Parkinson's Law: Why We Waste Time and 5 Strategies for Quitting

What is Parkinson's Law?

In 1958, Ciryl Northcote Parkinson, in a productivity book that instantly became an international bestseller, gave the following definition.

The work expands to take up all available time

The formulation of Parkinson's law is deliberately ironic: it recalls the Aristotelian theory according to which every gas or liquid continually tries to fill all the empty space it finds (“natura abhorret a vacuo”).

And it means, in a nutshell, that the more time we have to do something, the longer it will take us to do it.

Or, in other words, even when we have a lot of time to complete a task, we tend inexorably to reduce ourselves to completing it only at the last moment.

To see Parkinson's law at work, I believe there is no more striking example than those university students who, no matter if the exam is after two weeks or after two months, will still arrive out of breath to finish. the last review just the night before.

But even at work, there is no joking, both at the level of individuals and of the organization.

Indeed, I would say that when the task is not carried out by one person but by a team, Parkinson's law reaches tragicomic levels, adding up the waste of time and inefficiencies of all.

In today's article we will therefore see:

• First, what they are the three reasons behind Parkinson's law (and how to understand if you too are a victim)
• Then, 5 tips to avoid it, stop wasting time and finish your study and work projects not a minute earlier, but as soon as possible.

What Parkinson's law depends on.

The more time we have, the more we consume.

Thinking about it seems absurd, but in reality I think it is a very common experience, because it is due to three attitudes that, to varying degrees, we all have:

• The tendency to procrastinate: why do today what can be done tomorrow? And so, we always postpone to another day. For laziness, for not having to make decisions, for distraction, for superficiality. (In my article on procrastination you can find out the causes of the tendency to procrastinate, but above all how to defend yourself against it).
• Perfectionism: Even the simplest of tasks can lose you in a thousand insignificant details, thus consuming enormous amounts of time. You see, if we're under pressure, it's almost natural to try to focus on the essentials. But when there is time, every detail suddenly becomes more important than it really is. To quote Parkinson "The more time is available, the more important and demanding the work seems"
• Insecurity: a typical consequence of insecurity is postponing the deadline because “next time I'll be more ready”. Those who continually postpone exams know this well. 

Knowing if you are also a victim of Parkinson's law is easy. Just think about the last time you had an important deadline.

If you started that you had enough time ...

If on the last day you found yourself working like crazy ...

If you thought, with a little regret, "if I had only half of the deck that you are doing today every day, I would have finished a week ago" ...

And if you solemnly said to yourself "I will never waste my time like this again, next time I want to get off to a good start" ...

If, finally, next time you make exactly the same mistakes….

Here you are victim of Parkinson's law.

So let's see together how you can, instead of finishing your projects a minute earlier, finish them as soon as possible

5 tips to overcome Parkinson's law

1. Define exactly what you need to do.

Cleaning the house, learning biochemistry, preparing slides, writing a report on a project, studying the lesson….

These are all concepts that, left indefinitely, can take a minute as well as a day, a week or a month.

For this, start doing any of these things without defining clearly the task and the result expected, it is the best way to waste time.

At what level do you need to know the book? How many slides will there be in the presentation and how long will it last? How long should the text of the report be? How detailed is the report?

By answering these types of questions you will avoid both the trap of perfectionism, which makes you do too much, and that of superficiality, which makes you do little.

And you will simply learn to do things right. 

2. Set yourself ambitious deadlines

I don't know if you've noticed, but it's very difficult to force people to make commitments on time.

Whether it's the doctor, the plumber, the pizza place downstairs, or your child - whether he's 4 or 20 is the same - everyone is generally reluctant to give you that kind of advice.

So you can never tell him I'm late.

The problem is that we also play this game with ourselves, precisely to reserve the possibility of expanding or compressing time according to need and mood.

If you want to oppose Parkinson's law, however, not only do you have to assign a specific time to the activities you need to complete.

Ma this time must also be somewhat restricted.

Think about the famous last day before a project exam or delivery.

Doesn't it happen to you too that you find yourself working with extraordinary efficiency, dedicating yourself only to the essentials and avoiding all that is distraction?

Often, we know, the last available day is more productive than in the previous 7 combined.

The fact is that the urgency, when you are not stuck with excess anxiety, it is a wonderful incentive to be efficient.

If you give yourself a little tight deadlines, you will be able to inject a little healthy urgency into your days right from the start.

3. Measure your progress

Okey, you have established what you need to do and how quickly you need to do it.

At this point you have to monitor your progress every day to find out if you are early, late or in line with the schedule you have given yourself.

To do this I recommend three techniques (you can use the first two together but also alternately):

• Keep a log of your activities
• Compile to do lists (long-term and daily)
• Use the Pomodoro Technique

The diary is ideal for reflecting on how things went during the day and considering any adjustments.

The to do lists are extraordinarily effective in the timely planning of short and long-term activities.

Finally, the tomato technique is a working system that, using small discrete units (25 minutes of activity and 5 minutes of rest), reduces distractions and allows you to monitor progress in near real time.

4. It operates according to the Pareto principle

A classic example of Pareto principle (find out what it is by reading the article on mental models) o Principle 80/20 is your closet: there is 20% of clothes that you almost always wear and 80% that you hardly wear.

But also the distribution of wealth in the world (20% of the population owns 80% of the resources), the questions that professors ask in the exams (80% of them concern 20% of the topics), the turnover of a company (20% of customers generate 80% of revenues), the programming time of a software (80% of the time spent on the PC is used to write 20% of the code)….

In short, the Pareto principle is an empirical law of efficiency that can be defined more or less as follows: for each activity there is a 20% of causes which brings 80% of the effects.

Obviously, don't fix yourself on the exact percentages, but on the concept: in all things there is always a predictable imbalance between causes and effects

And so, if you first focus on what's really important, you can achieve greater results in less time.

So when you start something, identify the 20% that will give you 80% of the result, and always start from there.

5. Increase your concentration level

A work email, your little brother who bothers you, your mobile phone always on, an unexpected visit, a sudden idea, a new series on Netflix ...

The reasons why we get distracted are so many and varied that staying focused on something has really become increasingly difficult.

And of course, the more time we have, the more likely we are to allow distractions to get in the way.

For this reason, to those who have important goals and don't want to throw their time away, I always recommend two strategies that are as radical as they are effective:

• Learn to say NO as much as possible (It's not easy at all, I'll explain why and how to do it here).
• Learn to exploit the great power of the best hours of the day (I'll tell you what they are here).

Conclusions on Parkinson's law

Parkinson's law, unlike physical and mathematical laws, is by no means inevitable.

Think how nice it would be to experience, at least in the really important things, the pleasure and tranquility of finishing well in advance of the deadline, perhaps being able to afford the luxury of going to the cinema the day before the exam, or to the beach on the weekend before a important job delivery.

You would feel much calmer, satisfied, in control of your life and goals.

For this to happen, remember the strategies I told you about today:

• If you have determined exactly the task you need to do ...
• If you've given yourself an ambitious deadline ...
• If you measure your progress over time ...
• If you dedicate yourself first of all to what is essential ...
• If you don't let yourself be continually distracted by everything and everyone ...

here it is you will be able to escape from Parkinson's law, completing your projects without taking all the time there is, but only what is strictly necessary.

In this way, anxiety and regrets will decrease ("Oh no! I had to start working first"), you will avoid the risky full immersions of the last second and, above all, you will free up time for other projects or even to rest and have fun. A greeting. Anthony.