Parkinson’s Law: How to Manage Your Time More Effectively

Summary

Parkinson's Law, a concept by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, posits that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion.' This theory explains why people often procrastinate, waiting until the last minute to complete tasks. To leverage this law, create artificial deadlines, break down large projects into smaller tasks, and set challenging deadlines to boost productivity. By applying these strategies, individuals can improve efficiency and manage their time more effectively, turning Parkinson's Law into a tool for success.

Takeaways

• 📅 Parkinson's Law states that 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion', suggesting that tasks take as long as the time allotted to them.
• 🕒 We often procrastinate because we tend to use up all the time given to complete a task, even if it could be done quicker.
• 🔄 To counteract Parkinson's Law, create artificial deadlines for yourself that are earlier than the actual deadlines to speed up task completion.
• 📝 Break down large projects into smaller tasks and assign them new, earlier deadlines to avoid last-minute rushes and maintain progress.
• 🏆 Set challenging deadlines that are significantly shorter than what you'd normally take to complete a task to spur immediate action and momentum.
• 🛠️ Parkinson's Law can be applied to everyday tasks as well, such as pretending you have to leave work early to force yourself to complete tasks more quickly.
• ✂️ By frontloading your workload, you can free up more time during the day for relaxation and leisure, improving work-life balance.
• 📈 Use Parkinson's Law to your advantage by reassigning deadlines, dividing projects into smaller parts, and challenging yourself to complete tasks faster.
• 🎯 Setting a personal challenge to complete tasks one day ahead of time can help you stay ahead in your work and feel more in control.
• 📑 The script emphasizes the importance of understanding and leveraging Parkinson's Law to improve productivity in various aspects of life, including work and personal goals.
• 🚀 Parkinson's Law can be a powerful tool for increasing efficiency and getting more done in less time when applied correctly.

Q & A

What is Parkinson's Law and who developed it?

Parkinson's Law is a theory that states 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.' It was developed by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay published in The Economist in 1955.

Why do people often wait until the last minute to complete tasks?

People often wait until the last minute because the task doesn't actually take as long to complete as the time they've given themselves, leading to procrastination until the deadline approaches.

How can understanding Parkinson's Law improve productivity?

Understanding Parkinson's Law can help you manage time better by setting artificial deadlines, breaking down big tasks, and creating challenges, which can lead to increased productivity.

What is an artificial deadline and how can it be used to one's advantage?

An artificial deadline is a self-imposed deadline that is earlier than the actual deadline. It can be used to one's advantage by speeding up the timeline on a project and getting the work done ahead of time, thus freeing up more time.

Why is it beneficial to break down big tasks into smaller ones?

Breaking down big tasks into smaller ones helps manage the project more effectively, reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed, and allows for setting earlier deadlines on each part to prevent procrastination.

What is a challenging deadline and how does it work?

A challenging deadline is a self-imposed deadline that is much shorter than the time one would normally take to complete a task. It spurs action by creating a sense of urgency, even if the task isn't completed perfectly, it provides a starting point to work from.

How can Parkinson's Law be applied to everyday tasks?

Parkinson's Law can be applied to everyday tasks by creating artificial deadlines for routine work, pretending to have less time than available, and aiming to complete tasks one day ahead of time to improve efficiency and free up more personal time.

What is the psychological effect of setting a challenging deadline?

Setting a challenging deadline creates a psychological push to start working on a task, overcoming the inertia of procrastination, and getting a head start on the work, even if it's not perfect initially.

How can one avoid the negative impacts of Parkinson's Law?

One can avoid the negative impacts of Parkinson's Law by being proactive in setting earlier deadlines, breaking tasks into manageable parts, and creating challenges to work more efficiently within the allotted time.

Can Parkinson's Law be used to improve productivity in professional settings?

Yes, Parkinson's Law can be used in professional settings by setting personal deadlines for projects and tasks, which can help in completing work faster and staying ahead of actual deadlines.

What is the significance of creating a sense of urgency in task completion?

Creating a sense of urgency helps to focus attention and effort on the task at hand, reducing procrastination and increasing the likelihood of completing the task within the set deadline.

Outlines

00:00

🕒 Understanding Parkinson's Law and Its Impact on Procrastination

This paragraph introduces Parkinson's Law, a concept developed by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, which posits that 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.' It explains how tasks take as long as the time allotted to them, leading to procrastination and last-minute rushes to meet deadlines. The paragraph suggests that instead of avoiding this law, one can harness it to improve productivity by setting artificial deadlines, breaking down large tasks, and creating challenges to accelerate task completion.

05:02

🛠️ Leveraging Parkinson's Law for Enhanced Productivity

The second paragraph delves into practical applications of Parkinson's Law to boost everyday productivity. It suggests creating artificial deadlines for oneself to expedite task completion and offers the strategy of pretending to have an earlier departure from work to frontload the workload. The paragraph also recommends setting personal challenges to complete tasks ahead of schedule, thus staying ahead in work and freeing up time for relaxation and leisure. By manipulating deadlines and breaking projects into smaller, manageable tasks, one can effectively counteract the procrastination tendency and enhance overall efficiency.

