rule.
The disadvantages
At this point, I unfortunately have to put my statements into perspective again. If you apply the principle to your laundry, for example, and simply fold it up and put it away after drying, instead of ironing everything beforehand, then you have made your work easier, but the wrinkled blouses then hang in the closet and are then either not worn or you have extra work when you need them and they are not ready to be put on. If you have any. This may be a strange example, but it is one related to everyday situations in the private sphere.
In a professional context, there are also linear project management methods in which the respective work steps build on the previous ones and this requires that they are completed and not just 80%. Otherwise, the missing 20% can add up and negatively affect the overall result. In the end, this may even be unusable in the worst case.
Result
The 80/20 rule can be applied to many situations and in many cases, you can focus on the efficient 20% of the tasks and either neglect the rest or delegate it alternatively. In some cases, however, the use of the rule is not recommended or is at least associated with risks.
But especially when you have the feeling that you can’t do everything you have to do, etc. I would recommend the use of paretoprinzap.
What do you think of the Pareto principle? Have you known this method for a long time? Which time management methods do you prefer to use? Feel free to let me know.
I wish you a productive week.
All the best,
Christina
“It’s not too little time that we have, it’s too much time that we don’t use.”
Lucius Anneus Seneca
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About the author
Christina Ernst is the founder and CEO of Linen & Quince. She is also a designer, writer and real estate expert. She shares her experience and knowledge not only in her personal blog on christinaernst.net , where she writes about financial literacy, business start-ups, real estate knowledge and personal development, but also on our Linen & Quince blog. There she regularly writes about interior design, fashion and lifestyle topics. She loves interior design, art, antiques as well as elegant, sustainable and high-quality fashion.
