---
title: Parkinson's Law: Work Expands To Fill Time
date: 2025-09-10T04:05:09.249893
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
Every morning, I stare at the sun creeping through the blinds, like it’s both my best friend and enemy. Is there a word for that weird mix of excitement and dread about the day? And then I think about this stupid stack of sticky notes – mental notes, really – of things I need to do, or want to do, or just things that exist somewhere in the blurry chaos of my mind. It’s funny how some days it feels like I do a lot, and other days it feels like time just evaporates.
So, here’s the thing. I’ve been thinking about time a lot. You know how you have, like, a whole day to do something, and it somehow takes the whole day? Or worse, you have two hours and then it also takes two hours but feels rushed? This feels like a pattern, but I don't understand it. I recently stumbled on this thing called Parkinson's Law. This guy, Parkinson (Cyril Northcote? Something like that), he had this idea that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Like, a task will take exactly as long as you give it. It sounds made up, honestly. But is it?
I remember one Saturday afternoon trying to clean out my closet. I had all day, so I dragged everything out and made a huge mess. The sun set, and I was still sitting in a pile of old clothes and mismatched socks. Did I misjudge how much time I needed or just... let the task take forever? There’s some science-y stuff about time estimation bias—I read this somewhere, I think. Like, we're terrible at guessing how long things take. Maybe that's it. But I’m not sure, because sometimes I finish things quicker, when I’m cramming right before a deadline. Which is a thing too, right? Deadline effects, they call it. When you wait till the last minute and somehow speed through like a maniac. But then again, sometimes I just don't finish at all. So, I don't know.
There's also something about resource allocation people talk about, like, giving time to a task is a resource thing. But am I allocating my time or is my time just... slipping away? Is scrolling Instagram using my resources effectively? Or when I promise myself I’ll only spend 10 minutes on YouTube and then it’s an hour later, and I’m deep into some rabbit hole about ancient aliens... is that Parkinson’s Law at work or just me being hopelessly distracted?
I've tried all those apps to track time, the ones that tell you how long you spent on email or whatever. I deleted them pretty fast. They never quite worked for me. Or maybe they worked too well, showing me stats that just seemed to mock my inefficiency. It’s hard to tell. Have any of these outside tools really changed anything? Or am I just fooling myself into thinking I'm "hacking" my day?
The more I bounce this around in my brain, the more I wonder if any of these theories really explain what happens in my day-to-day. Maybe it's just the chaos of life, not some economic law or cognitive bias. I guess I don’t have a neat answer. I’m still staring at that sunlight now, debating whether to start on my to-do list or get lost in my feed again. Not sure I’ll ever figure it out, but maybe that’s okay? Or maybe not.