Stop Giving Yourself Too Much Time To Complete Tasks

we noted that Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Today, we’re going to focus on this law. Most of us give ourselves far too much time to finish tasks. Or worse, we fail to give ourselves time limits at all. We work until the task at hand is completed. In both cases, we end up spending too much time working on things. For example, recall the last time your boss gave you a week to complete a report. You probably finished the report on the day it was due. That’s not because your boss knew exactly how much time was required to finish it. It was because of Parkinson’s Law. You gave yourself a week, and so the assignment took a week to complete. In the second case (working without a time limit), we rob ourselves of a gauge with which to evaluate our progress. An hour passes and we have no clue whether we should be further along toward completing the task in front of us. It’s no wonder so many tasks take longer than necessary to finish. Working in this way negatively affects your ability to get things done in a reasonable timeframe.

 How This Bad Habit Hurts Your Productivity 

Applying overly-lenient time limits to tasks - or refusing to set time limits at all - makes you less productive in six ways. First, you end up getting fewer things done. Because each task takes you more time to complete, you have less time to work on other items. Second, there’s an increased risk of neglecting important tasks. As you plod through your to-do list, taking more time than necessary to finish items, high-priority tasks may never receive the attention they need. Third, you’ll run the risk of having to carry forward unfinished items. As we noted in Day 3, that leads to increased stress, which, in turn, makes it more difficult to work productively. Fourth, your workflow will lack structure. Lenient time limits are usually arbitrary. We set them according to our comfort level. For example, we might give ourselves 2 hours to complete an assignment we know can be completed in 1 hour with focus and discipline. The lack of structure makes it easier for us to waste time. Fifth, there’s no sense of urgency. Without that urgency, we’re more likely to take a casual approach to our workday. In other words, we dawdle. Sixth, because we’re getting less done, we end up working longer hours. Over an extended period, that not only increases our stress levels, but sets the stage for burnout. Change comes from developing and reinforcing new habits. That’s good news because it means you’re in control. With that in mind, here are seven things you can do today to start completing tasks in less time.

Action Steps 

1. Select a task from your to-do list and set a challenging time limit for it. If you’re not sure how long the task should take you to complete, start with an estimate. You can change it later. The important thing is to get into the habit of working under self-imposed time limits.

2. Use a kitchen timer. Set it to count down the minutes, and position it so you can see it while you work. It will provide a constant reminder that time is slipping away. You may prefer to use your phone or computer to count down the time. Either option is fine. Personally, I prefer a loud kitchen timer. There’s something about its “old-school” look that motivates me to work.

3. Use the Pomodoro Technique. The basic method is to work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. The idea is to break your workday into small chunks of time. The 5-minute breaks give your brain a chance to rest, which increases your focus and efficiency during the 25-minute work periods. Another advantage of using the Pomodoro Technique is that it gives you a way to monitor your progress on the task at hand. For example, if you’ve allocated 40 minutes to complete a task and you’re less than halfway done after a single Pomodoro, you’ll know you need to speed up.

 4. Ignore email, social media, texts and phone calls. Ignoring distractions is always important when you’re trying to work productively, but doubly so when you’re working under challenging time limits. You don’t have the luxury of surrendering to them. If you’re using the Pomodoro Technique, wait until your 5-minute breaks to address them.

  5. Commit to ending your workday at 5:00 p.m. Doing so will give you the impetus to meet your task-specific time limits. I mentioned earlier that getting less done during the day often translates into longer work hours. Don’t give yourself that option. Decide in advance to walk away at 5:00 p.m.

6. Track your progress. As noted above, when you first start applying time limits to tasks, you’ll have to estimate how long they should take to complete. By tracking your progress, you’ll gain better insight. For example, suppose your boss needs you to complete a weekly report. You may have to guess the amount of time you’ll need to finish it during the first week. By the fifth week, however, you’ll be able to set a reasonable time limit based on your experience during the previous four weeks.

7. Adjust your time limits. As you work on the same tasks over and over, you’ll be able to complete them in less time. That’s due to improved competency. Don’t be content to continue working according the time limits you set in the past. Revise them so they pose a challenge. Impose a sense of urgency to further increase the speed at which you work. Day