Pareto analysis

This is the idea that 80% of tasks can be completed in 20% of the disposable time. The remaining 20% of tasks will take up 80% of the time. This principle is used to sort tasks into two parts. According to this form of Pareto analysis it is recommended that tasks that fall into the first category be assigned a higher priority.

The 80-20-rule can also be applied to increase productivity: it is assumed that 80% of the productivity can be achieved by doing 20% of the tasks. If productivity is the aim of time management, then these tasks should be prioritized higher. Often, ABC Analysis is used together with Pareto Analysis.

ABC Analysis

ABC Analysis is a technique which has been into use by businesses for long and is the categorization of large data into smaller groups. The smaller groups are often marked A, B & C and thus the name ABC Analysis. The activities of a project are ranked upon these general criteria:

• A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important
• B – Tasks that are important but not urgent
• C – Tasks that are neither urgent nor important

Each group is then rank-ordered in priority. To further refine the priority, some individuals choose to then force-rank all "B" items as either "A" or "C". ABC analysis can incorporate more than three groups. ABC analysis is frequently combined with Pareto analysis.