

Ask HN: Tasks always takes me longer than estimated. How to deal with this? - thisismycraft

Getting the tasks done always takes me more time than the estimated by management.  Main reasons: lack of knowledge in the project and its technology(I work with very different technologies), configuration stuff, testing, slow building... I think this is normal, there is no way I can reduce this time unless I was the one who created the application. Most of the times I am ok with this ,but sometimes I feel like a dummy, like I am expected to get tasks done on time no matter what (this is my feeling , nobody has ever told me anything about this). Does this happen to you? How do you deal with this feeling?
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georgemcbay
First of all, management shouldn't be estimating how long it should take you
to do something, they should be asking you for estimates. I don't have
productive advice on how to deal with this other than suggesting this to
management and maybe looking for other work if they disagree.

Second, your estimates will still be wrong (almost always on the
underestimating side) and sometimes wildly so, thanks to Hofstadter's Law (It
always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account
Hofstadter's Law, see:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law)).

Third, you will get better at estimating the time of your own tasks with time
and lots of experience, but you still have to accept that estimation when it
comes to software is more of a black art than a science.

~~~
thisismycraft
Usually the management people who estimates is (or has been) a SW developer. I
agree I should suggest management that I should start giving my own estimates,
it's a scary thing but that's the only way to get better at it. Thanks

