There is a good chance we all want to set goals, start projects, have dreams and accomplish them in a timely and efficient fashion. This is where Parkinson’s Law comes in to play and knowing its potential can help some of us improve on our success rates.
Parkinson’s Law states work expands to fit the time available for its completion. Sure, that’s a definition of some obscure and unknown theory from some far-off place of knowledge, but what does it actually mean to the rest of us?
The basic idea is if we are not setting deadlines on our life’s dreams and goals there is a fairly good chance these goals will not come to fruition, to completion, or be accomplished.
By setting a someday, as the old adage goes, this someday will probably end up being a no day. So what does the knowledge of knowing something like Parkinson’s Law actually provide us? It allows us to have a little bit more insight in to the function of setting and accomplishing goals and may allow us the ability to work smarter and faster, instead of just working harder and for longer periods, although working harder is always a good thing.
The general idea behind Parkinson’s Law goes something like this: say we set a goal to achieve something by the end of the next two weeks, the law states we will spend the full two weeks working towards completing that goal in the allotted time. Here’s the interesting part. If we had the ability of easily accomplishing our theoretical goal in the two-week timeframe, but instead extended the deadline to two months down the road, Parkinson’s Law argues we would end up taking the full two months to complete the task. The work would extend to fit the time available.
The most interesting part is this. When we have big pipe dreams in our lives we often don’t set a deadline to have those goals fulfilled. If we want to go on that big vacation we dream of, or we’d like to learn a new skill, or take up a new hobby, or take some night classes, instead of setting a deadline to have those goals accomplished by, we put them into the category of someday.
Based on the law, it’s possible we might set aside the maximum amount of time available to expand the work out for its completion. In other words, we could end up spending the rest of our lives working up to that big dream, that goal and that accomplishment. We’ve extended the time allotted for completion to infinity.
So how do we use the ideas behind Parkinson’s Law to our greatest advantage?
It’s going to be uncomfortable to set a deadline, but a deadline must be set. If there is something you’ve always wanted to do with your life it is probably a good idea to write it on a calendar, or make a mental note of when it should be accomplished and be determined to stick to your guns.
Want to start a membership with a new club? Pick a date and force yourself to sign up before that deadline. Want to do something you keep putting off for that someday? Grab a calendar and physically write it down. This makes it real. Writing something down takes it from just a thought, puts it in the real world and increases the chances of it being accomplished, in the real world.
By using Parkinson’s Law, even starting today, it’s possible we can make our chances of accomplishing goals far more efficient and more likely to come true. But don’t forget, some deadlines do come with the benefit of much needed extensions.
