It's important to manage your time well. If you've been offered that advice quite a bit, maybe your time is managing you.
Let's find out.
We all know of Murphy’s Law, but have you heard of Parkinson’s Law? It comes from a 1955 essay in The Economist that was expanded a few years later into a book.
Parkinson’s Law states:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
I love this quote because it introduces the concept we’re talking about today perfectly: time management.
The law basically states that whatever the time is you have available, you’ll fill it doing whatever the task.
Consider the following two points.
Have you found yourself in this king of time-management trap?
Only have 20 minutes to clean the house? It will take all 20 minutes.
Maybe you have an hour. It’ll take that entire hour.
Parkinson’s Law is why it feels like we never have enough time for what we want to get done and are always rushing from one task to another.
And time management is a form of self-discipline that you need to master if you’re going to take control of your life for positive results.
While a mentor, life coach, or close friend can help you learn to manage your time better, it’s ultimately up to you to make the commitment to better account for your time.
Here are a few tips I’ve found helpful to manage my time and not let it manage me:
1. Prioritize what you need to get done.
What is urgent and not urgent? What is most important and less important? The things that are both most important and urgent should move to the top of your list while the others can trickle down. Knowing the order of getting things done is a big first step learning how to manage your time.
2. Write it down.
If you’ve got 1,001 things you’re trying to keep track of in your head, you’re bound to forget a few and lose the order in which they need to be done. Either before you go to bed, or before you start your day, sit down with a pen and piece of paper and write the plan for the day. Seeing it in front of you will be like creating a map and will help you manage your time.
3. Understand your productivity.
If you’re someone who has a high level of productivity in the morning, but you tend to slack after lunch, put the most important things to get done early in the day. Save returning emails until a time when you have less energy. Pay attention to your production cycles and plan accordingly.
4. Delegate.
Whether it’s setting the table, picking the kids up from piano practice, or making copies at work, is there somebody who you can delegate certain tasks to that don’t need to be taking up your time? More people in this world who would like to help you than you probably think.
5. Set Time Constraints.
Time constraints are direct kick-in-the-face to Parkinson’s Law. If you’re going to spend 20 minutes cleaning the house, stop when 20 minutes is up and move onto the next thing? Want to spend 30 minutes on yard work? Don’t do anything past the 30-minute point. You’ll be surprised how much you get done when you’ve only got a certain amount of time.
6. Learn to say no.
The boss wants you to take on a new project? Your son’s teacher is looking for chaperones for the class trip? Your husband wants to see a movie with you? It’s OK to say no. It’s quite healthy. Having boundaries with others will make you feel less out-of-control when it comes to time management.
7. Forget multi-tasking.
Somewhere in the 1980s, somebody invented the buzzword “multi-tasking,” but there’s technically no such thing. The brain can only focus on one thing at a time and trying to make it focus on more than one is just going to lead to a poor outcome that takes extra time. Focus on what’s in front of you.
I think you’ll find if you try implementing a few of these ideas into your time management habits, you’ll be surprised how much you get done within a time period you didn’t think was possible.
You don’t have to be a victim of Parkinson’s Law if you don’t want to be.