The Silent Killer of Efficiency: Parkinson’s Law

Playing to Win

April 29, 2025

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Welcome to the Latest Newsletter
of Playing to Win!

My newsletter is designed specifically to help business owners like you grow your companies with tried & applied bits of business knowledge, all communicated in actionable, bite-sized chunks. I will share insights and advice aimed at enhancing your business operations, boosting your success, and allowing you to focus more on what truly matters. Let's work together to achieve your goals and make your endeavors a reality.

Key Points of the Newsletter

  • Work expands to fill the time you give it—tight constraints drive sharper execution.
  • Without clear deadlines, tasks swell with complexity instead of momentum.
  • Winning the day means shrinking the time and owning your focus.

The Silent Killer of Efficiency: Parkinson’s Law

Let’s talk about a law that’s probably robbing you of more time, focus, and growth than you realize—Parkinson’s Law.

You’ve felt it before, even if you didn’t have a name for it. You give yourself a week to get something done… and guess what? It magically takes the whole week. Not because it’s hard. Not because it’s complex. But because the deadline allowed it to.

Parkinson’s Law says: “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

It’s subtle. It’s sneaky. And it’s absolutely destroying your efficiency if you’re not aware of it.

I see this inside companies we consult all the time. A 15-minute task gets padded into a 45-minute meeting. A marketing campaign that could go live in three days takes three weeks. Why? Because we gave it that runway.

Here’s the problem: when you don’t impose tight constraints, you end up spending more energy managing the drag than executing the mission. You create complexity instead of momentum.

Let me be clear—I'm not preaching hustle porn. This isn’t about working faster just to work faster. It’s about reclaiming clarity and control.

What if, instead of giving your team two weeks for that deliverable, you gave them 48 hours—with full clarity, constraints, and confidence they could do it? You’d force precision. You’d eliminate the fluff. You’d move.

Same goes for your own calendar. If you block two hours for a task that should take 30 minutes, you’re giving it permission to drain your day.

Here’s how I apply this:

  • Every task gets a deadline with intention.

  • Meetings are cut ruthlessly. Can it be done in 15 minutes? Great. Make it 10.

  • My personal schedule lives in 45-minute sprints. Laser-focused execution, then reset.

Parkinson’s Law isn’t just a time-management quirk. It’s a signal. If your work keeps swelling to fill every gap, maybe it’s time to shrink the container.

Win the day by shrinking the time.

Stay tuned for more insights in our next newsletter. Remember, it's the small adjustments that often make the biggest impact on your business's profitability. Here's to your continued success!

Stay driven to push your business forward,
Ryan Niddel