The 80/20 Rule. Perhaps you have heard the saying as it applies to how people work- In any organization, 20% of the people do 80% of the work or some such thing.

The 80/20 rule is known as the Pareto principle or the law of the vital few, which basically means that in many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Seems like there is a lot of 80/20 applied to living yet I wonder if we actually do it?

There is a financial lifestyle rule of 80/20 which divides living as such: 80% for expenses with the remainder 20% for saving (10%) and giving away (10%). Living within 80% of one’s means is liberating. By doing so, it allows room for financial confidence (through saving) and financial generosity. It provides some space for the financial unexpected both for ourselves and others.

I have been thinking- what if we lived all aspects of our lives like that? 80/20. Our time for instance? Instead of living crammed up to the minute with activity, we kept 20 % of time “open”? It would allow us wiggle room for the unexpected: the chat with the neighbor, the errand for a friend, the reading of a book, even the possible traffic delay.

What would it be like to not feel rushed every second of every day? I know that I am guilty of this behavior more times than I care to admit. No wonder I am pooped at the end of the day. What if I left some time for contemplation, reading, or day-dreaming?

There are twenty-four hours in a day: we know we should be sleeping @ 8 hours, leaving 16 hours for work and whatever. If we applied 20% of our time “open” that would give us @ 4.8 hours a day. Just writing that, makes me feel anxious- isn’t that “wasting” our precious time commodity? But, I am wondering if we could (more like, could I?) leave wiggle room throughout the course of a day? Not necessarily have 4.8 hours all in one block of time, rather leaving time in our schedule- starting with five minutes here, ten minutes there- to be open to interruptions, new possibilities and the unexpected?

Many years ago I heard Dan Buettner talk about Blue Zones (book by the same name). These are places in the world that he discovered had populations that lived longer and healthier lives. One such place is in Okinawa, Japan. In Okinawa the average life expectancy for males is 84 and for females is 90. Consider that in America, the average life expectancy for males is 75 and for females is 80/81, it seems that these folks might be onto something.

One of the principles that the Okinawa population practices (especially the elders) is to say, “hara hachi bu” before each meal. The expression reminds them to eat until they are 80% full. The point is to not starve themselves but to re-frame the way they look at food. In America, we say we eat until we are full. In Okinawa they say they eat until they are no longer hungry. While both actions provide needed nutrients, the Okinawa philosophy is slightly different: food consumption is not to be maximized but rather “wiggle” room. They utilize three simple rules with eating: they eat slowly (allows the brain to register when they are no longer hungry), they focus on the food (an enjoyment and mindfulness of what they are eating alongside with whom they are dining), and they use smaller plates.

The idea of the 80/20 principle for anything in life has me wondering if that rule allows for accomplishment or completeness. For it seems by definition anything 80%, will never be 100% complete.

Yet, I also think of the Sabbath: 6/7 days work and 1/7 rest: 85.7% work and 14/3% rest within a week. A God-devised system of roughly 80/20. Part of the purpose of Sabbath is that we, as humans need it. We are physically designed to need to rest and regroup- to not push the limits all the time, every time. I am thinking of Sabbath not in any legalistic way (one is forbidden to turn on a light switch because it is “work”), but rather as a practical concept.

It is the practice of sabbath living that strengthens our physical, mental and spiritual beings. We know that we need physical rest. Much as we try to be efficient with our schedules and lifestyles, we cannot change the fact that our physical bodies recover, re-generate and renew through rest and sleep. Even when we are awake, we need periods of time when our minds are “off” to allow our brains to be de-stimulated.

Sabbath living is also good for our faith. In practicing a Sabbath lifestyle, we will never be able to finish a full 7/7 week, and so we must believe and trust God that all will and can be complete during the 6/7 time. It is as if the incompleteness is the point of Sabbath: it is a system that forces one to let go of self-sufficiency and to allow God’s generosity/wiggle room to orchestrate our time.

It appears that 20% of what we do whether financially, scheduling or in our eating habits- the “giving away” of our time or money, the resting, or the refrain from eating until we are stuffed- are the causes that effects the 80% of our lives in better physical, mental and spiritual practices.

What about you? Do you pack your days so that you do not have any time for thought or reflection? Do you eat until you are stuffed? Have you ever practiced a sabbath? If so, what does it look like?

I am very intrigued by the 80/20 rule as it applies to my schedule. I am trying to have time each day that is my “sabbath” for rest and for wiggle room. Time for the unexpected. Time to be healthy. Time for God to work in my life. Time to enjoy being alive.