Parkinson's Law in Opz

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion"

You might recognize this line as Parkinson's Law, which basically states that a task will take as much time as you give it. Now what does this mean for Operations in a Startup? To me, it means that you need to set strict timeframes for everything you do and don't let tasks become more than they should be.

Don't write a blank check for any task, allowing it to just "take as much time as it takes". Before you start any task, set a timeframe for completion. When you are ready to start the task, start the timer and don't allow yourself to get distracted. Complete the task within that timeframe. I recommend using a stopwatch or a website like e.ggtimer.com to time yourself. You can go to http://e.ggtimer.com/30minutes and have a timer in your web browser for 30 minutes. You can change the last part of that url to be any time that you want for your task.

Scope Creep

And now to the other part of Parkinson's Law. Not only will a task take exactly as much time as you give it, but if you give it more time than is necessary, the task will grow in your mind, which likely means that it will take even longer. If you give yourself 1 week to complete a project, then in your head that project will grow to include every little thing imaginable so it can take as long as you've given it.

However, if you only give a task 30 minutes your mind will automatically break it down to the mere essentials and figure out a way to get it done in the time allotted. I recommend giving yourself half the time you think a project should take and seeing what you can accomplish.

Give it a try and let me know if this works for you. If you're looking for another great article on how to apply Parkinson's Law check out http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-to-use-parkinsons-law-to-your-advantage.html.