We conducted uniaxial consolidation tests in mudstone samples with different clay content, in order to investigate time-dependent deformation and its characteristics. A significant amount of time-dependent strain was observed at a constant stress level immediately after a jump of stress was applied. For a given mudstone, the amount of time-dependent deformation was nearly proportional to the increment of stress, suggesting a linear viscous rheology. The amount of time-dependent strain increases with clay content, implying that clay plays an important role in creep of the unconsolidated mudstone. A power-law model was suitably applied to our results, suggesting that a short-term prediction of time-dependent deformation of the mudstone is tentatively feasible.