"Mastering Productivity: Unleashing the Power of Parkinson's Law"

[mzeiya]

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As the British Empire began to shrink in the 1950s, the British Navy got smaller too. They had fewer ships and sailors than before. You'd think that as the Navy got smaller, they would need fewer people to manage it, right? But that's not what happened. Instead, the number of officials and administrators in the British Navy offices actually GREW, even though there was less actual Navy work to manage. Parkinson thought this was really strange. He tried to figure out why this was happening and came up with 2 main reasons:

1. The officials in charge liked having more people working under them. It made them feel more important and powerful. But they didn't want to hire people who were so good at their jobs that they might replace them. So they hired more lower-level workers instead.
2. The officials also started creating extra work and paperwork for each other. They were inventing things to do, just to keep themselves and their growing staff busy. When in reality, the Navy didn't need all that extra work. It actually needed less work.

You'll find other, often unnecessary ways to fill your time that week. But if you give yourself until midnight tonight to finish that essay? Suddenly, you find ways to simplify, prioritize, and get it done quickly. The task didn't change, but your approach to it did.

This is the power of Parkinson's Law. We tend to make things more complicated and put things off when we have a lot of time. So, how can we use this law of human psychology to our advantage? Parkinson's Law teaches us to:

• Set clear, realistic deadlines.
• Break tasks into smaller, manageable parts.
• Figure out what's urgent and important.
• Regularly ask if tasks are really necessary.

In management, setting challenging but doable deadlines can stop tasks from growing too much. It makes the team focus on the essentials, not the extras. Constraints free us (paradoxically). "Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else." Peter Drucker knew this truth.

In personal productivity, techniques like timeboxing can help us stay focused. Give a specific, limited time for a task, and stick to it. You'll be surprised at how much you can get done when you treat time as a valuable resource.

Remember, the goal isn't to be busy; it's to be productive. Parkinson's Law teaches us that it's not about working harder or longer (as we are commonly taught)… It's about working smarter and shorter.

 

[upepo]

Every time I set out to do something I always ask myself one question; What is the worst that can happen if I don't?
And that is how the rundown happened.

 

[@sec_gen]

Really impressive, I hadn't noticed this before. Great read, you almost sounded like a motivational speaker at the end kikikiik

 

[mzeiya]

Really impressive, I hadn't noticed this before. Great read, you almost sounded like a motivational speaker at the end kikikiik

Lol, the author is captured in the image on top. It's an unrolled Twitter thread.

 

[Clemens]

View attachment 93593

.
.
.
As the British Empire began to shrink in the 1950s, the British Navy got smaller too. They had fewer ships and sailors than before. You'd think that as the Navy got smaller, they would need fewer people to manage it, right? But that's not what happened. Instead, the number of officials and administrators in the British Navy offices actually GREW, even though there was less actual Navy work to manage. Parkinson thought this was really strange. He tried to figure out why this was happening and came up with 2 main reasons:

1. The officials in charge liked having more people working under them. It made them feel more important and powerful. But they didn't want to hire people who were so good at their jobs that they might replace them. So they hired more lower-level workers instead.
2. The officials also started creating extra work and paperwork for each other. They were inventing things to do, just to keep themselves and their growing staff busy. When in reality, the Navy didn't need all that extra work. It actually needed less work.

You'll find other, often unnecessary ways to fill your time that week. But if you give yourself until midnight tonight to finish that essay? Suddenly, you find ways to simplify, prioritize, and get it done quickly. The task didn't change, but your approach to it did.

This is the power of Parkinson's Law. We tend to make things more complicated and put things off when we have a lot of time. So, how can we use this law of human psychology to our advantage? Parkinson's Law teaches us to:

• Set clear, realistic deadlines.
• Break tasks into smaller, manageable parts.
• Figure out what's urgent and important.
• Regularly ask if tasks are really necessary.

In management, setting challenging but doable deadlines can stop tasks from growing too much. It makes the team focus on the essentials, not the extras. Constraints free us (paradoxically). "Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else." Peter Drucker knew this truth.

In personal productivity, techniques like timeboxing can help us stay focused. Give a specific, limited time for a task, and stick to it. You'll be surprised at how much you can get done when you treat time as a valuable resource.

Remember, the goal isn't to be busy; it's to be productive. Parkinson's Law teaches us that it's not about working harder or longer (as we are commonly taught)… It's about working smarter and shorter.

On no 2 we all have busybodies in headquarters good in this