Parkinson's Law: This Is Why More Time Is Pointless

Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. If something has to be done in a year, it will. If the period is reduced to two months or weeks, it will be done in two months or two weeks. Parkinson’s law is not an excuse for unreasonable deadlines, but a useful thought experiment for when we might be giving ourselves too much time to finish a project. We plan and act based on how much spare time we have. This is why, when the deadline approaches, we start working diligently on the task to meet it, but when it is far away, we procrastinate and put it off.

All projects take time. We cannot build skyscrapers in the matter of days or incredible software in weeks. The idea is not to reduce our deadlines to a pulp, putting ourselves under constant pressure. It is more like a mindset shift from “I have lots of time to do this.” to “I have just enough time to do this.” Hence when we put a task off for the last minute, we somehow cram it into that minute. The idea applies itself not only to hours of work, but to demands on resources overall. If we only have a particular set of tools and have to get something done, that set of tools will suffice. If we have a bigger assortment, we will utilize and “need” the entire set.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson, the author of the term, shared the story of a woman who only had one task in a day. To send a postcard. Realistically, it might take a busy person five, maybe ten minutes. But the woman has the entire day to do it. So she spends an hour finding the perfect card, another half-hour searching for her glasses, ninety minutes writing the card, twenty minutes deciding whether or not to take an umbrella on her way to the mailbox. On and on, until her day is filled. Because she knows she has more than enough time at her disposal, her task augments in scope. Ultimately, a simple undertaking like sending a postcard becomes something that takes an entire workday.

The thesis of Parkinson’s law is that tasks are not fixed in duration. Their length depends on the allotted time. When a task is given ample time, it is sure to be infected by unnecessary steps, procrastination, and overthinking. People pace themselves to deadlines. Longer deadlines mean lower urgency, whereas shorter ones force focus and prioritization. Without clear constraints, tasks grow in complexity, and non-essential elements are added. Put two and two together, and we end up in a similar case to the woman above.

Real life implications of Parkinson’s law:

• Work: employees may stretch tasks to fit their workday, even if their task requires less time, reducing efficiency—like writing a presentation, if its scheduled for delivery in two weeks, it’ll be over-polished until it genuinely takes two weeks to complete;

• Personal projects: side projects or hobbies often take just as long as the self-imposed deadline allows, even if you could do them more quickly;

• Meetings: meetings most often expand to fill their scheduled time, even when the important topics could be addressed vastly faster;

• Academics: students often delay starting assignments until close to the due date, even if they could have finished way earlier with proper time management;

• Time management: use strategies like time-boxing—setting strict time limits for tasks—or work with shorter deadlines to manage Parkinson’s law;

• Project management: implement clear milestones and stretch deadlines to prevent scope creep and inefficiency, since you will extend unnecessarily if a deadline is too generous;

• Task prioritization: concentrate on the most important work first, allocating your time to tasks that yield significant results, setting tight deadlines for every item on the list;

• Creative: projects like writing, art, or research expand unnecessarily in response to vague or non-existent deadlines, so set interim deadlines to maintain momentum for yourself.

How you might employ Parkinson’s law as a mental model: (1) impose artificial constraints, setting tight deadlines to force yourself into a focused state, like committing to finishing a project within 4 hours instead of 8; (2) use deadlines strategically, breaking tasks into smaller ones with milestones in between to stay on track and create urgency; (3) focus on results, not busyness or time, shifting your focus from how long something takes to the quality and impact of the result; (4) practice time-boxing, allocating fixed time slots for tasks and stopping when the time is up, even if your work is not “perfect”; (5) limit your resources—time, budget, personnel—allocated to a task to encourage your creative muscle to wake up.

Thought-provoking insights. “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” is Cyril Parkinson’s original observation, emphasizing the natural tendency for inefficient delay. “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” highlights how Parkinson’s law can trigger overthinking and perfectionism when there is no time constraint. “Deadlines are the mother of invention.” stresses the creative potential unleashed by artificial time constraints. “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” encourages prioritizing impactful work over just “keeping busy.” Use this principle as a warning against procrastination. Let it guide you in scheduling your work and allocating time for tasks, be they personal or professional. Play it safe by allocating slightly less than necessary.