PARKINSON'S LAW Definition & Meaning

Parkinson's law

Or Parkinson's Law

noun

the statement, expressed facetiously as if a law of physics, that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.

Parkinson's law

noun

the notion, expressed facetiously as a law of economics, that work expands to fill the time available for its completion

Parkinson's Law

A law propounded by the twentieth-century British scholar C. Northcote Parkinson. It states, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Parkinson's Law¹

First recorded in 1950–55; after C. N. Parkinson

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Parkinson's Law¹

C20: named after C. N. Parkinson (1909–93), British historian and writer, who formulated it

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

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First, whereas Parkinson’s Law suggests that longer deadlines lead people to set easier goals and therefore decrease effort, we found that longer deadlines increase an assignment’s perceived difficulty.

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Second, while Parkinson’s Law makes a prediction only about time commitment, we found that longer incidental deadlines increase monetary commitment.

From

In productivity circles, this phenomenon is known as Parkinson’s law.

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The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is to get the agenda right.

From

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's syndrome

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