Why deadlines work

Give someone a week to do a task that needs two hours and, most of the time, it will take a week. This is not laziness. It is a pattern with a name.

In 1955, the British writer Cyril Northcote Parkinson published an essay in The Economist that opened with the line, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." It was meant as a joke about bureaucracy, but people have recognised it in their own lives ever since. It became known as Parkinson's law.

What it means for you#

If you give a task a vague, open-ended window, it will swell. You will polish, reconsider, put it off and then rush. The extra time does not buy extra quality, but it buys extra worry.

Make a deadline for yourself#

A good deadline does three things:

1. It sets a size. It tells you how much effort the task deserves.
2. It makes you choose. With limited time, you must decide what matters and drop the rest.
3. It gives you an end. You know when you are allowed to stop.

You can set one for any task, even without anyone asking. Try writing the time at the top of the page: "I will finish this by 4 pm."

Shorter is often better#

Experiment by giving yourself less time than you think you need. Half the time, you will complete the task and the result will be almost as good. The other half, you will learn how long it truly takes, which helps you plan next time.

Be realistic#

A deadline that is impossible just causes stress. The aim is a stretch you can meet, not a sprint you will fail. Build in a margin for things going wrong.

When there is no deadline#

For long projects, break them into smaller pieces and give each piece its own date. A big goal with no date is a wish. A small goal with a date is a plan.