Parkinson's law
What it means
Parkinson's law is the observation, first made by the historian C. Northcote Parkinson in 1955, that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Give yourself a week for a two-hour task and it will somehow take the week, with more polishing, more worrying and more putting off.
How to use it
Set your own tighter deadlines and time limits, a little shorter than feels comfortable. Timeboxing and a fixed end to the workday both put the law on your side. Keep an eye on quality: the aim is to cut padding, not corners.
Try it: what you write, what LifeOS does
- “today at 2pm one hour for the quarterly report” → An appointment today at 14:00 with a reminder, a fixed start for a task with a fixed limit.