Pareto Principle
80% of effects come from 20% of causes.
Explanation
Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto noticed that 80% of Italy's wealth was owned by 20% of the population. This pattern appears everywhere: a small portion of causes typically creates a large portion of effects. The exact ratio varies, but the principle is consistent—most results come from a small number of inputs.
Real-World Example
Microsoft found 20% of bugs caused 80% of crashes—fixed those first, stability improved dramatically. SaaS company: 18% of features had 87% of usage—killed the rest, saved 40% maintenance. Your week: Track everything. Bet ~3 hours created 80% of your value. Protect those hours.
How to Apply
Log problems/efforts/results for 2 weeks. Find the vital 20%. Double down there, eliminate/delegate/minimize the rest. For debugging: fix most frequent errors first. For features: enhance what's actually used. For time: identify and protect your golden hours. The 80% is noise—ignore it.