⚡ How to Get Things Done 5X Faster

Hey there! Welcome back to The Flow by Flocus. And to the 4,341 new subscribers this week, hello and welcome 👋 If you’re new, you can catch up on our previous editions right here.

This week: We’re going to share how you can get more done and hit your goals in less time with Parkinson’s Law — all in 5 minutes. Let’s jump in!

⚡️ What’s Parkinson’s Law?

It states that work expands to fill the time available to complete it.

In other words, the more time you give yourself to complete a task or reach a goal, the longer it will likely take to do.

This is why so many of us struggle with procrastinating and leaving things until the very last minute.

• If you know you have until next Tuesday to do something, you probably won’t even start thinking about it until Sunday night at the earliest.

• If it’s January and you give yourself until December to accomplish a big goal, you probably won’t hit it before the end of the year.

The flip side of this? Giving yourself less time means you can get things done sooner.

Here’s another way of thinking about it (and the quote that gave us the idea for this newsletter!):

If this resonates with you, keep scrolling — we’ve got some actionable tips for implementing Parkinson’s Law in your own life and achieving your goals faster, starting this week.

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Now, here’s how you can use Parkinson’s Law to get more done quicker:

🏎️ How to Get More Done in Less Time

Now that you know what Parkinson’s Law is, let’s explore a few ways you can use it to skyrocket your progress!

🗓️ Experiment with deadlines

To get started with Parkinson’s Law, try setting a deadline that’s 50% earlier than initially projected.

For example, if your original deadline for a task is in 2 weeks’ time, challenge yourself to complete it in 1 week instead.

Even if you don’t meet this new deadline, you’ll make a lot more progress in less time than you probably would have otherwise! (And you might even have a few days left over to rest or work on other things.)

⏰ Set tighter deadlines for important tasks and goals

If something is really important to you, you’ll automatically feel more motivated to do it.

Use that drive to boost your momentum and work faster.

This doesn’t mean prioritizing speed over the quality of your work. If you go too fast, you might make crucial mistakes that can actually cost you more time and effort to fix.

And it also doesn’t mean punishing yourself for falling short of an extreme or unrealistic deadline.

Challenge yourself, but be flexible, adaptable, and kind to yourself, too. Being too rigid will only lead to disappointment and stress, which leads us to our next tip.

🎢 Create healthy stress and urgency

Stress is something most of us try to avoid — which is totally understandable.

But the reality is you need a certain amount of stress in your life to keep growing and learning.

The key is recognizing the shift from fatigue to full-on exhaustion or burnout.

Use the stress curve to visualize your current stress levels.

Once you’ve assessed your stress levels, you can:

• 💪 Add healthy urgency and stress to your task. Example: I want to get this done before my birthday so I can fully unplug and celebrate

• 🍱 Break up overwhelming tasks/goals into smaller, more manageable steps. Example: “Put down my phone and pick up my book” instead of “Read 50 books this year”

• 🥵 Practice recognizing when you’re on the verge of overload or burnout. Example: I’m struggling to focus because of everything going on in my life, so here’s what I can do to rest up and recharge before starting again

🪅 Flocus Picks

A curated list of things worth sharing.

• How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals (TED Talk) — Educator and engineer Stephen Duneier explains how “marginal adjustments” can skyrocket your progress and personal growth journey.

• Stop Being Passive in Your Life (Podcast) — This episode of The Psychology of Your 20s shares insights on being more intentional and prioritizing what’s most important to you.

• Medieval Lofi Radio (Playlist) — Lofi Girl’s latest YouTube radio to help you focus while transporting you back in time!

🖥️ Flocus: All-in-One Dashboard

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This week, try adding some healthy challenge and stress to your life by pushing yourself to get important things done in less time.

Even if you fall short, you might be surprised at how much progress you make!

Until next Sunday,

Flocus Team