Introduction
Are you failing to carry out the plans you make for the day? Are you always falling behind because you think you don’t have enough time in the day to complete all the tasks? Do you want to improve your time management and planning skills?
You should learn this interesting and easy time management concept called Parkinson’s Law. You can gain insights into how to be more productive and get more done in less time. Time management skills are crucial for a person to be successful in both their personal and professional lives.
In this blog, you will gain knowledge about Parkinson’s law and how it works. There are also examples to better understand the concept. You will also learn how to overcome Parkinson’s law and get better at time management.
What is Parkinson’s Law?
Parkinson’s law conveys that your work will expand to occupy the time allotted for its completion. When you are given a task with a two-week deadline, you may believe that you have plenty of time to finish it; however, you may end up taking longer than usual to complete it. It was discovered by a British naval historian, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, in a satirical essay in 1955. CN Parkinson also wrote a book about this law, known as Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress. He explains how work expands itself to fit in the time allotted. And at some point of time, we all do this.
Parkinson’s Law in Project Management
Suppose, you are given two weeks to complete a task. Maybe that task can be finished in five days, but it will take you a whole two weeks to get it done. We often ask ourselves, “How much time do I have to accomplish the task?” but never ask, “How much time will I need to complete it?” When you limit yourself to the time you actually need to finish a task, you are more likely to complete it within that time limit. Extra time and inadequate deadlines can cause you to procrastinate and waste your time on menial matters. This generally happens when you are not aware of how much time it will take you to complete the task.
Also Read: Procrastination at Work: What Causes Workplace Procrastination and How to Avoid It?
Parkinson’s Law Example
One of the most popular examples of this law is:
The 50+ Hour Work-Week
40- hour work week is a model that assumes that the majority of jobs require an equal amount of time to complete tasks each week. Do the employees in the marketing field and the medical field both require eight hours a day to complete their tasks? No, they don’t. Some people work 40 hours a week, and others work 50+ hours every week. The difference is that people working every day use time management to get the most out of their time. Parkinson’s law is activated everywhere, it’s just up to those who are aware of it to get the most out of their time.
Also Read: Eat That Frog: 5 Amazing Tips for Time Management | DT Evolve
Tips to Overcome Parkinson’s Law
You can overcome this law in so many ways. Some of them are:
Plan Your Work Strategically
It is human nature to procrastinate when given a lot of time to complete a task. But when you plan your time carefully and set realistic deadlines to complete the task, you can prevent procrastination and work effectively.
Set Deadlines
Ask yourself, “How much time do I need?” instead of asking, “How much time do I have?” When you set realistic deadlines for yourself, you can shift your focus to your task instead of overthinking it. By having clarity about how long a task should take to accomplish, you can avoid falling victim to Parkinson’s law.
Use Timeboxing
Timeboxing is a time management tool to help you avoid procrastination and become productive. Set a deadline for accomplishing a goal. When you have clarity on how long a task will take to complete before starting it, your actions take place on an intentional basis. Try to use timeboxing to schedule tasks for the day and work effectively.
Use the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro technique is another time management technique you can use to tackle lower productivity levels. In this technique, you are required to make four time slots of 25 minutes, and after every 25 minutes, you can take a five minutes break. After four work sessions of 25 minutes, you are required to take a 30 minute break to prevent exhaustion. This technique can help you get more done in less time.
Challenge Yourself
Try to finish a task faster without compromising on quality. If any task will take you 1 hour to complete, try to finish it 5 minutes earlier. Increase your speed of work every time you finish any task. Do this until you don’t take too much time to complete the task. By challenging yourself every time, you can recognize your potential and reach the point of success.
Write Down Your Goals
Write down your goals and keep track of them by regularly checking the progress you have made so far. According to the research, writing down your goals helps you get clarity, and you are able to accomplish your goals easily. It holds you accountable for your actions and visualizes your progress.
Also Read: The 80/20 Rule for Effective Time Management | DT Evolve
Conclusion
In this blog, you learned about the importance of Parkinson’s law and how it affects your productivity levels. Extra time and inadequate deadlines can cause you to procrastinate and waste your time on menial matters. This generally happens when you are not aware of how much time it will take you to complete the task. There are also examples to help you better understand the concept of Parkinson’s law. You also learned how you can overcome Parkinson’s law and work more efficiently and effectively.
Learn With DT Evolve
Are you experiencing stress and anxiety due to procrastination? Do you struggle with doing your tasks on time because of so much time? DT Evolve can help you in this by one of the most demanding course. The course covers techniques that will help you effectively analyze data and improve your strategic thinking. Anyone who wants to be a better problem solver, an idea person, or a creative thinker needs to be able to think laterally. This course covers all of the key aspects of lateral thinking and demonstrates how to use its key techniques to improve your brain power and creative thinking step by step. Here’s the link to the course, Strategic Thinking and Forward Planning.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Parkinson’s law conveys that your work will expand to occupy the time allotted for its completion. When you are given a task with a two-week deadline, you may believe that you have plenty of time to finish it; however, you may end up taking longer than usual to complete it.
A British historian, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, invented Parkinson’s law. He introduced the law in a satirical essay for The Economist in 1955.
Set clear deadlines and time constraints for tasks to stay focused and work efficiently to improve productivity.
You can overcome Parkinson’s law by planning your work strategically, setting deadlines, using timeboxing, using the Pomodoro technique, challenging yourself, and writing down your goals.
Parkinson’s law can be avoided by setting realistic goals and deadlines for the tasks and also incorporating breaks, prioritizing self-care, and delegating tasks whenever it is necessary.
Yes, Parkinson’s law can be used in a team setting by setting clear goals and deadlines with the team and encouraging them to work effectively.
Parkinson’s law cannot be used in creative or open-ended projects that may need more time and flexibility.
You can use the Pomodoro technique, the 80/20 rule, the pickle jar theory, the Eisenhower matrix, and the time-blocking method to manage your time effectively.