Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allotted to complete it; in other words, if you give your Self two weeks to complete a task, it will take two weeks to complete it, and it will most likely be completed on days thirteen and fourteen of those two weeks. 

If you gave your Self one week to complete the same task, it will take one week to complete it, and it will most likely be completed on days six and seven of that week.

Why does this matter?

As you design the plan to pursue your authentic life, keep in mind that by extending the time you give your Self to complete tasks, you delay achieving your goals–which is living your authentic life. Set a reasonable but motivated timeline for the tasks in your plan that will allow you to get where you want to be sooner.

If you have an enormous task to complete, break it down into smaller tasks with shorter timelines to help you achieve it without feeling overwhelmed. Some goals may take time–for example, if your objective is to launch a podcast, there are numerous micro-steps to take that can be broken out into smaller tasks with shorter timelines. Instead of focusing on launching the podcast in six months, shift your focus to each of the individual steps in weekly timelines that will allow you to launch your podcast in four months.

Always give your Self less time than you think you need, especially when designing the plan for your authentic life–you’ll always meet the timeline you set, so you might as well set it to bring you closer to your authentic life sooner.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC