I first heard of Parkinson’s Law years ago from Brian Tracy and then more recently by Timothy Ferriss in “The 4-Hour Workweek.”
As Mr. Ferriss explains, “Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in perceived importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. It is the magic of the eminent deadline.”
Have you ever had plans to go on vacation at the end of the day and had a thousand things to do? Did you get them done in time? Absolutely!
Why? Because you knew that you were going to go on vacation no matter what! You had an “eminent deadline” that forced you to get everything done — or delegated — before you needed to leave.
I recommend using Parkinson’s Law for things you need to do, but don’t necessarily like doing. Why? Because it will help you get into an extremely focused and highly productive state so you can get it done as quickly as possible. This will allow you to spend more time doing the things you want to do.
Here’s another example. Have you ever waited until the last minute to do a job or study for a test, pulled an all-nighter to get it done and found that you did an outstanding job?
Some people learn from this experience and develop the belief that they work better under pressure. So they tend to put things off until the last minute on a consistent basis, cram at the end and consistently do a reasonably good or better job, which further reinforces the belief that “I work better under pressure.”
Do you work better under pressure? Or did you develop the pattern of cramming at the end because you discovered that putting things off increased your productivity? Interesting question to ponder.
I’m all for strategies to help increase productivity. I’m also for understanding what makes us humans tick and how our brain works. Think about what makes you tick. How did you develop the beliefs that direct your behaviors?