Win at Life
Or read below:
Parkinson’s law
… is the adage that:
“work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.
Here are some ways to make that work for you:
1. Break Down Your Tasks and Deadlines
2. Know What ‘Done’ Actually Means
3. Don’t Multitask
4. Challenge Yourself
5. Create Incentives to Finish Early
6. Know What’s Next
1. Break Down Your Tasks and Deadlines
Parkinson’s Law is always worse with big tasks that have distant deadlines.
The best way to fix this is, breaking those big monolithic tasks
into smaller, bite-sized chinks,
along with several intermediate deadlines to complete them.
Create mini-sprints to deadlines along the way – to keep the urgency going.
(I’m going to have the bedroom clutter-free by 1pm), for example.
2. Know What ‘Done’ Actually Means
The more of a perfectionist you are,
the most likely you’re a victim of Parkinson’s Law.
There can always be one more little thing to add,
one little refinement to be made, right?
I am literally the WORST for this, the irony of writing about this isn’t lost on me!
So I particularly watch out for this one.
We all want to do a thing well – but knowing where to draw the line means we don’t spend a lot of time overdoing it (as we discussed in Minimum Effective Dose).
3. Don’t Multitask
Most of the time, Parkinson’s Law kicks in when we’re doing too much stuff at the same time.
Our days become a jumble of tasks when hardly any ever gets completely finished.
With the added possibility of greater distractions creeping in, it only gets worse.
To avoid Parkinson’s Law’s effects and finish tasks sooner,
we must work on them one at a time, focused and with as few distractions as possible.
Multitasking means everything is done LESS efficiently and ultimately takes you longer.
4. Challenge Yourself
When you have a tight time limit or deadline,
it forces your brain to work out ways to get it done in the time available.
That is a useful thing it is wired to do.
So reduce the time you think it will take …by just a little, to keep the momentum going.
5. Create Incentives to Finish Early
Reward yourself for finishing early – and your brain will associate that success with good feelings.
If you start on a new piece of work… your brain will learn that too.
Instead – have something lovely lined up if you meet your deadline.
This way your days are filled with both productivity and fun,
6. Know What’s Next
Lastly, something that happens too often is hanging on too long to a task
solely because we don’t know exactly what to do next.
Planning is often harder than actually carrying out the tasks,
so we can dawdle a little in the safe space of ‘knowing what we’re doing’
When you know what your Most Important Tasks are for each day –
you will feel much happier to finish promptly – and move on.
So your task for today:
- Time yourself to complete some of your most common tasks.
When you come to fill in your calendar at the end of this course,
this will provide helpful benchmarks.
Is it possible to streamline those tasks to get them done more quickly?
Can you beat your time next time, using some of the tips above?