A Single Principle to Boost Confidence

Organizational psychologist Benjamin Hardy puts a spin on Parkinson’s Law

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Parkinson’s Law is the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” The notion is simple:

• If you give yourself a year to do something, it will take a year.
• If you give yourself a month, it will take a month.
• If you give yourself a day, it will take a day.

Strategically applying Parkinson’s Law to your work is one of the easiest ways to cut the unnecessary “fat” in your projects. When you give yourself less time to do something, you’re forced to focus only on what will produce your desired result. The reduced time frame is a “forcing function,” a situational constraint that forces your desired results.

As an organizational psychologist, I’ve learned that you can use forcing functions not just to better manage your time, but also to make your entire life richer and more rewarding. To do this, start with a principle that’s related to Parkinson’s Law. Let’s call it the Human Expansion Law:

“Humans expand to fill the responsibility given.”

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