August 7, 2026

Whatever Time You Give It, It Will Take All of It

IWork expands to fill the time available. Give it a month, it takes the month. The fix isn't more time — it's smaller containers and harder edges.n 1955, C. Northcote Parkinson wrote a long essay of which the world remembers exactly one line: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Give the document a month and it floats around your mind for a month. Demand it in three hours and somehow the essential version appears. You don't need more time — you need tighter containers. This episode: deadlines as compression tools, why open-ended tasks behave like a gas, and the experiment to run this week with one hard stop.Grab my book Bridging the Gap free as an audiobook — search "Bridging the Gap Jonathan Doyle" on any podcast app.Corporate speaking and executive coaching enquiries: jonathandoyle.coA new one every morning. Don't go back to sleep.Enquire about booking Jonathan to speak:https://jonathandoyle.co/Connect with Jonathan on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/jdoylespeaks/Jonathan is on Youtube here:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpCYnW4yVdd93N1OTbsxgyw

Also available on Apple Podcasts ↗