Do you want to instantly gain back LOADS of your time by harnessing a simple psychological trick?
Certainly, more time than it will take you to read this article?
Then read on as I explain Parkinson’s Law.
Parkinson’s Law says, very simply, that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.
(It also applies to organizations, in that the number of bureaucratic positions and work will, if left unchecked, continue to grow until limits are put in place. This is not the meaning or application we are focusing on in this article.)
What the heck does that mean?
It means that if you have 10 hours to complete a project, it will take you 10 hours. You’ll find ways to make it take up that time.
You’ll get distracted.
Or fiddle with trivialities. (Ironically, this is also a law called “Parkinson’s Law of Triviality”. Yes, the same Parkinson.)
Or simply procrastinate.
But…what happens if you only allotted 5 hours to that same project?
This time, you focus.
You put your head down and get to work.
You block out distractions, turn your phone on Do Not Disturb, put on some energizing music, and get at it.
Why?
People love deadlines. We thrive on them. Nothing makes us more productive than working against the clock.
I use timers all the time, especially when employing the Pomodoro Technique. As someone with ADHD, I find them to be instrumental in getting me to focus.
And, as a perfectionist, they also force me to stop working and wrap up.
Without a timer, I can work on projects for hours. Fiddling with this, fussing over this word or that, arranging, organizing, double-checking (and triple-, quadruple-, quintuple-checking…).
So, how can we turn this law around and use it to gain back our time?
Consider the example project above. By setting a deadline for yourself, you saved 5 hours of work.
Now, this won’t turn you into some kind of productivity deity with supernatural powers to get things done. Trying to turn that 10-hour project into a 1-hour project won’t be some magic trick – eventually, you will reach a level of diminishing returns where the quality suffers (or your stress levels rise!).
“Yeah, yeah, Dylan, but how do I do it?”
Ok, let’s go over some tips:
Get clear on your motivation!
This is an important step before you do anything, regardless of whether you’re applying this law or not.
- Why are you doing this task?
- Why this task, specifically?
- Why you, specifically?
- How does it align with the bigger picture?
This information and clarity will help you make sure that your tasks and your work aren’t only keeping you busy, but are moving you towards your goals. Moving the needle.
There’s no sense in being super productive if you’re not even going in the right direction. Take a minute or two to get clear here.
I’m not asking you to write a manifesto (set a timer if you do! 😅), but taking the time to think it through can skyrocket your motivation and save you tons of wasted time.
Next, get clear on the scope of the project.
What does success look like?
If you’re going to look back after this is done, what would need to happen for you to consider it a success?
Equally important is asking what shouldn’t the focus be on? What should we stop doing?
What are you willing to drop, if necessary, to meet this deadline?
Finally, set a time frame.
If you know how long it’s taken you to do the project in the past, can you cut that time in half?
If you don’t know, can you guess? Can that guess be cut in half?
If it is a large project with many steps, can you use Parkinson’s Law on individual tasks to speed up the entire project?
Please note that any time I use the word “projects”, you can also use the word “tasks”. The same rules apply to checking your email as planning your next large project.
Do you normally take 30 minutes to check your email? Set a timer for 15 and see if you can get it done.
Are your meetings usually an hour long? What if you cut them to half an hour? Fifteen minutes?
One of the organizations I am involved in has a history of very long, meandering meetings.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we moved our meetings to a video conferencing platform that had a time limit on group calls. This forced us to figure out how to cram what had historically been 90+ minute meetings into around 40 minutes.
Guess what? We did it. Easily.
Guess what else? When the timer went away, the meetings increased in length again.
Try it out. Start setting some timers on your phone, your watch, your computer, or on a simple kitchen timer. Challenge yourself.
Help, Dylan! I have too much time now!
Ok, maybe not…but you’ll certainly have more time after you apply these strategies than you had before.
What can you do?
What about doing some reading? Here’s a great book to start you off.
What about learning more awesome, time-saving strategies like how to read faster, learn faster, remember more, and gain the confidence to learn whatever you want?
You could also…
- Practice a skill or hobby
- Pick up a musical instrument
- Spend more time with your family
- Start exercising
- Meditate
- Take time for self-care
- Or anything else that strikes your fancy.
Summary
- Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.
- We can use this to our advantage by working against the click – using timers and/or deadlines to reduce the available time
- To apply this to our work, we should get clear on our motivations, the scope of the project or task, and our (reasonable) expected timelines.
- See if you can apply this to individual tasks by cutting the allotted time by ½ . Make that one hour meeting a 30-minute meeting. Allot 15 minutes to email rather than 30. Give yourself one week instead of two to write your next article.
- Take all your extra time to learn, exercise, meditate, read, or spend time on your relationships.
Now you know about an awesome way to save yourself HOURS every week.
But knowledge alone won’t make it happen.
Apply this today.
Right now.
To the next thing you do.
Get a timer and challenge yourself to beat it.
Try the Pomodoro technique and complete your task before your work period ends.
Let me know how it goes!
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