How to Upgrade Your Skill-level in 24 Hours
Picture this.
You’re at an interview for a project. Your potential client decides to select you for the job. Better still, they are willing to give you double the rate you had requested.
As you walk out of the meeting feeling confident about winning the project, you hear your inner voice start to nag you about a few small details. By the time you walk out of the building, you realize something: there’s a certain thing they asked you to do that requires a skill you haven’t mastered yet… and the project is due in 24 hours.
I’ve run into this problem a few times in my life. I accepted projects without really knowing if I could finish them. And yet, all of these projects helped pushed me to the next level. Nowadays, I understand why I was able to advance myself through that pressure: by using Parkinson’s Law.
According to Wikipedia, the law holds that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” This means that when given a limited amount of time, your focuses increases, and you’re forced to give attention only to what you need to do. By using this powerful law, you’ll be able to perform your best work.
You can also use this same law to increase your skill level.
Before we get started, I’m assuming that you want to improve your skills and you have a good idea of a skill that you want to tackle. Also, you must realize that this should be a skill that you need to have, not something you would “like to have”.
This practice can be applied not just to freelancing work, but to anything you need to learn very quickly. However, I’m not recommending that you deliberately take on projects above your skill-level in the hope that Parkinson’s Law will save your butt. While useful in emergency situations, it’s best applied carefully and deliberately, following the steps outlined below to increase your skill level in 24-hours:
- Give yourself a project that requires you to mix your old skills and at least two new skills.
By mixing your old skills along with at least two new skills, your mind will retain this information faster than if you were to focus on just the new skills alone. Some people make the mistake of focusing on just the new items when you actually need to mix it up with your old skills. Hence why I call this an “upgrade”; you’re improving your old skills and “renewing them” so to speak, while also practicing new skills. - Mark a day in your calender that you will dedicate to this project.
It can be later in the week. It can be two weeks from now. It can even be a month from now. The more time you give yourself, the more likely you’ll forget about it. Make sure to schedule a day where you know you’ll be able to work on this project. A weekend day is probably best. Once you write down a date, stay committed to that project date. Select a time for when you’ll start work on the project and remember this well… 24 hours later, that project better be finished! - Study for this project at your own pace.
Now, study for your project… slowly. Do this at your own pace and only study a little bit at a time. Familiarize yourself with your materials. Search for tutorials and examples. Remember to study for at least 15-30 minutes each day until the project is completed. - Remind yourself about the project every day.
While you are studying and before you go to bed, remind yourself about the project. Tell yourself that you will finish it to the best of your ability. - Once the day arrives, commit to finishing.
Finally, the day is here. Now, you have 24 hours committed to the project and you’ve got to finish it or bust your gut trying.
Why have I setup guidelines like this? Here’s the secret behind my madness:
By writing down and confirming your project day, you are setting up a brain-trigger. Your mind will start to mentally prepare you for that day. By studying just a little each day, your mind will begin to organize itself.
When you give yourself reminders about the project, this adds more power to your studying. Right now, you may not understand the material. You may even half-understand it. But on the day of the project, your mind will give you a razor sharp focus, pushing aside all the minor things and bringing to the fore what it already knows about putting this project together.
And what if you didn’t study? The added stress will force you to study the rest of the material and you will retain the information better. This is where the magic of Parkinson’s Law comes into play, except it’s a “controlled stress”. It’s the type of stress that will help you focus better and within 24 hours, your current skill-level will be upgraded by the time you finish the project.
Would you like to improve your results? Try these fun suggestions in addition to the guidelines I’ve set:
- Make a bet with a friend. Have a friend assign you the project and place something for value up for grabs. Now, when I say “of value”, it has to be a value of you. For example, if you win the bet, he’ll take you out to dinner, but if you lose the bet, you’ll have to give him $300. Why does your friend get the lower end while you lose more? To add more of a “do or die” element to your mission.
- Make it a barter. Put up a barter ad on Craigslist and ask for an item in exchange for doing a project that will focus on the new skill you want to learn. Make sure that when you barter to explain what it is you are trying to do. 9 times out of 10, people will actually want to help you out with your mission to better yourself… especially if they get a high quality product out of it.
- Shorten the timeline. Do NOT extend it.
If you extend the timeline, you will only put it off and your mind will get lazy. By shortening the timeline your mind will be focused on the project more than ever.Or… - Stick with the deadline and follow through!
No matter what, life WILL get in the way of your projects sometimes. Thus, you must find a way to make sure the project gets done AND deal with whatever life throws at you. Learning a new skill is never easy. However, by sticking to a goal you set for yourself, you will probably learn more than a new skill. You’ll learn something about yourself. So, stick with it, no matter what!
If you choose to take this challenge, good luck!
Matthew “Nukirk Digi-tal” Yarde is a freelance web designer always looking for ways to improve his skills. In his spare time, he maintains a social commentary/entertainment/productivity blog, Life-Remixed.com and a performs as a hip-hop/spoken word artist.
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Parkinson’s law is for real! At a previous job, I was creating a flash component that would need to be driven from a database. I had no idea how to do this and I needed to learn very fast. I was amazed how quickly I learned when I put my mind to it.
I am a long time Quark user and recently had to do my first project in InDesign. The test was producing the full first pass of a book. I immersed myself and got it done. Had a great book for tips, and few distractions. Now I feel totally cool about using it.
Great suggestions! I enjoy pushing myself to the limits….. the ‘do or die’ pressure is kind of like skydiving to me……. or a roller coaster if I weren’t too afraid to do both.
ZM
Wow!!
What a complete guide! I need to do this. Action Script, I will own you!!
