September 28, 2023 | Read Online

Parkinson's Law

By using Parkinson’s Law correctly, you can get more done in less time.

Since the release of Football Done Right, the most often asked question about the research for the book centers on a similar theme.

What leadership characteristics did Al Davis, Bill Belichick and Bill Walsh share? What separates them from the competition?

The short form answers their ability to focus on what is the main thing and never get distracted by non-essential distractions. All three kept the main thing the main thing. The long answer is all three men were highly productive with their work. All three were tasked with enormous responsibility and workload. All three were able to avoid “Parkinson’s Law.”

Parkinson’s law is an axiom that states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” The adage was named for Cyril Northcote Parkinson, who first described the phenomenon in 1955 and published in “The Economist. Parkinson believed that setting future deadlines encourages procrastination. Parkinson states in his essay, “As work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” If something must be done in a year, it’ll be done in a year. If something must be done next week, it’ll be done next week. If something must be done tomorrow, it’ll be done tomorrow.

Parkinson’s law is an observation of a phenomenon many people have experienced as their responsibilities increase. The workflow chart looks great from a planning standpoint and fits our calendar perfectly. We block off an hour for meetings, even though the meeting isn’t an hour long. We schedule a call for 30 minutes and spend too much time chatting about things that don’t matter. We are conditioned to waste time even though the apps we use are telling us they can save us time.

According to Parkinson, more can be done sooner. In the case of Davis, Belichick and Walsh, they understood their time was limited, as gameday had a set date and time; therefore, they couldn’t expand their deadlines, requiring them to complete quality work in a reduced time. The Law should not be used to set unreasonable deadlines for work; however, it requires a realistically aggressive approach toward completion.

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, once said, “If you split your day into ten-minute increments, and you try to waste as few of those ten-minute increments as possible, you’ll be amazed at what you can get done.”

What would occur if we made our calendars in ten minutes slots? Meetings would not be a waste of time; with details, everyone would get to their point quicker, as we would be encouraging production, not procrastination.

Starting now, experiment with Parkinson’s Law by squashing your deadlines to the bare minimum in many areas of your life. Just be conscious of the line between “bare minimum” and “not enough time”— you aim for a job well done in less time, not a disaster from rushing.

By using Parkinson’s Law correctly, you can get more done in less time and learn how much time each of your tasks really requires.