Stage 6 · Lesson 4 of 7
Everything takes longer than you think
Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky named the planning fallacy: we tend to underestimate how long our own tasks will take, even when we know similar tasks took longer in the past. Studies of students estimating how long their theses would take found most finished later than even their pessimistic guesses.
The fix is not to try harder to estimate well but to correct for the bias. Look at how long similar tasks took you before, not how long they should take. Add a buffer, often half as much again.
Break big tasks into parts and estimate each. Track actual time for a week to calibrate.
Common trapmaking the same optimistic plan every week and feeling like a failure every time reality does not match it.
A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Practise
Keep handy
Also worth your time
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).