Parkinson's law
Tasks expand timeward
Parkinson's law is the observation that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Named for British historian C.
Northcote Parkinson, who articulated it in 1955, the principle explains why a task that could take an hour somehow consumes an entire afternoon if that's what you've allotted: I gave myself a week, so of course it took a week—Parkinson's law.
Suboptimal use of resources
- busyworkMeaningless assigned tasks
- gold-platingThin precious metal coating
- overengineeringExcessive unnecessary complexity
- perfectionismCompulsive pursuit of flawlessness
diminishing returns · make-work · scope creep · resource allocation · capacity planning · output · throughput · lean
Time limit for completion
- procrastinationHabitual task avoidance
- time allocationDistributing hours among tasks
- schedulingAssigning times to events
- prioritizationRanking by importance
dilatory · time tracking · scope creep · buffer time · last-minute · timeboxing · constraint · urgency
Bureaucratic obstacles to action
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- officialdomCollective administrative authorities
- paperworkAdministrative written tasks
- committeeAppointed group for duties
civil service · government · hierarchy · bloat · empire-building · departmental · headcount · meetings
inefficiency
Suboptimal use of resources
- busyworkMeaningless assigned tasks
- gold-platingThin precious metal coating
- overengineeringExcessive unnecessary complexity
perfectionism · diminishing returns · make-work · scope creep · resource allocation · capacity planning · output · throughput · lean · streamlining
deadline
Time limit for completion
- procrastinationHabitual task avoidance
- time allocationDistributing hours among tasks
- schedulingAssigning times to events
prioritization · dilatory · time tracking · scope creep · buffer time · last-minute · timeboxing · constraint · urgency · cushion
red tape
Bureaucratic obstacles to action
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- officialdomCollective administrative authorities
- paperworkAdministrative written tasks
committee · civil service · government · hierarchy · bloat · empire-building · departmental · headcount · meetings · middle management
proverb
Traditional saying expressing truth
axiom · dictum · truism · epigram · witticism · bon mot · observation · quip · principle · wisdom
- productivityproductivity, checking off, prioritization, finishing, output
- theories & lawssupply and demand, law of demand, law of supply, Peter principle, 80-20 rule
- management theoryPeter principle, scientific management, Taylorism, kaizen, servant leadership
Parkinson's lawminimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
streamlining · downsizing · lean startup · agile methodology · bootstrapping
Parkinson, park, parks, parked, parking, parker, lawful, lawless, unlawful