Pareto principle

Are you one of those people who does everything perfectly? To always get things done perfectly is a very high standard. This expectation leads to fatigue and carries a high risk of failure with it.

Certainly you know the so called Pareto principle. It can be traced back to the Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto and implies that for 80% of work only 20% of your time is necessary – it is the details that are responsible for us working longer on a task. Furthermore, companies make 80% of their turnovers with 20% of their clients. You can use this lever principle to defy your tendency toward perfectionism and to test a healthier use of time.

Let’s start a small experiment: Try to use 80% of your power instead of 100%. If you want to practice this in private take, e.g., the next family anniversary. And then look and see what happens.

Pareto, V. (1964) Cours d'économie politique. Librairie Droz.