"Work Expands so as to fill the Time Available for its completion." Still there? Just wait for a moment. It's about you too!
Why did you want to skip this Post? Is it boring to talk about 'to complete work'? You already know all you need to know about this subject? Really?
I'm a manager for more than 10 years. Time and again I hear "We Need More Capacity!" Sure. But having more slack resources, like more 'workforce capacity', is no guarantee that our company would finally have time for all the work that needs to be done. Why not? Because we as species 'homo sapiens' spend our time anyway. Our time for our tasks fills the time we have available. Regardless how much time there is. 8 hours, 24 hours, 40 hours or 80 hours a week.
Did you notice that this applies to:
- Social media. 1 hour chatting, tweeting or listening to music a day? We can - effortlessly - spend 24 hours on the web talking to our online friends.
- Lover. Just eating with the two of us. We can look into each other's eyes for weeks.
- TV. Watching a movie, a soccer game and a whodunit story. Time flies.
- Books. I could read for days at a row. How about you?
- Glider club. I could spend every week, at least 2 days with my friends at the glider club. Talking about flying up there. And flying in the blue sky.
Why am I telling you all this? At work. At home. In our mind. It's not about having lack of time. It's about priorities and urgencies of the things we want to do. It's about making choices. And sticking to them.
One last thing. Ever noticed that the same can be said about money? Our expenditures rise to meet our income. Regardless how much we gain.
P.S. The laws above are not something I've made-up. It's the first and second law of C.N. Parkinson (1909-1993).
Another great, insightful post. It’s so true about how we choose to spend our time and some times we need to stand back, reflect and ask ourselves, 'are we using our time wisely and producing the best results which impinge on both family, work, health and happiness.
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