Mental model · Systems

Parkinson’s law

Parkinson’s law: Work expands to fill the time available for it. Set the shorter deadline and see what falls away.

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Work expands to fill the time available for it.

Try it now

Take a task with a loose deadline. Write how long it would take if you had a quarter of the time.

What to do with the answer

Set the shorter deadline and see what falls away. What falls away is usually what was not needed.

Where it misleads

Some work genuinely needs its time, and compressing it produces worse results rather than fewer frills. Know which kind you have.