“Parkinson’s Law is the old adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. The term was first coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay he wrote for “The Economist” in 1955.”
I worked for the past seven days straight so it’s possible Cyril Northcote Parkinson was thinking of me in his article back in 1955. Monday through Friday I worked my regular grown up job and then Saturday and Sunday I worked at my new part time job at the rock climbing gym.
Twice on Sunday while I was working the desk at the gym I heard someone say that work will always fill whatever time you have. But does it actually have to be work that fills the time we have?
And that got me thinking about what sort of time I do actually have. Between a regular “9-5” and an 8 hour part time job on Sundays, plus a night for kickboxing, time for rock climbing, driving time, time to cook, eat, sleep, do laundry, see friends, learn ukulele, mow the lawn and do other miscellaneous tasks of adulthood that I’ve already expanded the work to fit all the time I have.
But then I always seem to find a little bit more.
Time to take the dog for hikes.
Time to take a rock climbing class.
Time to pick up an extra Saturday shift at the rock climbing gym.
Time for pumpkin spice lattes and sitting with the dog in some late summer sunshine.
Let’s be honest, I feel stretched a little too thin but I also love the things I’m filling my time with and I want to keep doing them. What do you love that you can expand to take the place that would be otherwise filled with work?