Overloaded? Why being there creates work!

Overloaded? Why being there creates work!

We all know the complaints about constant overload at work. “Too much to do, too little time!” It is a perennial refrain in company corridors.

It always reminds me of something a former colleague used to say: “Being there creates work.”

Behind this lies the hypothesis that “urgent” tasks are more often a product of our presence than of real necessity. This brings us to Parkinson’s law. Don’t worry, it is not an illness, but a rule stating that work expands to fill the time available for completing it. Give us four hours for a project and, voilà, it will be finished in four hours. Give us four weeks and it will take… exactly, four weeks! Work expands in proportion to the time available to complete it.

This shows that what matters is not the amount of work but our perception of the time available.

The same applies metaphorically to eating habits, as American studies show: historically, plates have grown larger, and so has our consumption. Just as a larger plate invites us to eat more, a generous allocation of time can tempt us to stretch work unnecessarily. Interestingly, George Washington was famously slim, owing less to his training regime than to the size of his plates.

This historical anecdote illustrates how our behaviour is influenced by the boundaries we are given, whether at work or at the dinner table.

Taking this thought further, consciously reducing our “plate size” at work, meaning the time we set or are allowed for particular tasks, could make us more efficient and more satisfied. Rather than pursuing 120% perfection, 70–80% can be enough. By learning to use our resources of time, attention and energy more deliberately, we could escape the automatic habit of filling every available minute with work.

So next time someone comes to sing their familiar lament about overload, remember my former colleague’s saying: “Being there creates work.” Sometimes, though not always, that is exactly what happens!