Keywords

💡Procrastination

Procrastination refers to the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions, often to the point where it becomes detrimental. In the video's context, it is the behavior of waiting until the last minute to complete tasks, which is a common experience that illustrates Parkinson's Law. The script mentions procrastination in relation to essay writing and work presentations, showing how it can lead to tasks being completed right before a deadline.

💡Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s Law is a concept developed by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, which posits that 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.' The video explains this theory as the tendency for tasks to take up all the time allotted to them, regardless of their actual duration. It is central to the video's theme, as it discusses how understanding and applying this law can help combat procrastination and improve productivity.

💡Cyril Northcote Parkinson

Cyril Northcote Parkinson is the British author who formulated Parkinson’s Law. His observations from the British Civil Service led to the development of this theory, which the video script discusses in detail. Parkinson’s insights are foundational to the video's exploration of task management and time allocation.

💡Artificial Deadlines

Artificial deadlines are self-imposed time limits set earlier than the actual due date, aiming to expedite task completion. The video suggests creating artificial deadlines as a strategy to counteract the effects of Parkinson’s Law. It is exemplified in the script by the idea of setting a personal deadline for a project that is much earlier than the one given by others, such as a boss or professor.

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency of an individual or system in converting inputs into outputs. The video discusses how understanding Parkinson’s Law can enhance productivity by encouraging the setting of earlier deadlines and breaking down large tasks. It is a key concept that ties the video's advice on task management to improved performance and time use.

💡Task Expansion

Task expansion is the idea that work tends to grow in order to fill the time available for its completion, as described by Parkinson’s Law. The video script uses this concept to explain why people often wait until the last minute to start working on tasks, and how this can be mitigated by setting earlier deadlines.

💡Breaking Down Big Tasks

Breaking down big tasks involves dividing large projects into smaller, more manageable parts, each with its own deadline. The video script recommends this approach to prevent procrastination on large projects with distant deadlines, allowing for a more organized and less stressful completion process.

💡Challenge

In the context of the video, a challenge refers to setting an ambitious, perhaps unattainable, deadline for a task to motivate faster completion. The script provides the example of attempting to write an essay in just one hour, which may not result in a finished product but does provide a starting point and momentum.

💡Everyday Tasks

Everyday tasks are the routine activities that one must complete on a daily basis. The video script suggests applying Parkinson’s Law to these tasks as well, by pretending to have less time than actually available, such as leaving work early, to increase the pace and efficiency of task completion.

💡Deadline

A deadline is a fixed time or date by which a task or project must be completed. The video emphasizes the importance of deadlines in managing work and preventing procrastination. It discusses how setting personal deadlines earlier than those given can help to make better use of time and increase productivity.

💡Efficiency

Efficiency is the ability to perform tasks with the least waste of time and effort. The video script discusses various strategies to increase efficiency, such as creating artificial deadlines and breaking down tasks, which are all aimed at making the most of the time available and avoiding the pitfalls of Parkinson’s Law.

Highlights

Parkinson's Law is a theory that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Developed by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in 1955, it was observed during his time in the British Civil Service.

Tasks take up as much time as they are allotted, regardless of the actual time needed to complete them.

People often wait until the last minute to complete tasks due to the perception of available time.

Parkinson's Law can be used to your advantage by understanding and applying it correctly.

Creating artificial deadlines can speed up the timeline on a project significantly.

Ignoring the 'given' deadline and setting a personal deadline earlier can improve productivity.

Breaking down big tasks into smaller ones with earlier deadlines can prevent procrastination.

Setting challenging deadlines, even if they seem impossible, can spur action and progress.

A challenging deadline provides a starting point for further improvement.

Parkinson's Law can be applied to everyday tasks to improve daily productivity.

Pretending to have to leave work early can motivate completing tasks more quickly.

Frontloading your workload can free up time during the day for relaxation.

Setting a challenge to complete tasks one day ahead of time can keep you ahead in your work.

Understanding Parkinson's Law allows you to reassign deadlines and break up projects for better productivity.

By manipulating deadlines and challenging oneself, Parkinson's Law can enhance efficiency in completing tasks.

Transcripts

Have you ever been given an assignment for an  essay that’s due in a month, but waited until the  

last few days to write it? Or maybe you’ve had to  give a work presentation at the end of the week,  

but put everything together an hour before you  had to give it? Or maybe you’ve set a big goal  

for yourself to get completed in five years,  but don’t seem to be making any progress? 

If you’ve ever experienced  this kind of procrastination,  

you’ve experienced Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law is a theory developed  

by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay  published in The Economist in 1955.  

Cyril wrote his essay after spending a lot of  time in the British Civil Service where he noticed  

tasks took up as much time as they were allotted. Cyril wrote that: 

“work expands so as to fill the  time available for its completion.” 

