1 Thought:
Ever crammed for a test when you were a youth? Ever surprise yourself and end up with a better than expected grade when you did?
Fairly certain the answer is yes; not always I’m sure but more often than expected.
The Parkinson’s Law is something I find fascinating, not simply on the surface, but when you look further you might see that it affects more than meets your immediate attention.
For those not familiar the Parkinson’s Law states that “work will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion.”
For example if you or I are given a task Monday morning and it’s requested back to the person providing it by Friday we will be done by Friday. Same project, given you or I on Monday, due by end of day Tuesday probably still gets done…and the quality doesn’t suffer.
Why does this happen and why should we shorten our own personal due dates, and request faster turn times from our team? When given too much time we are all wired to possibly procrastinate and/ or replace our priorities with the priorities of others. Don’t replace your agenda with someone else’s. Timelines require our focus.
What else can taking longer than needed to create? Time is the most valuable commodity none of us can create more of, so lets use it wisely. Based on that example of the 5 day project being done well, and with the same quality in 2 days, that leaves us 3 more days to accomplish more.
Success is often created off the heels of a “win”. If we are “winning” now 2X more a week by simply tightening our timelines to fit the work more accurately; we can now move our business and careers 2X faster as well. Create your own momentum.
Arbitrary completion dates are just that, arbitrary. Work with intention and discipline.
This last note on this short blog is influenced by a post I saw on LinkedIn that got literally thousands of likes and comments that I find utterly offensive.
Reads a little like this:
Didn’t get a raise or promotion in 2023?
Didn’t get a raise or promotion in 2024?
To highly paraphrase it gives the readers of the post, in my opinion, less than sage advice to take their skills elsewhere.
Shouldn’t a question first be asked? Did you deliver more value in 2023 or 2024? This entitlement philosophy that many now have that you stayed with an employer for a certain amount of time and an automatic raise should simply be bestowed upon you is absurd.
To wrap up if you are tightening your timelines and delivering 2X then you should 100% feel it’s appropriate to ask for more, because you gave more. If you know what you did and your employer isn’t willing to pay you what you are worth then by all means start the search for a better employer.
1 Quote:
” You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you focus on, bust your ass for, and stay committed to.
– Grant Cardone
Motivational Speaker, Author, and Business Owner
1 Thought:
Can you apply the Parkinson’s Law to serve your interests? What projects or tasks are in front of you that you can shorten the timelines on?
Would love to see a comment or just a like if you think this could help and apply to you.
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