Parkinson’s law, originally formulated in the 1950s, states that work expands to fill the time available. Workplaces are generally bureaucratic with workers essentially creating busywork for each other. This idea is validated by outbreaks of illness / holidays which usually needs knock out quite a large proportion of a workforce before production output is affected at all. In other words most work is a waste of time. This was true when it was first formulated but now workers have computers instead of pens and pencils and emails instead of memos. These high-tech ways in which to propagate useless busywork have led to an exponential growth in busywork – workers generating work for each other. Offices and workplaces all over the world are full of people staring at computer screens, typing emails late into the evening, maybe even on mobile devices on the train or at home, expanding pointless busywork into their private lives, weekends and holidays. Much of this work is non-productive. What would Karl Marx make of it all were he alive today ? Pointless misery as we all keep other busy wih apparently important work items which don’t stand up to scrutiny. When people burn out, change jobs, die or retire, everything just carries on. Products leave the factor gate, things get done anyway.
In your next email it might be time to act out a scene from The Shining and type out ‘all work and no play make Jack a dull boy’ a million times. Then wait and see if anything happens as a consequence. If it doesn’t then you are yet another victim of Parkinson’s law.