 Are you tired of procrastinating? Does your project feel like it'll take forever to finish? Or do you just want more time back in your life? Hey brainwash friends, I'm Aaron Tupaz of Positively Brainwashed and today I'm excited to teach you about Parkinson's Law and more importantly, how to smash this thing. So, picture this. You're given a full month to complete an assignment and you're thinking, no problem, I got plenty of time, I got this. But if you're like most people, you'll probably be unproductive until the last few days when you'll pull an all-nighter or two and manage to get it done right at the last minute. Sounds familiar? Well, that's Parkinson's Law, which is the statement that, work expands so to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, there is a tendency to slack off until the task becomes urgent. As you get closer and closer to the deadline, the more productive you'll get and the more you'll perceive a task as being easy. Now, imagine you gave the same effort during those last few days or hours before the deadline, during the first three days you were assigned that project. You would have the rest of the month not having to worry about it. And imagine you got paid, let's say, $3,000 for that project. If you wanted, you'd be able to take on five projects that month and significantly increase your productivity and income. So now you know why you should smash Parkinson's Law. Now let's take a look at how you can smash it. Just like how you can smash the like button to support this channel. First, you need to break down enormous tasks into small bite sizes and deadlines. And if you have a team, delegate what you can and encourage everyone to start as early as possible. Frequent achievable deadlines create a mild sense of urgency during the whole project. Next, know what finished means. Sometimes it's not so easy to determine if a task is done, especially if you're a perfectionist. In fact, Parkinson's Law loves to prey on perfectionists because there's always that one little addition. See, I make mistakes in these videos all the time and sometimes nobody catches them. So you need to learn to draw the line. The next tip is to avoid too much multitasking. Now I'm not going to be like some productivity gurus out there who will tell you never to multitask because that's just not practical. Like I see no loss in productivity standing to get some exercise or listening to calming music while I work. Or sometimes I listen to audiobooks or podcasts when I do chores or go for a run. Instead, I'll just say learn when you can multitask without losing efficiency, learn when you can't and learn to be able to tell the difference. But when in doubt, just avoid it and know when you should put your phone in other distractions out of arm's length. This may take time and practice. Next, if you truly believe you can finish a task in 45 minutes, then don't set the deadline to 50 minutes just so you can have some cushion. You'll end up wasting more time because of Parkinson's Law. If anything, it's better to challenge yourself and set a deadline of 30 minutes or less. This will force your brain to figure out how to do it quicker. It'll force you to take some risk and step out of your comfort zone. Next, you should never have an empty to-do list. You should always know what your next few tasks are. Otherwise, you may spend too much time on this current task. Also, before you ever take a break or go to sleep, set up and prepare the first parts of your next task. This will allow you to easily jump right back in, especially when you combine it with the next tip, which is to create incentives or punishments. People are generally not great at thinking long term. It's evolutionary, and basically, we still have the same monkey brain that's primarily in control. I have a whole video on explaining this. But what you need to do is create short-term rewards for yourself and your team. Don't even be artificial. For example, every night before I sleep, I subtract like $1,000 from my net worth. Then I earn it back by completing my to-do list the next day with tasks more important to me paying me more. But don't just reward yourself for finishing a task. Reward yourself for just starting, like eating a small treat. And because we're also driven by punishment, you can try setting an alarm on your phone and put it near where you should be for your next task. Because if you can get your feet moving there, you've won half the battle already. Many times that first push-up, that first minute of work, is enough momentum to carry you to the end. Now the last tip is to create accountability. Announce your insane deadline to friends and family and to the entire world. This added pressure will encourage you to stay focused and work hard. Now, I want you to think even bigger. Imagine crushing your goals for the entire year in just one month. Think, how can you complete your 10-year plan in just 6 months? What actions will you have to take? What will you have to sacrifice? Who are the types of people you'll have to surround yourself with? What skills will you need to learn? It may sound insane, and maybe it is, but it will get your mind thinking like never before. And even if you fail miserably and you complete it in just 3 or 4 years? Well, that doesn't sound too bad compared to 10, right? See, your worst case scenario will still outperform most people's best. Now, I don't care what year you watch this video. I challenge you to set an insane deadline in the comments of a task you've been procrastinating and why it's important to you. And I will do my best to reply to your comment on that day to make sure you do it. Thanks for watching. If you like this video, then you can either A. Subscribe and hit the bell button. B. Listen to the share bear over there and show that you care. C. Watch this video that YouTube is recommending for you. Or D. Hope I get punched in the face.