Parkinson's Law
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Tiny Summary
Parkinson's Law: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." The more time you allocate for a task, the more time it will take—regardless of actual complexity.
The Pattern
Task: Write 1-page summary
Given 2 hours: Takes 2 hours (efficient)
Given 8 hours: Takes 8 hours (procrastination + perfectionism)
Given 1 week: Takes 1 week (meetings, revisions, overthinking)
Why It Happens
Procrastination (30-40%): "I have plenty of time" → email, meetings, overthinking
Actual Work (20-40%): Finally start → Complete quickly → Realize it wasn't that hard
Unnecessary Perfectionism (30-40%): Over-polish, scope creep, bikeshedding, second-guessing
Real Examples
Code reviews: "Review by Friday" → Thursday evening. "Urgent, 1 hour" → 30 minutes
Meetings: 60 minutes scheduled → fills 60 minutes. 30 minutes scheduled → fills 30 minutes
Estimates: 3 days estimated → takes 3 days. 1 day estimated → takes 1 day
How to Combat It
Set tight deadlines: "Ship by Tuesday 2pm" (not "sometime next week") → Focused work, less procrastination
Time-box: "Exactly 2 hours on this task, then ship" → Forces prioritization, cuts perfectionism
Break large tasks: Day 1: Core functionality. Day 2: Tests. Day 3: Polish (not "2 weeks for feature")
Artificial scarcity: Schedule next meeting right after → Forces hard stop
Compress timelines: "Takes 1 week" → Schedule 2 days → Eliminate waste
Meeting Application
Default to 25 or 50 minutes (not 30 or 60) → Gives buffer between meetings, forces conciseness
Pitfalls
Over-compression: 2-hour task in 30 min → rushed, poor quality. Sweet spot: Actual work + 20-30% buffer
Under-estimation: Impossible deadlines → burnout. Balance with Hofstadter's Law.
No slack: Back-to-back deadlines → no recovery. Build breathing room.
Key Insights
Tight deadlines create focus and eliminate bikeshedding. Buffer time becomes procrastination time. Optimal allocation: Actual work + 20-30% buffer (not 4x actual work). Works best for straightforward tasks with clear scope. Don't apply to creative exploration, research, or learning new technologies.
Use the simulation to see how work expands to fill available time!