I’ve worked on projects all day and at five o’clock it’s magically all done!
(This is not always the case but it’s notable that it does happen sometimes.)
That sounds really interesting… I’ve never heard/seen anyone come up with a method like that before. I’m DEFINITELY going to give it a try… I’ve been trying to upgrade my skills for some time, and while it’s been working, it’s been working very sloowwly… I’d really like to kick it up a notch.
Thanks for the great post!
Oh wow, talk about timing. I’m currently working on a project that requires some skills I’m not good at, this article came at the right time. Many thanks for this!
i didnt know there was a ‘law’ that so accurately described why i can do 10 hours worth of work in 2 hours, but it takes me 10 hours to do 1 hour’s worth of work
i guess i just work better under pressure…like Parkinson did.
Another great way to challenge yourself is to donate a project with a new skill (or two) to a non-profit. Then you’re accountable not only to yourself but to the organization, as well. Once the project is complete, you’ve learned a new skill, enhanced your portfolio and done a good deed.
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If it weren’t for Parkinson’s Law I would probably be one of those people who picks up garbage with the ‘claw’ thingy.
Great article, I totally agree with the Parkinsons law theory. To be an effective freelancer it’s improtant to never stop learning new skills. I remember years ago when I learned HTML I thought I was set. Now static pages have become nearly irrelevant and I’ve had to recently make that jump to learn more CSS and getting my feet wet with Ruby on Rails.
Thanks for the post
Nice article. Working under pressure works really good for me. I will definitely give this a try to learn some new skills!
If the project is due within 24 hours, reminding myself about it every day will not effectively help me.
Benjamin Koshkin fights the dark side with O Ben Kenobe and Yoda – http://www.benkoshkin.info
Great article Matthew! Learning new skills is essential, not only as a designer, but as a businessman. People can definitely tell the difference once you start slipping behind and becoming outdated. Those who stay on the edge will continue to get new work – and you’ve given us a great guide to do that. Thanks!
great idea… now only to convince myself I can’t weasel out of the ramifications of not getting it done!
I am glad that I am not the only one who has “I accepted projects without really knowing if I could finish them.” I have done the same and always thought it was a bad habit I needed to stop. But I always end up learning more skills and getting projects done than when I have more time. I always wonder how much of it is adrenaline related.
Golly. I didn’t hear of such a law till I read this article. Thanks for the share here!
Interesting article Matt. I’ve been using this technique for years and didn’t realize there was such a thing as Parkinson’s law. Now I can apply it more effectively.
I am applying these for my upcoming projects. Thanks.
It’s true that we can push our level using Parkinson law, but it is limtied only to skills that are still in parallel with our current ones. I bet I’ll be failing if I want to add design skill to my programming skill using parkinson law
Moral of the comment:
. It’s a show-stopper for me 
.
Is it possible to learn how to design in 24 hours?
What’s up? I’m the author of said post. I didn’t expected a lot of people to resonate with this experience and guide I shared with you. This is kind of a follow up to some people’s concerns.
Benjamin Koshkin: If a project is due within 24 hours, why are you reminding yourself? Just do it!
James Lytle: It’s either you follow through or you don’t. It’s simple as that.
Akhmad Fathonih: When I wrote this article, I also know that this is somewhat limited. This is why I said “upgrade your skills”. Not “learn a new skill”. The example you provided is you learning a new skill. If you are a programming and you want to learn design skills, unless you are also a creative designer, then you’ll set yourself up for failure.
This article assumes that you know the basics of stuff. That’s why I put “Before we get started, I’m assuming that you want to improve your skills and you have a good idea of a skill that you want to tackle.” If you have no foundation in HTML, then it’s going to be hard to learn CSS quickly. I chosen my words carefully.
Drupal Museum: Doing Pro Bono work, especially for a non-profit, is an excellent way to push yourself. Glad you added that!
Well, I’m happy that everyone got something out of this.
Keep the comments coming. I might write a follow up, but that’s yet to be determined.
Great advice, we all have to keep learning things constantly. That’s how I end up on sites like yours! I didn’t even know about parkinson’s law. I think most people underestimate their ability to learn. It seems like there are a few people who are so afraid they can’t learn things that the mental block is too tough for them to get past too. Your post sounds like a great way to gain confidence too.
This is great article! I realized this fact on myself too.
Dear Matthew, i found that your articles is very inspiring and help me to learn more about myself to. Me myself always amazed with the new skills I’ve acquired but then unable to translate it into words so that i could share with my friends. oh and i’ve never heard of Parkinson law but yes always set up myself in “do or die” situations. Thanks for the great write-ups
I think you’ve hit the nail right on the head for so many people here! Including me! The second paragraph of your article describes the situation I was in a few days ago perfectly.
I just took on a project myself and it’s starting to buzz around my brain like wildfire! I’m a web/graphic designer and I usually do the graphics part of it, then pass on the coding to my friend. He likes the coding and I’m more on the creative side so the arrangement works well.
This current project though is a dynamic site, so I have some major updates to do in terms of coding, which have been left to gather dust for quite some while now. Sink or swim? Who knows, but my plan is to implement this technique as soon as! Always nice to put a name to things though!
Cheers for the advice and keep up the good work all you guys at Freelance Switch!
I like the idea of bartering. It’s almost like you’re bartering for the skill. I just met someone yesterday who is doing just that at a really amazing company. Pretty inspiring.
Very nice guide, thank you
Interesting article. And I remember from school that it does work. May be you guys can help me with some inspirations. I have always plenty of ideas and inspirations however have no clue which skill to choose to simply learn and beef up my skills – as I am Jack of all trades. Any ideas?