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Running your own business can feel like you’re trying to juggle a hundred balls in a tornado. 

There are demands yanking you in countless directions, each screaming with urgency. The key to successfully managing this maelstrom is to become one with the Pareto Principle. 

The idea is simple: by focusing on the most important 20% of your challenges you can solve 80% of your problems. Share on X

The Pareto Principle was first envisioned by Vilfredo Pareto of Italy in 1906 – and since then it has been applied to a wide variety of fields, from medicine to economics, from programming to customer service. 

In nearly every area, there are usually a few big issues which are causing most of the trouble. By focusing on and resolving those big tasks, you can have an immense impact on the overall health of the situation. Then you can reprioritize what is left and tackle the smaller issues.

This can be an almost magical realization for startups and small businesses. Often it can feel as if the sky is falling daily with emergencies, glitches, and other challenges. There can seem like far too many things to get taken care of. But hope is within reach.

Create a list of your current issues and rank each one in terms of the scope of its impact. Avoid simply falling for the one which yells the loudest. Share on X

Instead, look for where a small change can make a huge difference. Once the stress of those larger issues is removed, the smaller ones can be handled far more easily.

For example, one of my webservers was having issues. This led to fewer repeat visitors, lower income, poorer search engine placement, and a host of other problems. 

I invested the money to increase the performance of that machine and made a few other tweaks to improve speed. With that relatively small amount of change I was able to eliminate a slew of problems. That then freed up my time to focus on the tasks which remained.

The Pareto Principle can be applied to non-business areas as well. 

Take a look at your home life through an objective eye. Is there a situation where a relatively small fix could take care of a large swath of problems? Focus your energies and suddenly life could become far smoother.

The Pareto Principle does not say to ignore the other 80% of the problems. Those problems could easily, over time, blossom to become huge. The aim is to give yourself breathing space to be able to plan out and tackle the remaining problems in an orderly fashion.

So focus on that key 20% which makes the biggest impact. Find a way to outsource or postpone the other 80%. The combination will usually make the best overall progress toward your goals.

Do the research. Determine what is most in need of tackling. Then focus on that area with all your energy, and watch the results roll in.

More about goal setting:
How To Overcome The Obstacles To Your Goals
Here’s Why You Should Never Give Up