There are two things you should know about getting shit done. I learned about them both as an outdoor educator. Then I brought them to my daily life, where their potency seemed to multiply.
Now that Isobel and I are back from our camping trip, these two things have been on my mind as I resume a life with a kitchen sink.
- Parkinson's Law.
- Procrastinating on purpose.
Parkinson's Law comes from an essay by C. Northcote Parkinson in The Economist from 1955. It basically describes how work expands to fit the time available. And procrastinating on purpose comes from Rory Vaden, who describes a few key ways for multiplying the time you have.
When I was guiding outdoor trips, I might as well have been a project manager. Because everything was about timing. Starting a day of backpacking a half hour late means cooking dinner in the dark when you finally get there. So you start thinking about things like whether to pack up the tent first or to boil water for coffee. And in which order should you brush your teeth and clean up the dishes from breakfast? They're different when it's just you compared to with a group, right?
Since things expand to fit the space provided for them, I found that shrinking the space helps. Then it becomes a game of finding the line between good enough to get it done, and not quite good enough to be ok with it. But it forces your hand. It gives structure to things like leaving "on time." And if you follow Rory Vaden's advice to procrastinate on purpose, you can determine what's even worth your time at all.
He suggests getting rid of stuff, simplifying it, or passing it off to someone else altogether. Because when the question becomes "can I do this now, or later?", it gives you a place to start and a timeframe to get shit done.
Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
29/365
What's something you can procrastinate on purpose? How much time do you need? Could you chop it in half?
Why not?
onward.
-dmac