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[James Mallinson]

I know a lot is written about the 80/20 rule, but in Four Hour Work Week, Ferriss discussed using it in relation to Parkinson's Law (essentially, work expands and increases in importance according to the time applied to it). Has anyone ever tried implementing it in their lives?

I've recently found it to be very useful. I'm currently doing a blog redesign and I originally planned to put it up towards the end of the month. As a result of the time available to me I've been messing around, constantly tweaking and focusing on fine detail without really winding anything up. To counteract this I've done what Ferriss suggests with Parkinson's Law and I've brought the deadline much closer. It's forcing me to really focus and get a grip of my work on the redesign. The same also happened with my wedding speech recently.

[Brad Blackman]

Are you saying you got the big 80% work done so that you could more easily finish the remaining 20%?

[James Mallinson]

Tim Ferriss says break down the work to the 20% that gives you 80% of the results (80/20 rule) and then use Parkinson's Law to set a tight deadline. That means you are only focusing on the important stuff with no opportunities to be distracted or led astray.

[Brad Blackman]

Tim Ferriss says break down the work to the 20% that gives you 80% of the results (80/20 rule) and then use Parkinson's Law to set a tight deadline. That means you are only focusing on the important stuff with no opportunities to be distracted or led astray.

That's right... he focused on the 2 or 3 customers that generated 80% of his sales. How have you applied it, specifically?

[MarinaMartin]

I haven't broken it out mathematically, but I apply this in two ways:

1) I will publicly put up broken things, rather than wait for them to be polished. This makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable and I will want to get them up and running (and not tweak 100x) quickly so people don't see the construction. (I do say they're under construction, and there are some unimportant projects that remain up in broken form. I don't mind this, because if I'm OK with a project not being completed when it's half-life, it's clearly not my high-priority at the moment).

1) I will setup an immediate deadline, either not letting myself sleep until the project is done, or scheduling a client meeting to demo something that doesn't exist, or, the common example, hosting a party to make sure the house is clean before that time.

[Jamie Phelps]

I think we should clarify the difference between Parkinson's Law and the Pareto Principle. Pareto is what is commonly called the 80/20 rule. Parkinson's is different. It means that even those 20% that you focus on have to be kept on a tight leash. If you allow 20 hours per week for those 20%, they will certainly fill it. If you only allow 10, you'll get it done in 10. Of course, there is a certain requirement of realism and knowing your projects and your working speed. It's not magic so you can't just say, "5 minutes for Project X" and be sure it will be done. Basically you want to make sure you allow the de minimus amount of time to get the project finished without allowing it to gobble up more time than it deserves.

[James Mallinson]

Yeah, I've recently found it to be valuable tool to use. A lot gets written about the 80/20 rule, but I think Parkinson's law is just as valuable. When I was doing my wedding speech I floundered about with it for over a week. However, on the last day (when the deadline was tight) I really focused on winding it up (no unnecessary analysing on every little word). I could have saved myself a lot of time and anxiety, ironically enough, by only giving myself a day or two to do it.

[Jamie Phelps]

The fiddling thing is what makes the advice to "get it done early" nonsensical. For instance, when I was writing papers in grad school, I did my research over the course of a few weeks in bits and pieces, but actually writing the paper I allowed just a couple days right before the deadline. Once I had the research done, I knew what I was going to say. If I wrote it a week or more before it was actually due, I'd allow it to take a week. I'd have colleagues read it. I'd have my wife read it. Then, I'd come away with maybe one or two salient modifications to make and I wasted someone else's time as well. The only thing working this way doesn't work is when emergencies happen. If you get sick the day before the paper is due, suck it up, pal or take a deduction. Maybe the prof will give me an extension?!

[James Mallinson]

Interesting point. Slightly unrelated, but this thread has got me thinking. What do you think is better/more valid? Bringing the deadline forward or waiting till the deadline is nearer?

[Jason Echols]

For me.  I think bringing the deadline forward works better.  I think this simply because it leaves you more room for error. 

For example, I have a project due on 9-11.  it involves thousands of edits to a massive financial database.  My intent is to complete a week early in order to make sure I have plenty of time to address any issues or errors that I miss in my own review.  This allows me to have the finished product at its best state before it is needed.

Getting done is one thing.  But in my eyes, getting it done is not much good if the work is not of solid and dependable quality.  I know myself well enough to know that this is the best approach for me.

This is my approach.  Others may have better ideas on how to deal with this.

Interesting point. Slightly unrelated, but this thread has got me thinking. What do you think is better/more valid? Bringing the deadline forward or waiting till the deadline is nearer?

[heart99]

I know a lot is written about the 80/20 rule, but in Four Hour Work Week, Ferriss discussed using it in relation to Parkinson's Law (essentially, work expands and increases in importance according to the time applied to it). Has anyone ever tried implementing it in their lives?

I've recently found it to be very useful. I'm currently doing a blog redesign and I originally planned to put it up towards the end of the month. As a result of the time available to me I've been messing around, constantly tweaking and focusing on fine detail without really winding anything up. To counteract this I've done what Ferriss suggests with Parkinson's Law and I've brought the deadline much closer. It's forcing me to really focus and get a grip of my work on the redesign. The same also happened with my wedding speech recently.

I think this Parkinson's Law essay is dedicated to a summary of purportedly scientific observations supporting his law, such as the increase in the number of employees.



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California Orange County Lawyer