Parkinson's Law - Work expands to fill the time available
When setting deadlines or allocating time
Understanding the Rule
Tasks take as much time as you allocate. Generous deadlines ensure work fills all available time through scope creep and inefficiency. Tight deadlines force efficiency.
What Happens When You Break It
Generous deadlines ensure procrastination, inefficiency, scope creep, and work consuming far more time than necessary.
Benefits of Following This Rule
Tight reasonable deadlines force efficiency, prevent procrastination, increase focus, accomplish more, and prevent work from unnecessarily expanding.