Parkinson’s Law is a modern day time thief that most – if not all – business owners struggle with.
It’s the disappointing feeling of having spent an hour on a task that should really have only taken ten minutes.
Whether this was from your own doing or from something out of your control doesn’t matter.
Thankfully, Parkinson’s Law is relatively simple to understand; and once you know it, you’re one step closer to overcoming it.
What Is Parkinson’s Law: An Example
Parkinson’s Law is the well documented theory that whatever work you have will expand to fill the allotted time you’ve assigned it.
We’ll put it in an example:
Say you’ve given yourself eight hours to complete a task. Now, you know for a fact that you can complete the task in half the time.
But simply knowing that you have eight hours to complete the task is enough to make you feel comfortable taking your time.
You’re unlikely to rush yourself or even work at peak efficiency.
(You may even feel comfortable enough to take an extra coffee break or two!)
Before you know it, through a combination of distractions and procrastination, you’ve allowed the task to take eight hours to complete.
Now, technically you’ve completed the task on time. Your colleagues are impressed and the client is satisfied.
But deep down you know that you could have spent half the time on task and still delivered the same results.
This typically happens because:
- More time assigned to a deadline = more time wasted
- Less time assigned to a deadline = increase in productivity
This theory actually applies to all aspects of your life, too.
We can take longer than necessary to do our groceries, washing, laundry, or other undesirable chores when we know we don’t have to rush it.
Unfortunately, this can lead to feelings of anxiety, stress and even dreading the deadline itself.
You may find that you’re leaving your deadline until the last few moments.
When your stress & anxiety is at an all-time high, you conversely work much harder and with greater efficiency.
But this is certainly not a healthy way to work.
How To Overcome Parkinson’s Law
Simply being aware of Parkinson’s Law is usually enough to begin overcoming it.
When setting yourself a task: ask yourself how much time do you need to complete it at a bare minimum.
And then reduce that time by 20%!
Instead of giving yourself an hour to complete your next project, give yourself forty eight minutes instead.
While this may seem difficult at first, restricting yourself to a tight timeframe will force you to be productive and creative.
You’ll realize how much time we all waste procrastinating minor tasks that really aren’t that bad.
What’s more, you’ll get through the task faster and actually have more time to relax afterwards.
The Benefits Of Beating Parkinson’s Law
Apart from having more time to yourself afterwards and completing your task early, there are good reasons to overcome this law.
Namely, you could feel significantly less stressed when you become aware of – and overcome – Parkinson’s Law.
This is because finishing a task early – and not letting yourself become distracted – will give you increased feelings of confidence.
Additionally, tasks become much more manageable and we dread them less when we know exactly how much time we need to spend on them.
The worst feeling is when we know we need to complete a project, but there’s no end in sight. These can drag overnight, onto the weekends, and worse.
Don’t Forget About The Accountant’s Law
By overcoming Parkinson’s Law, you should free up a few extra hours per week for your business.
But the last thing you’ll want to be doing with this extra time is repetitively checking over your finances.
So call The A Firm today for your free meet and greet. In it, you’ll meet our CEO and learn how our highly qualified team can grow your business!