Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, the amount of time that someone has to perform a task is the amount of time it will take to complete the task.
Cyril Northcote Parkinson coined this adage in 1955 as a joke, in an essay published in The Economist but as humorous as it may have been, it has proven itself time and again in yours and my lives. If you have a task to be completed in a certain amount of time it will generally take up all of the allotted time to get it done. Whereas if the time allowed was shortened, chances are the task would still get done in the shorter amount of time allowed. Another way to look at this law is in regard to storage. How many times have we had a cupboard or some other storage facility that used to be empty or close to it but now it's full to capacity. Have you ever had a backpack that seemed as if it would have ample room yet when you were finished every nook and cranny was stuffed and the pack weighed a million pounds? So, storage requirements will increase to meet storage capacity. My gosh, you should see my garage.
So are we able to defeat this law? Or at least manage it? I believe we can for the most part. If you start with your goal in mind and are realistic and honest with yourself, you can probably shorten the time it will take to be successful. Will it really take two weeks to clear your desk? So, are we beating the law or getting sucked further into the reality of it? While you are stuffing that chest to capacity you can console yourself that you are simply a victim of Parkinson's Law. Or maybe you could have a yard sale.
How could just knowing about this increase your productivity at work or at home? What goal do you have that needs to be bound by a time limit? If someday is the time frame, that someday will probably never come. Contact me today for a free half hour goal setting session. Type "Goals" in the subject line of the email. Now, go make those yard sale posters!
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