Did you know that smart people have studied the idea of time and work to come up with a law that you should know about?
It’s called Parkinson’s Law and essentially states: “…Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” Now, sure, some things do take a specific amount of time. You’re not going to bake a cake in less time than it takes, but much of our work has arbitrary time limits and deadlines that you can work with to become much more productive.
If you’ve ever been accused of procrastination, it might be due to this law, along with creating too long deadlines.
Another problem is not understanding in advance what done means. You must know how to set clear time boundaries for yourself and for anyone you outsource to. You can challenge yourself and your team by creating incentives built into the calendar to finish projects early. To set up your processes right, you always need to know what happens first, what happens next, and what happens last – plus, what constitutes “done” for any one project.
Break Down Your Tasks into Chunks
When you have a deliverable due on a specific date, make sure you break down that project into smaller chunks that you schedule to work on from today until the due date. By making smaller chunks with their own deadlines, you’ll avoid waiting until the last moment, which can cause bottlenecks and a feeling of always working.
Don’t Multitask
The worst thing society has ever tried to make a thing is multitasking. No one can do it, but many people claim to be able to since it’s often seen as a positive. The truth is, studies show it’s impossible, and even when we think we’re multitasking, we’re spending about 30 percent more time than we need on tasks due to the divided attention.
Describe What Done Means for Each Project
One issue with not getting done with things is that many times, you don’t know what done is. Define and describe for each task that you chunk down what constitutes done. Describe and define what the finished product should look like, too. That way, you have a real stopping point.
Set Clear Boundaries Around Your Time
Often, when people work from home on the internet, they tend to forget the time boundaries they’d have if they went to a job. At a job, you’re not surfing online, messing around on Facebook, and playing Words with Friends. This is not work. Set up your calendar to support the things you like to do but remember to fully engage in the elements rather than dividing your time or trying to convince yourself you’re working when you’re playing. It’s okay to play. Just schedule it in.
Create Incentives for Finishing Early
If you’ve blocked four hours today to write 10 blog posts, give yourself some incentive to finish early. If you finish before the four hours is up, instead of moving on to the rest of the work you planned for the day, take that extra time and do something for yourself.
Know What’s First, Next, and Last
The biggest key to remember here is to know what is first, next, and last when you are doing any project. This means that you must write down what everything is supposed to look like as a finished product. For example, if you are writing blog posts today, what does a completed blog post look like and include? Make a checklist to keep you on track for anything you’re working on, so you know when it’s done and what’s next.
The main thing is to understand who you are and how you work best.
Once you know how to set better deadlines for yourself, you’ll get more done in less time. Not only that, once you manage a team, you’ll be able to plan a project so that it gets done promptly – no matter how many people are working together to make it happen.
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