Take your time. You have 5 minutes.

In November 1955, C. Northcote Parkinson published a column in The Economist outlining a law that we all secretly know, but we’re too afraid to admit.

It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Thus, an elderly lady of leisure can spend the entire day in writing and despatching a postcard to her niece at Bognor Regis. An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, another in hunting for spectacles, half-an-hour in a search for the address, an hour and a quarter in composition, and twenty minutes in deciding whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the pillar-box in the next street. The total effort which would occupy a busy man for three minutes all told may in this fashion leave another person prostrate after a day of doubt, anxiety and toil.

Tasks only take as much time as you allow them. Presentation in 15 minutes? Perfect that’s just how long it will take to complete the slides. Wedding in a year? Thank goodness, because you’ll need up until the last minute to get the right veil.

Knowing this is well and good, but how can you use this knowledge to improve your productivity?

First, go into your Google Calendar settings and adjust some defaults. Under “Event settings”, move your default meeting length from 60 minutes to 30 minutes. If you want to go even further, select Google’s “Speedy Meeting” feature and your 30-minute meetings will end 5 minutes early and 60 minutes will wrap up 10 minutes sooner.

Second, the perfect is the enemy of the good. Or as said by Confucius, "Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without." Use your scheduled time to complete, and move on from your task. Could I write more about this? Yes. Do I need to? No.

Finally, apply these same thoughts to your sales strategies. How long does your client need to make the purchase decision? 30 days, 10 days, 2 days? Dictate the allotted time, and they will use “the time available for its completion”. Change your two-week sales cycle to 5 days and the customer will see the allotted time as just the right amount of time to make their decision.

What can you do in 100 days?

There have been entire businesses collapsed in less time, wars won and lost, fortunes made, and still people think that 100 days isn’t long enough to change their business.

Here are a few things that took much less than 100 days:

Gerald Ratner’s ten minute speech tanked his stock prices by over $1.8B in today’s dollars

Calling your own products “crap” won’t do your business too many favors. But Ratner has bounced back and sold success health club chains.

11 States succeeded from the Union within Abraham Lincoln’s first six weeks in office

Luckily, Honest Abe was able to turn things around, but it took him more than those first 100 days.

Popeye’s Chicken parent company stock rose 20% from a new sandwich and a two word tweet

You’d expect a spicy take from Popeye’s, but after riding high on some popular reviews from NYT and Gizmodo, Popeye’s took a solid shot at Chick-Fil-A with the perfect tweet and a strong stock performance to match

“Prince” Naseem KO’d Said Lawal in 35 seconds

The consummate showman “Prince” Naseem took 10 minutes to enter the ring, and only 3 punches to take down his competitor and defend his Featherweight title and undefeated record for the next 6 years.

Christmas Day is 100 days from today. Where do you want to see your business? Who or what needs to change to reach your goals before 2020?

I can help you realize your sales team potential, implement a new or streamlined CRM, or review and pursue new avenues for profitability for your business.

100 days goes by fast. Don’t wait.

Chinese Moon Potatoes

Earlier this month, the China National Space Association (CNSA) landed the Chang’e 4 on the far side of the moon. For lunar exploration, this was a historic first. Even more incredible is the mission of the Chinese spacecraft. China estimates that it will be able to grow potatoes on the moon “within 100 days”.

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CNSA Chang’e 4

Putting aside the fact that I can’t keep a houseplant alive for 100 days in my LIVING ROOM, what do Chinese moon potatoes have to do with business? Preparation.

To reach their 100 day goal of moon crops, the CNSA began by orbiting and sampling the lunar atmosphere for the past 12 years. Chang’e 1 launched in 2007 to create a 3D map of the moon’s surface. Chang’e 2 left Earth 3 years later and cut the travel time to the moon in half. Continually chipping away at their success, Chang’e 3 launched in 2013 and laid the foundation for a strong fourth mission.

Much like an early stage company testing messaging, and product market fit, the first shot wasn’t a loaded up spaceship with people to colonize the moon.

Businesses start and see their vision of colonizing their industry, but have you built the right spaceship? Have you sampled the soil, or are you just hoping that your team will survive the 200 degree swings in temperature?

My advice is to not forget the importance of Chang’e 1 through 3.

If you’ve already launched that rocket and are bolting the pieces on approach, let me know. I’ll bring all the tools, learnings, and moon boots to make your next 100 days yield plenty of potatoes.

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$1.3 million capsule containing seeds for the moon