Essentially, Cyril saw that if someone was given  a certain amount of time to complete a task, they  

would complete it within that amount of time, no  matter how long it actually took to complete. If  

they were given a week to finish, it took a week.  If they were given a day to finish, it took a day. 

Of course, Cyril wrote that work expands,  which means that it can’t necessarily contract.  

A task takes as long as it takes to complete,  but if you allot more time to it than necessary,  

people will end up using all that time. This explains why we often wait to the last minute  

to write our essays or prepare our presentations:  the task doesn’t actually take as long to complete  

as we’ve given ourselves time for, so we wait  until it gets closer to the deadline to finish it. 

While you may be thinking “Parkinson’s Law sounds  like something to be avoided at all costs!”,  

the truth is that you can use Parkinson’s Law  to your advantage. There are a few tricks you  

can employ to make sure Parkinson’s Law works for  you, rather than the other way around. In fact,  

understanding Parkinson’s Law can improve  your productivity in all aspects of your life. 

Let’s look at a few ways you can use  Parkinson’s Law to get your work done  

faster and more efficiently. Create Artificial Deadlines 

Usually, other people decide our deadlines for us. A boss or a professor puts a due date on a project  

and we just accept that as the deadline. That’s  when the paper is due, so that’s when I’ll have  

it done. That’s when the presentation is  due, so that’s when I’ll have it done. 

However, as Parkinson’s Law has shown us,  sometimes these deadlines are arbitrary. What if  

you ignored the “given” deadline, and decided on  your own personal deadline that was much earlier? 

We can create our own deadlines and speed up the  timeline on a project significantly. So instead of  

waiting for the last minute to finish something,  we can set an earlier, artificial deadline for  

yourself in order to get the project done ahead  of time and free up more time for yourself. 

Next time you get a task with a deadline,  consider how long you actually think it will  

take you to complete. Is it really going to  take you a whole week to draft that proposal?  

Or could you get it done in an hour? Is it going  to take you three years to write your book?  

Or could you actually finish it in six months? 

Try setting a new deadline for yourself that is  significantly closer than the original deadline.  

This method can help you use deadlines  to get things done faster than you expect  

and get ahead of the game. Break Down Big Tasks 

Parkinson’s Law usually rears  its ugly head with large projects  

and deadlines in the far future. Rather than  getting started on these projects right away,  

we wait until we start feeling  the pressure to get them done. 

In order to keep from procrastinating until it’s  too late, split up your projects into smaller  

tasks and give them each a new deadline. Set your  deadlines for the smaller tasks earlier than you  

expect so you can keep on track. This way, you’ll  have turned your big project into manageable  

chunks with deadlines that feel more urgent. Create a Challenge 

Sometimes, a new deadline isn’t  enough to spur us into action,  

so another trick is to create a challenging  deadline. This is a deadline that you know you  

probably won’t make and is much, much shorter than  you would normally take to complete your task. 

For example, say you have an essay due in  a week but you’re having trouble getting  

started. Set yourself a challenge to write as  much of the essay as possible in just one hour. 

Realistically, you probably won’t get done  in that time (though if you do, congrats!  

You’re essay is done!). Your essay also probably  won’t be very good. But the important thing  

is that you’ll have something to work off  of, and you’ll have hit the ground running  

instead of twiddling your thumbs waiting to start. With a challenging deadline, simply see how much  

you can accomplish. It’s much easier to edit a bad  essay than to write a perfect essay from nothing. 

Apply Parkinson’s Law to Your Everyday Parkinson’s Law doesn’t just have to be  

used for large projects, though. You can also use  it to your advantage with everyday tasks. Have you  

ever worked an 8-5 job, but finished up all the  work you had to do in the last hour of the day? 

A great hack to improve your  productivity during your every day  

is to pretend you have to leave work early  and have to get everything done before then. 

For example, if you start work at 8, pretend  you have somewhere to be at 10 am and see if  

you can get everything done before then. You  can even actually plan something for 10 am  

in order to really motivate yourself. It  can honestly be as simple as a coffee break. 

Even if you don’t finish everything, you may  be surprised at how far along you get! Plus,  

by frontloading your workload this way  you free up more time during the day  

to relax and take it easy. You can even set yourself a challenge  

in your day-to-day where you try to complete  every task one day ahead of time. So if you need  

to complete something for work, you would  always try to get it done the day before.  

Shaving off just one day from the deadline  will probably not stop you from being  

able to complete the task, plus you’ll  end up ahead in your work. You’ll end up  

feeling much more on top of things simply by  only shaving off one day from your deadline! 

Rather than letting Parkinson’s Law rule your  productivity, you can wield deadlines as your own  

weapon to get things done faster than you normally  would. Once you understand Parkinson’s Law,  

it’s easy to apply its principles to your own  projects, essays, presentations, goals, and more.  

Play with reassigning deadlines, breaking up  your projects and goals into smaller parts,  

and challenging yourself to get  things done faster than you expect.