By James A. Baker
Founder
Baker Communications
There is an oft-quoted rule of time management and productivity that actually started out as a joke. Sometimes referred to as “Parkinson’s Law,” it was first articulated in print by Cyril Parkinson, in the first sentence of a humorous essay published in The Economist in 1955. While Parkinson’s primary interest in that article was the expansion of bureaucratic organizations, the version of the rule most people are now familiar with is his observation that, like a gas in a container, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
This rule doubtless rings true to procrastinators everywhere. If a given task should take about an hour but you have two hours to complete it, somehow it always seems to end up taking two hours. If you have a whole day, it will take all day. If you have ever reached the end of a week and realized that you have only done five hours’ worth of work all week, this is where all that time went! Parkinson’s Law describes a major time management problem that many people contend with daily.
Why Parkinson’s Law Works
Parkinson’s Law relies on several very human tendencies. If you have all the time in the world to do something, there is no sense of urgency, and thus no motivation to get the job done quickly. You may put it off, get distracted, pursue sidelines, or dawdle over details. If you have the time, you will take it. There is no reason to get started immediately, to focus completely, or to finish soon. An abundance of time, essentially, gives people an excuse to slack off.
Another factor is that if more time is allocated to complete a task, the psychological approach to the task increases in complexity. A week-long project is far more daunting than a one-day project, so more time will be spent working out details, making decisions, and polishing the final product. Such a “major” undertaking also creates more stress and associated delays.
By contrast, a scarcity of time produces a sense of urgency, which generates both motivation and focus. As a deadline approaches, it is amazing what can be accomplished in a very short period! The so-called Stock-Sanford Corollary to Parkinson's Law states that “If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute to do.” Just as any task can expand to fill the amount of time allowed, conversely, the amount of effort put into a task can be limited by limiting the allotted time - down to the minimum amount of time that is actually required to complete the task.
The fact is that people tend to give tasks more time than they really need. Sometimes this is to allow for a buffer in case there are problems, but usually it happens because people simply overestimate how long a task takes to complete. Their estimate is “proven” correct when Parkinson’s Law kicks in!
How To Fight The Law
The key to avoiding out-of-control expansion of work is to create a sense of urgency for yourself. Most of your tasks probably have externally imposed deadlines of one kind or another, but those deadlines may be too liberal to promote efficiency. If Parkinson’s Law is a problem for you or if you have a tendency to procrastinate, you will probably need to set different goals.
One good way to do this is to start each day by identifying your most important tasks. Try to realistically determine how much time you think it should take to complete each task. Then increase the level of urgency by allocating less time to get it done. Start by reducing the available time by a reasonable amount ?#147; perhaps 10%. This will ensure that you work in as efficient and focused a manner as possible for the entire time allotted. Work against this time limit as if you are racing against the clock. You will soon start to get an idea of how good your time estimates are. After you start testing this technique, you may find you can cut your allotted time for many tasks in half!
Another technique for increasing urgency is simply moving up your deadlines. Make it a habit to complete all tasks earlier than they are required to be done. If your boss asks you to complete a task by Friday, have it done by Thursday. If you have two weeks for a given project, set your own deadline for one week. This not only increases your sense of urgency and gets the task done faster, but creates a time cushion for handling problems, making corrections, or fine-tuning. You can also address other tasks in the time between your deadline and the external deadline.
Breaking The Law
Parkinson’s Law is simply an observation about how people tend to do things, not an unbreakable rule. If you are aware of the principles underlying Parkinson’s Law you can experiment with ways to narrow your deadlines and get your work done faster. Be cautious, however, of the line between just enough time and not enough. Keep in mind that the goal is to do a good job in less time, not to sacrifice quality for speed.
