I'd never heard of Parkinson's Law before, but it is soooo apt! It was coined by a C. Northcote Parkinson, a naval historian who, in 1955, wrote this little bit of satirical wisdom:
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion
Oh yeah, that is a truism if there ever was one! I bump up against this all the time. Here's an example of how this works in my life...
Blogging Time Evaporates
I go to Starbucks at 5:30. I know that I have 2.5 hours at Starbucks, plenty of time to write at least 1, and more likely, 2 blogs! Plenty of time. Oodles of time!
So, what do I do? Do I start writing a blog as soon as I land at Starbucks? No, I do not. I do some journaling. I then take a look at my To-Do list which as blog ideas. But I can't decide on a blog topic so I decide to think about it for a bit. I mean, I have oodles of time, right?
In the meantime, I organize my To-Do list and rearrange a few things, add a few things, postpone a few things. I handle some small tasks that have been niggling at me and that keep falling through the cracks. I reconsult my to-do list and rearrange my blog topic ideas. I handle a few more tiny tasks.
Until, I look at the clock and... shoot... it's already 6:45 am! I've only got 1.25 hours left! Now I'll be lucky if I get 1 blog done! What the heck? Where'd the time go?
The thing is... writing blogs requires way more effort than fiddling with my to-do list or handling small tasks. Fiddling with my To-Do list is "fun" and doesn't require a lot of effort. If I know that I have 2.5 hours... and I really, really want to get two blogs written... then I'd have to actually focus and get to work!
Adding Bells & Whistles
This is what Parkinson's Law can also look like... we know that we have a report that is due in 2 weeks. Do we work on it immediately? No, we do not. At least I don't. There's plenty of time. Oodles of time. We might chip away at the report with lackluster enthusiasm, until the final day when we shift into Super Gear and blast through it to the exclusion of everything else.
Or... we might decide, with 10 days to go, that we need to do a bunch of research on the topic. Maybe create pretty PowerPoints and colourful spreadsheets. We might delve deeper than we need to into the finer details of the data that we are presenting. Do we need colourful spreadsheets and pretty PowerPoints? No, we do not. Do we need the extra research? No we do not. But we have 2 weeks, don't we! Let's spruce it up. And those things are "fun"! When really... that report, plain and simple, could take 4 hours. Maybe it won't be perfect, but it will be done.
Drifting with no Deadlines
Where I also bump up against Parkinson's Law is when there is NO deadline. OMG... things just languish on my To-Do list and keep getting pushed down the list, down, down, down. But in the meantime, they take up mental energy... gotta work on that, gotta think about that, gotta research that, gotta, gotta, gotta... until all of a sudden, it becomes critical and then I shift into Super Gear and get it done.
For example, we are thinking about getting a new TV for the Airbnb because the current one is 30" which is tiny. There is no set deadline for this, so I can spend a lot of time researching TVs and comparing features and checking out stores. What's in Costco? What's in BestBuy? I don't know which is better... Samsung? LG? Panasonic? Dither, dither. Months get spent on this "project".
But imagine... the TV in the suite breaks! How fast do you think I can decide on a TV if that were to happen? Super fast! Because the deadline is "NOW"!
Or... how about this one... something that is a simple, small, neat, compact task... gets postponed and postponed until... it blows up in your face and all of a sudden, a 30 minute task has turned into a 4 hour damage control project. Think... taking the car in for an oil change... or not.
But there is hope... there are ways to get around Parkinson's Law and it's aftereffects.
Identify the Value
Identify the Scope
If we give ourselves too much time, there is a tendency to add bells and whistles to a project. We have the time so why not add colourful spreadsheets and other frills to a task. But we really don't need to do that.
We want to replace the sink in the suite... but if we're doing that, then maybe it's time to replace the counter. And if we're doing that, we might as well add a backsplash. And heck... it's probably a good idea to paint the cabinets.
All of a sudden, a 30 minute sink replacement has ballooned into a full kitchen remodel. Stick with the original scope and resist the urge to expand things.
Identify Tradeoffs
There's a tradeoff between scope, time and cost. A give and take. If the TV goes on the fritz NOW... I can't wait for a Boxing Day sale. I need to forgo waiting for a cheaper price and just buy the TV now!
Break Things Up
Obviously, this is a huge one. I have had "write book" on my to-do list for a long time. It's a specific book, I've done a lot of research but... "write book" is just too big and unwieldy. The deadline for "write book" is also nebulous. And with no deadline and no plan... it'll be on my list forever.
The trick is to break up the project "write book" into a multitude of smaller projects and tasks, each with their own realistic deadline. Small and short will get things done. Big and long will be on my To-Do list forever.
Set the Timeline
Yes, this is important. I can't tell you how many projects on my list have no deadlines. They languish there for months. I'll do it "someday" and someday never comes because there is no timeline. So it's to set up a timeline, but a realistic one.
I know that I can generally get a blog written in 45-60 minutes. So on a Starbucks morning, it's to work backwards from my departure time of 8 am. I need to start writing the second blog by 7 am and so the first one needs to be started at 6 am. That gives me 30 minutes at the start for journaling and smaller tasks. And if the blogging goes quicker than planned... well, then there's always time at the end for smaller tasks as well!
Working with Parkinson's Law instead of Against It
It's helpful to me to know that this is what happens, all too frequently. I can then begin to work with it instead of bumping up against it all the time. I have a tendency to add buffer time to things because well... I like buffer time. I don't want to be bumping up against frantic deadlines all the time. So I tend to schedule deadlines farther into the future than is required.
A flip side to Parkinson's is this... I saw I need 60 minutes to write a blog. But I could actually write a blog in 30 minutes. It won't be perfect, it might not have a great image to go with it. I might not have time for a lot of background research. But I could do it. In a pinch. It would take more effort, more focus, more intensity, more energy. But it could be done. Maybe not today though... I only have 21 minutes before I have to leave and this blog has taken exactly 60 minutes!
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