Recently, I went on a trip to Washington DC and had the chance to tour the Pentagon. Amazingly, this building, that was the largest in the world when it was built, was completed in 18 months! This really got me thinking- "If the Pentagon could be built in 18 months, why does it take forever to finish a freeway?" And more personally "Why do I take forever to get tasks completed?"

The answer, I believe, and the one that may be helpful for us as teachers, is encapsulated in what is known as Parkinson's Law. This law simply states "...that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" (Parkinson, 1955, p.1). In short, we will use all available time for a task whether that time frame is short or long-ever cranked out a ten-page paper in a matter of hours? If you are like me, this may seem counterintuitive at first, but the data and further experience seems to prove Parkinson's point (See his explanations here:( http://www.economist.com/node/14116121).

I have began experimenting with this principle in my academic endeavors and have found that when I put myself on an artificial deadline things get done in a much shorter time periods. Also, I have discovered that Parkinson's Law is as much about focused effort as it is about time management (Ferris, 2007). Here some applications I have been using that may be useful for your own work:

• Focus only on one task at a time (turn off the email and phone for a few minutes) (Ferris, 2007)
• Use a timer on your computer and give yourself set amounts of time to complete a given task (Ferris, 2007)
• Give yourself mini-goals- i.e.- I will grade 5 assignments in 20 minutes
• Hold yourself accountable to your deadlines

Simple advice I know, but then again I just wrote this post in 20 minutes.

What ways can you think of to beat Parkinson's Law?

References:

Parkinson, C. Northcote (1955). Parkinson's Law. The Economist. http://www.economist.com/node/14116121

Ferriss, Timothy (2007). The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-35313-9.