According to Parkinson’s Law, “Work expands to fill the available time.” C. Northcote Parkinson, a naval historian, wrote in a 1955 satirical essay; “Work expands to fill the time available for it’s completion.” His work has inspired various facetious corollaries such as:

• “If you wait to the last minute, it only takes a minute.”
• “In ten hours a day you have time to fall twice as far behind your commitments as in five hours a day.”
• “Data expands to fill the space available for storage.” ….you could also apply this line of thinking to garage space in today’s world.

From this principle, if you give yourself a month to do something, it will take a month. If you give yourself a day, it will take a day. You could go on and on regarding the application of Parkinson’s Law, but in reality, the brain naturally saves resources by procrastinating. People procrastinate until the reality sets in that they must get something done. Even if you don’t feel ready, a deadline forces you to become ready.

Some of Mr. Parkinson’s quotes –

“Delay is the deadliest form of denial.”

“The number of people in any working group tends to increase regardless of the amount of work to be done.”

“Expenditures rise to meet income.”

“The man who is denied the opportunity of taking decisions of importance begins to regard as important the decisions he is allowed to take.”

“Administrators make work for each other so they can multiply the number of their subordinates and enhance their prestige.”

“If there is a way to delay an important decision, the good bureaucracy, public or private, will find it.”

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. General recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase ‘it’s the busiest man who has time to spare.’”