Mid-Michigan readers can hear Rick Cole every Wednesday at approximately 6:35 a.m. on Lansing radio station WILS 1320’s “am Lansing” program hosted by Walt Sorg.
July 16, 2009I know it may sound crazy, but rarely a day goes by when I don’t think about C. Northcote Parkinson.
If that name rings a bell, it is because you, most certainly, have heard variations of one of Parkinson’s best known and overused aphorisms — often called laws — having to do with the amount of time required to complete a task invariably expanding to fit the amount of time given to complete the task.
Parkinson’s Laws were penned in the 1950s in the form of a tight, little book of the same name. In the book, Parkinson reveals a set of principles he had seen at play while serving as a wartime British naval officer. These principles govern everything from closet space to annual budgets to the self-fulfilling prophecy of the deadline.
If Parkinson were alive and writing today, maybe he could help me understand what happened to the leisure time I was supposed to have as a result of technology’s provision of all these labor-saving devices like the BlackBerry I am using to file this column.
If you are old enough to relate, you will recall the promise of the labor-saving device. Everything from dish washing machines to computing devices would be accessible to every homeowner, saving countless hours of time accompanied by the challenge of how to fill all the free time these devices would provide.
Well, there can be no doubt that new technology, complex and accessible beyond our wildest imaginings, is providing unprecedented opportunities to do everything faster — Internet speed; to do more things simultaneously — multitasking; to do whatever we must from wherever we are — telecommuting. Well, you get the picture.
Technology is helping us find new ways to do more with less, for sure. But, are any of us complaining about having too much leisure time because of it? If they are, I am not hearing these complaints in the offices on campus, or at 5:20 a.m. in the lobby of the Sunset Motor Inn in Cody, Wyoming, from where I am writing this column on my BlackBerry while I keep an eye on the front desk so the overworked night clerk can take a break from setting up the continental breakfast long enough to run over to room 161 and unplug a clogged toilet.
Richard Cole is professor and chairperson of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing at Michigan State University. The opinions expressed reflect his individual viewpoint and not that of the university.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Rude Difazio // Jul 17, 2009 at 11:45 am
Work will expand to meet the time available. p.s. You’re sounding more like Grant W. Howell every day. Parkinson was his favorite, also.
2 Walt Sorg // Jul 17, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Congratulations on filing an entire column on your Crackberry without developing carpal tunnel syndrome,
3 john scott // Jul 24, 2009 at 7:17 am
Could it be that most people simply lack the imagination to deploy their time to satisfying leisure pursuits, and since they’re most comfortable with the more-or-less mindless (not to say uncomplicated) tasks of work, they take every new technological opportunity available as one more excuse to go with what they know? The result of that is that the rest of us have to keep up to keep our jobs, and it quickly becomes a vicious downward spiral that eats up everyone’s leisure time.
4 Alex Luvall // Jul 31, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Dr. Rick: Speaking of time wasting, I am spending a lot of time trying to program “..approximately 6:35 am..” into my Blackberry so I can listen to your show.
Any assistance you could provide would help me save some time. As is stands now, I have to sit close to my radio and keep turning it off and on until I hear your voice, which lets me know it is approximately 6:35am.
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