Episode Details

A packed schedule breaks from overuse. An empty schedule atrophies from underuse. Without a deadline tomorrow, tonight slips to midnight because of Parkinson's law: give a night no reason to end and it stretches. Meanwhile, stacking back-to-back commitments works like corporate financial debt: one unexpected fire wipes out the entire day. Morgan Housel runs his days at 80% capacity for the same reason. Structure your calendar with enough due tomorrow that tonight ends on time, and enough slack that a surprise costs an hour instead of the day.

Featuring: Morgan Housel, Cyril Northcote Parkinson

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Chapters:

(00:00) A phone deadline that slips to midnight
(00:17) Parkinson's law governs evenings too
(00:34) A packed Monday schedule with no buffer
(00:53) Morgan Housel on debt and the range of outcomes
(01:12) An empty schedule fails from underuse
(01:19) Housel runs his days at 80 to 90 percent capacity

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Click here to view the episode transcript.