Comments on: Debunking Parkinson’s Law

By: Study Hacks

Study Hacks — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:52:42 +0000

Let’s assume that the Parkinson Law holds true for individuals…

This is the entire point of my article: we’re not free to assume anything about Parkinson’s law. It’s his law, based on his research, and it has nothing to do with how you manage your personal workflow. If you want to propose a law about the latter, call it something new.

By: andie

andie — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:49:56 +0000

Let’s assume that the Parkinson Law holds true for individuals. Even in that case it never states that decreasing the time allocation for a task will let you complete it (with a desired degree of quality). It only points that if you allocate either x hours or 3x hours, in both cases, you would (tend to) spend all your time on the task. From this, in no way does it follow that you would be able to complete the task in x hours. Simple logic.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:26:38 +0000

I really enjoyed reading this. For me, the application of “Parkinson’s adage,” (the popular version) is helpful in practicality given critical thought. Any law or theory a person bases their action on without critical analysis is misused as this one–though you clearly weren’t trying to disprove the idea itself as it is used by Tim Ferriss. The one sentence summary he uses has been helpful for me as a starting place to test exactly how much or how little allotted time affects my productivity. If the issue is the origin rather than the content of the idea, however, I think you’re points are right on.

By: Justin Brandon

Justin Brandon — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:06:33 +0000

Tim Ferriss, where is your response?

By: Time management: How an MIT postdoc writes 3 books, a PhD defense, and 6+ peer-reviewed papers — and finishes by 5:30pm | I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:32:10 +0000

[…] we do is of questionable importance and conducted at low efficiency. (He made a popular — if not somewhat dubious — appeal to Parkinson’s Law to support the point that more time does not necessarily […]

By: Jim Tressor

Jim Tressor — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:34:51 +0000

I think it’s interesting that Parkinson’s law doesnt really apply in a lot of situations, and yet still gets so much press because of its applicability in hierarchical organizations. Here is an interesting article on why Parkinson’s Law isn’t always necessarily applicable: http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/Global-Economics/Less-is-More/sl35291137bp353cpp10pn1.html

By: Interesting Links: Parkinson’s Law - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:31:03 +0000

[…] Debunking Parkinson’s Law […]

By: Slacker - A Definition « SlackerReform

Slacker - A Definition « SlackerReform — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:20:44 +0000

[…] to the time given. While some may dispute how Timothy Ferriss uses the Parkinson’s Law, Study Hack for example citing the specific context Parkinson was referring to in his paper on British Civil Service, it is […]

By: The Myth of Project Management : Blog of a Boston-based IT Consultant

The Myth of Project Management : Blog of a Boston-based IT Consultant — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:05:35 +0000

[…] point to Parkinson’s Law and claim that workers somehow manage to take all the time they can to fulfill a task.This is only […]

By: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Book Review: The Little Book of Productivity

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:49:47 +0000

[…] hour” mindset. This is a great treatment of an important topic. As my readers know, however, I’m not a fan of pseudo-scientific self-help laws, so I skimmed pasts his obligatory tributes to Parkinson and […]