Parkinson’s Law

Who?? Parkinson?? Cyril Northcote Parkinson?? Surely you’ve heard of him?

?

OK, maybe I have a slightly more nerdy appreciation of 1950s British civil servants than most.? Let me explain and introduce you to Cyril, and to Parkinson’s Law.

?

Cyril Northcote Parkinson (afore mentioned British civil servant) wrote an essay for the Economist in 1955 and the first line was, “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”

?

This simple insight gave rise to a whole book (yes, I have a first edition, I am that nerdy), a school of thought and a LAW for time management.? You might not have read the original article, or the book, but you have likely come across the principles before.? What I want to do is run over them and then look at how we can use them to our advantage.

?

To re-state the principle, work expands to fill the time we allow for it.? Does this resonate with you?? I know I can relate, and I’ve seen it hundreds of times with others.? If we allow ourselves a couple of hours to catch up with emails, we will take at least that long (and often longer!)? If we overestimate how long something will take us, then we relax into that timescale.? Take it easy, grab an extra cuppa, and meander our way through the task.

?

On the flip side have you ever seen someone process emails (or done this yourself) when they are about to leave for a 2 week holiday.? All of a sudden the stuff that’s been languishing at the bottom of the inbox, the stuff that can be passed on or actioned quickly, the items that are being kept as ‘I might read that later’, all get dispatched quickly and efficiently.

?

I’m just using emails to highlight this, but the principle holds for any aspect of our work or our studies.? If we don’t set an appropriate timescale then it will leak out into our free time, and this has all sorts of implications for effective working, procrastination and stress.

?

So how can we use this?? Well, we know we work better on certain tasks at different times of the day, so stage one is to decide when we will do something.? Next (based either on experience or a hunch) allocate a timescale in which to complete that task.? Then monitor, rinse and repeat.? Getting accurate at this is an ongoing process but it’s a habit that’s well worth cultivating.

?

Is there a right or wrong?? That’s up to you.? Some tasks you will prefer to take at a leisurely pace.? Other you will want to tackle and dispatch quickly.? The choice is yours, but the key is to make a conscious choice about the pace you want to do something at, determine how long it will take you to complete at that pace, and allocate that timeframe for yourself.?

?

A reward afterwards is also a good idea.? Another cuppa anyone?

Dave Jarrold

Skills Development Consultant