Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 8th

The more time you have to do things, the less you are able to get done. ― Joyce Rachelle

If you want to double your productively, shorten the timeline to by 50%. ― Richie Norton

Does this sound familiar?  A deadline was provided for an assignment to be due in a week and everything seems good.  The reader goes to lunch relaxed and when the reader returns their boss tells them the project needs to be completed by noon the next day.  The reader spends every waking moment to get the project done by the deadline.  For something that originally was expected to take a week to only take 24 hours to complete, how is it possible to accomplish the task in such a short amount of time? 

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. — Parkinson's law

This statement was made by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a famous British historian and author, in The Economist in 1955.  Now known as Parkinson’s law, the original intent of the statement was his perspective on bureaucracy in an organization.  Parkinson had worked in British Civil Service for a long time and was very knowledgeable to make this statement.  He saw how the belief that working harder was more advantageous that it was to work smarter and more effectively.  If someone is given an easy task that has an extended deadline, the individual will end up making the task difficult and intimidating to take the full time given to complete it.   

Why is this important to understand?  For dreamers that are on the journey of chasing their dreams, it is important that they do not comply with Parkinson’s Law.  We need to set timeframes for completion of tasks so that we can work on other activities that allow us to accomplish our dreams and goals. 

As our country comes out of the pandemic and life is about to change, it is important that we set timeframes around our work schedules.  For the author, she expanded her time at work during the pandemic since she does not have to commute into the office.  She has become accustomed to working 10 and 11 hours, which will not allow for her dreams to come true.  Last week, she accomplished a big goal of not starting to work until 7am.  By spending 30 minutes less on work, she has been challenged to focus on the significant tasks that she needs to complete.  After incorporating this change, she actually felt different by spending less time on her work computer and she has more time to read and work on accomplishing her dreams. 

If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do. - Lucille Ball

 

ACTION: How have you incorporated Parkinson’s law into your life and not realized it?  What changes can you make this week to reframe your time to focus more on accomplishing your dreams and goals?

Resources

·       https://quickbooost.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://impossiblehq.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/how-to-use-parkinsons-law-to-your-advantage.html#:~:text=How%20to%20Use%20Parkinson%E2%80%99s%20Law%20to%20Get%20More,...%204%20More%20Tips%20on%20Being%20Productive.%20

·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law