So you have an essay to write. You're not sure how long it will take, but you’re thinking maybe an hour or two.
Three hours later and your essay still isn’t finish. You’re sick of the whole thing and wish you could quit and go cruise Facebook. But the essay is due tomorrow, so…
Or maybe you were doing something else, like cleaning out your email inbox, or organizing the books that are trying to take over your house. For whatever reason, these projects always seem to take a lot more time than you thought they would. It's frustrating. And it makes you reluctant to tackle these kinds of open-ended, "not-sure-how-long-it-will-take" projects.
So why does this happen?
It’s called Parkinson’s Law.
What Is Parkinson’s Law?
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
That’s Parkinson’s Law. And it’s just a fancy way of saying if you give yourself a certain amount of time to do something, that’s how long it will take.
Say you give yourself a month to plan a party. Parkinson's Law says it will take you a month to plan that party. And you’ll probably believe there was no way you could’ve gotten that party planned in less time than that.
But give yourself two weeks to plan the same party and, low and behold, you’ll manage to get it done in two weeks.
And, with personal projects, we often don’t give ourselves any kind of a time-frame or deadline to work with. We say something like, “I’m going to write that essay today.” And writing the essay ends up taking up most of your day.
There’s a quick and easy way to keep projects from getting out of control and eating up precious time.
You just put a time limit on them.
Why Use Time Limits?
Using time limits has many benefits.
- Time limits bring your brain into the act. When you give your brain a challenge, it will try to find a way to rise to that challenge. Give yourself a deadline to clean the kitchen in 30 minutes, and your subconscious will do anything it can to help you beat the deadline.
- Time limits squash perfectionism. If you have to get the first draft of an essay written in an hour, you don’t have time to fiddle over every single word or sentence until it’s perfect. No, you buckle down, ignore the mistakes (for now), and focus on writing that draft before your time’s up.
- Time limits help you focus. When you give yourself too much time to do something, you're also giving your brain permission to goof off. Give yourself four hours to write an essay, and you'll probably spend two of those hours daydreaming and checking Twitter. But if you only have an hour or two to write the same essay, you don’t have time to goof off. You have writing to do!
Using a Time Limit
Here’s how you can use a time limit to get one of your tasks or projects done faster.
1. Choose the task. For this little test run, choose something you think you could get done in 30 minutes to two hours…but that usually ends up taking you at least twice as long
2. Choose your time limit. And make it realistic. You might not be able to clean the kitchen in 10 minutes. But 30 minutes might actually doable.
3. Set your timer. Using a timer that makes a ticking sound (like a kitchen timer) can help keep you from getting distracted. The ticking will remind you you’re “on task.” You have a time limit, and don’t have time to wonder off and do other things.
4. Work until the timer goes off. Now focus on completing that task for the time you set. You’ll probably be surprised by how much more efficient you are, coming up with strategies and shortcuts you never thought of before. That's because your subconscious is busy finding ways to complete the task before you run out of time.
5. Evaluate your progress. Okay, you're timer just went off. Did you get that project or task done in the time you gave yourself?
Maybe the answer is yes. You managed to get the kitchen clean in 30 minutes, instead of the usual 45 minutes. It might not be perfect. But you wouldn’t be embarrassed to invite someone into your kitchen for a cup of coffee.
If the answer is no, make adjustments. Maybe you didn’t get the first draft of your essay written in 30 minutes. But you got about 65 percent of it done, which means you probably could write the first draft of an essay in less than an hour. So next time, you’ll give yourself an hour to write a first draft. Which is still better than the two or three hours it used to take.
Do you have tasks that seem to balloon out of control, and end up taking far more time than you wish they would? If so, try giving them a time limit.
You’ll be surprised how much faster you manage to get things done when you give yourself less time to do them.
Have you tried using a time limit to get a task or project done faster? If so, how did it work for you?
