Knowing the laws of time management will make you more effective and improve your life quality if you keep these laws in mind. Many of you know the Law of Pareto and the 80/20 rule. The Pareto principle states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes (the “vital few”). This 80/20 rule helps us focus on the essential. Knowing the Pareto Principle’s efficiency, I have shared below some of the fundamental laws of time that will help you manage your time better, set your priorities rightly, account for your accomplishments, and achieve work and life balance.
1. The Carlson Law -Reduce Interruptions | Minimise interruptions. Let people know on Outlook or the company organiser that you are busy and do not wish to be disturbed unless it is urgent. Request people for a meeting at a specific time so you can manage your time effectively and spare yourself from unwarranted interruptions. |
2. The Douglas law – Bringing order into the office. | Organise your desk in an orderly manner to avoid delays in searching for documents. |
3. The Ecclesiastes Law – Vary work activities. | Avoid routine! Vary your activities; do not always do the same work. It is important to do different things at different times. Plan your day following your biological rhythm or chronobiology. Schedule important work when your body is alert and you are most active, i.e., between 9:30 am, 11:30 am, and between 3 pm and 5 pm. Avoid planning an essential job on Friday at 3 pm if your office closes at 5 pm. |
4. The Illich law – Take breaks. Pause and reflect! | Do not hesitate to take breaks to recharge the batteries. Enjoy the pauses. Rest, restore, and nurture the body, mind, intellect, and heart! |
5. The Laborit Law – Do the most challenging work first. | Delay Gratification. Do not procrastinate! Tackle the hardest task first, as putting in the right amount of effort into a job is indispensable. Talent alone does not always suffice! Do not eat the cherry on the cake first. Try not to be like the kids who cannot stop playing, so they neglect their homework. Rather, be like the ones who do their homework first so that they can enjoy the remaining hours for play. Learn to respect your duties and start your work promptly. |
6. Murphy’s Law -Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. | It is all about setting aside a little time for the unexpected. Anything can happen, so when we plan our day, it is essential to provide alternatives and set aside a margin of our time to cope with the unexpected. Be ready for crises and challenges, and trust your ability to face it all! |
7. Pareto’s Law –80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes | This Law is concerned with the focus on the essential. It is the 80-20 rule: 80% of the world’s wealth is owned by 20% of the population. 80% of business profits come from 20% of the customers. 80% of the profits come from 20% of the time spent on work. These are the value addition times that need to be carefully monitored. So, while we focus on the 80% that will bring results, we should also focus on the essential, the 20% that will deliver results. |
8. Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. | Parkinson’s Law is the outcome of the adage of Cyril Northcote Parkinson, and it is a reminder to set deadlines. Work fits the time allotted; therefore, it is better to set clear deadlines to do a job and complete it within the allocated time. It is good to break your tasks into small portions to finish at a fixed time. It is all about planning and organisation. |
9. Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law. | This Law means that it often takes more time to accomplish things than we initially thought. The only way to estimate correctly how long a task will take is based on research and experience. Factories are good at estimating the production time of a commodity. Nowadays, due to frequent delays, businesses, in general, have started monitoring the time taken to complete tasks. For example, buildings’ construction is often delayed for months or years due to adverse weather conditions and other unforeseen situations. Hence every worker should ideally plan their day by allotting an estimated time to complete tasks, knowing that it may sometimes take a little longer or maybe finish before time. |