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Discussion on: How do you estimate your work?

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terabytetiger profile image
Tyler V. (he/him)

I'll start with the unhelpful half of my answer answer - practice 😅 As you do it you'll get better (on average) at estimating the time it will take. Sometimes there will be something you didn't consider or couldn't have predicted, but for the non-outliers you'll get better.

Something that is slightly more actionable is to break down larger tasks into small tasks, and estimate the time for those - then add them all up for the total estimate.

It can also be helpful to use time tracking and to track similar tasks over time so that you have a reference point for how long things actually take you. Warning: It can be really jarring when you first use time tracking and see how long some things that are "10 minute tickets" really take 😅