Have you noticed that more often than not we tend to procrastinate and get the actual work done only as the deadline looms rather than properly utilising the 2 weeks we had before it?

The procrastination, the perfectionist tendencies to research all the articles that come up on the first page of Google search before actually starting the work – all this gets thrown out of the window when you reach the day before the deadline, right?

Why is that so? Does it mean that we should stop doing all the work well-ahead of a deadline and take it up only on the last day?

Well NO! who needs that sort of pressure, and yet why do we often find ourselves in exactly this situation! There could be many factors contributing to this, but the one I wanted to deep dive into today is referred to as ‘Parkinson’s law’.

What is Parkinson's law?

Parkinson’s law states that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion”. When I came across this concept for the first time, it did catch my attention.

Especially if you relate to being:

• a ‘perfectionist’
• a creative who likes to (duh…) pursue certain trivial things on top of essential work and make it all unnecessarily complicated
• a procrastinator (but who is not?) or
• someone like all of us who just wants to get that ‘boring’ job done

then I think we all could benefit from adapting this ‘law’ to our advantage.

A tale of two deadlines

Imagine a scenario where you need to prepare a presentation that is due in another 5 days. So, you decide to spend the next 5 days on it – thinking, writing, researching, procrastinating and actual working - all of it. You read 10 articles to research on this topic, you collect, collate and analyze all the data you have got. You write multiple drafts, edit, re-write, re-edit. Then you design it once, re-design it repeatedly till you are somewhat satisfied. And as the last day hits, you decide that it is done (well, because you have no more time left) and you go ahead and submit it.

Now imagine another scenario where you choose to do things a bit differently. You still start the work 5 days before the deadline but now you give yourself a ‘fake deadline’ of 2 days to get this work done. And you know what? The work does get done within 2 days in a very similar quality as the above case, if not better!

So, what changed?

Well, you still did similar things that had to be done to prepare this presentation. But with this additional ‘constraint’ that you created for yourself, your focus was now more concentrated on the absolute essential things to get the job done.

You had to (or were in a way, forced to) skip or skim the non-essential parts. Instead of 10 articles, you chose to read only the top 5 articles. As you knew you had a limited window to get this work done, you wrote your first draft with deeper focus and accuracy. And you ended up needing just one more review to finalise it. And as for the design, you went ahead with what you knew relatively well, did some minor tweaks here and there, and lo and behold, you were done with the presentation – all ready to submit – by the end of 2 days.

Why this can work in your favour

It is a win-win!

• You challenged yourself by setting a shorter (but realistic) deadline and you managed to complete the work within the timeline. This way, you are starting to build better trust with yourself to get things done. More importantly, you did not set unrealistic constraints and deadlines but set a healthy challenge for yourself
• In the above scenario, you already had a deadline. But through this example, it is important to realize and understand the difference between “how much time do I have to do this task” vs “how much time do I actually need to get this task done”. The magic lies in realising that more often than not - there is a sizeable difference in these two numbers, and it is this difference that we need to learn to take advantage of
• By completing the work in 2 days instead of 5, you have freed yourself from all the unnecessary stress, mental load and procrastination that you would have otherwise carried along for all those 5 days
• And let’s not forget - any time saved is always precious. It is more time for you to get that rest, to do that errand, to spend time with a loved one or to get that next work started

Apart from applying this principle to ‘obviously important tasks’, I also find it particularly useful to set these constraints for the tasks that I typically run away from or that are just tedious or boring to do.

For example, for that deep cleaning that needs to be done, or that tax that needs to be filed – I find it quite useful to give myself this set time or ‘fake deadline’ to get started with. More than anything else, deciding a timeline or an end-time for these kinds of tasks indirectly helps in getting the work done - as we know that in worst cases, we can just stop doing the work once the timer hits.

How to reverse engineer Parkinson's law and use it to your advantage

To re-iterate, the idea, in short, is this:

Parkinson’s law tells me that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. So, if I give it 5 days, I may probably end up taking all the 5 days to complete the job. But let me reverse engineer this law and instead challenge myself with a deadline of 2 days (which I know is not unrealistic) and you know what - the work does get done in 2 days!

The point here is, even if it takes 3 days in total – it is still a whole lot better than spending 5 days on something, which was not even required in the first place.

To summarise on how to use this to your advantage:

• Remember to assess the difference between “how much time do I have to do this task” vs “how much time do I actually need to get this task done”
• Give yourself deadlines/ constraints to do the task. Even if you have external deadlines set, but if the ‘difference’ (as stated above) is substantial, then know that it is time for you to set that ‘fake deadline’
• The key here is to set realistic deadlines that will challenge you and not frustrate you. You are the best judge for deciding this, based on your past experiences to get similar work done. For example, if you spend 2 days doing a kind of work, next time see if you can do it within a day but do not set unrealistic ones (like two hours for this) and frustrate yourself
• More importantly, be curious while experimenting with this. Everything new takes trial and error to solidify, so be curious and open to experiment
• Being clear on when to get started also helps. Set that date/time on your calendar for when you will begin the work. Plus, you have already decided how much time you are going to give this work. Both should help in getting the work done effectively, compared to tackling it without any plan and giving it all the time that you have got

These deadlines or constraints if set in the right way, can then actually act as an accelerator to get things done more efficiently.

The caveat – don’t turn this into another productivity trap

The caveat here, as I have called out above, is to be cognisant of not allocating too little time which could lead to unnecessary stress and frustration over not getting things done within the ‘decided’ time. We are far too good, sadly, at either over-estimating or severely under-estimating the time it takes to get things done.

This is not about chasing aggressive productivity or time management systems but rather being intentional about how we spend our time and energy on essential and important things vs optional or unnecessary ones. It is also about strategically limiting the time we give into distractions – which we know eventually do creep in, especially when we have a lot of time in our hands.

And there is one more thing. Let’s say you did manage to complete a work in 2 days rather than 5. That’s great but beware of falling into the trap of “ah I have completed this work soon enough…but let me just perfect it a little more here, a little more there” – No! that is a temptation we need to slowly build the muscle to resist and not fall prey to. Easier said than done I know, but nevertheless very much possible.

Be curious and open to experimentation

If you are not sure where to begin with, gradually reduce the timeline for a recurring task that you do and evaluate – how much sooner are you able to get quality work done? and where is the tipping point where it starts to slide into frustration? It is not about doing everything faster but to find that right balance. Assess what is right for you. Do not be afraid to pivot and experiment.

Perhaps, the real advantage of adapting Parkinson’s law is not that it helps us do more, but that it helps us recognise how much time (often unnecessary time) we were giving things in the first place and thus helps us make better and more intentional decisions. Sometimes a little constraint is exactly what can help us get out of our own way.

And finally, all this works great for ‘work’ work but please leave leisure alone! Because let’s be real – rest and leisure and time spent with our loved ones do not need all this sort of analysis and over-strategising.

Cheers!

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