Have you ever dedicated an entire afternoon to writing, only to get to the end of the day and realize you only wrote a couple hundred words? But then later when you’re squeezing in an hour of writing between your busy schedule, you can suddenly write a thousand words. What’s up with that?
There are a variety of factors that can affect how productive we are when we sit down to write, but something you may subconsciously know but have never heard named is Parkinson’s Law. This idea was first voiced in the 1950s in an issue of The Economist by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, who later wrote a book on the idea. In short, Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available for completion.
So what exactly does that mean, particularly when it comes to writing? Think back to the example I gave at the beginning. When you give yourself all afternoon to write 500 words, it’s going to take that entire period. If you only give yourself an hour to write 500 words, however, you’ll likely finish it without much trouble, even though it’s less time.
The reason for this boils down to quirks in human psychology. We tend to overestimate how long a task will take, so we give ourselves extra time, and then end up filling up that time with other, smaller tasks or distractions or just stressing out about the thing itself, instead of actually doing the thing. Forcing yourself to get something done within a shorter amount of time reveals how often tasks require far less time than we think. This applies to writing as well, and once we’re aware of this tendency, we can actually use it to our advantage. Here are three tips for making Parkinson’s Law work for you.
Give yourself strict deadlines and stick to them
The key to using Parkinson’s Law to your benefit is creating clear deadlines, and not letting yourself get away with fudging them. When you say you’ll write 200 words in thirty minutes, set that timer and start writing. Make sure you have everything you need before you start, so you don’t have any lame excuses for not getting it done. If you say you’ll write that much in half an hour, but actually let yourself take a full hour or longer, you’re just slipping back into old habits.
Break up long work sessions into smaller chunks
So maybe you do want to spend the afternoon writing, but you don’t want to only get a few hundred words out. What sounds like an actual reasonable goal for several hours of writing? A few thousand words? Three chapters? You decide, and then divide it into smaller pieces. It’s easier to monitor your progress and stay on track if you decide you’ll write 400 words every thirty minutes for several hours as opposed to writing 4,000 words in an afternoon. This also allows you to give yourself short, regulated breaks—after each thirty minute session, you can spend five minutes doing something else, which will ultimately increase the productivity of your work time as a whole. Breaking up your writing session, as well as your goal, into smaller chunks helps it seem less intimidating and will be more encouraging as you hit your target for each mini-session.
Set goals that work for you
Everybody writes at a different pace. For some people, writing 100 words in an hour is an accomplishment, while others can regularly write 1,000 words in the same amount of time. Don’t let yourself be intimidated if you think you’re a slower writer, and don’t get cocky if you tend to write faster. Each writer has their own rhythm, and this can change depending on where you are in the process. Someone may find editing easier and fly through that, while other people love drafting and can bang it out faster that seems possible. Be self-aware when it comes to how you work, and allow this to guide the goals you set. Your goals should challenge you, but if you’re constantly trying to write 2,000 words an hour when normally you only get about 500, you’ll end up becoming discouraged. You have to build up to that writing pace, just like exercising, and also accept that you may never be able to consistently write at that speed, and that’s okay! On the other hand, if you tend to be a faster writer, make sure your goals are challenging you. If you do frequently write 1,000 words an hour but during a writing session you make 200 words in the hour your goal, you’re wasting your own time and stretching out that task to take far longer than it should. Your goal should push you, but not be impossible or underwhelming.
Still skeptical? Just try it. Set a timer and set your goal, and see how much you get done. The first time I tried this, I got 900 words in thirty minutes! Of course, this won’t always happen—sometimes you’ll get stuck, and it’s not quite like a word sprint when you just write anything no matter how bad it is. You want it to have some quality, but you don’t want to let yourself get bogged down in pretending to research or brainstorm, and write less than you’re capable of. But the best thing you can do is to give it a shot and see how much more productive you can be now that you’re aware of Parkinson’s Law.
Have you heard of Parkinson’s Law before? Do you work better when you have a shorter amount of time? Let me know in the comments!
