4 Ways to Make Better Time Estimates for Business and Home So You Can Reduce Stress

Do you ever plan for a task to take an hour, but it takes four hours? Or maybe you allotted an hour to finish a job that only took 10 minutes….

Estimating the amount of time a task will take can be very important, especially when it comes to work. Because good time management is often the key to success, finding flow in life, and generally reducing stress.

So, how can you get better at making time estimates?

Like anything else, there are several ways to improve. Here are 4 simple tips anyone can implement to gain more awareness, and thus more control, over our most precious non-renewable resource - time. This does take a bit of work and discipline to track and account for your time, but even if you just raise an awareness that you file away in the back of your mind, you’ll start to see some benefit.

1. Measure where you are right now. Start by estimating how long you think it will take you to complete various tasks every day. Then record how long it actually takes. Here’s how to do it….

· Pick a day where you will have the ability to track what you do. If you’re traveling for work, or have back to back meetings all day, that may not be the best day to choose. Select one where you will be at your desk or doing the things you do at work or home where you seem to lose a lot of time or grossly underestimate the amount of time it will take for something.

· Start by writing down or putting in your calendar how long you expect each task on your plan for the day to take. Block the time on your calendar and set an alarm or alert for those times. Then get to work.

· As your alarms go off, note whether you completed the tasks in more or less time than you estimated. And record that somewhere that works for you.

· Try doing this a handful of days to get a solid handle on just how long it takes you to do things…. Whether it’s drafting memos, vacuuming at home, or driving from point A to point B in rush hour traffic, being conscious of how long you REALLY need versus how long you THINK you need can provide some pretty interesting data.

2. Recognize the level of detail. Break down tasks to appropriate levels. Tasks that are on your to do list, but are described in a way that is too big will result in overlooking too many details, each of which take time. On the other hand, if you break things down into too many small steps, you’ll potentially feel overwhelmed and get swallowed up in the minutiae. Experience and practice will help you determine an accurate level of detail.

For more accurate estimating, avoid letting your blocks of time be too big. For most people, a task that takes one to two hours is about right. Also keep in mind that if you’re off by 25% for a one-hour task, you’re only 15 minutes off your schedule. If you’re off by 25% for an 8-hour task, you’re 2 hours off schedule.

When you make your to do list, be sure to include an appropriate level of detail for the steps necessary to complete the task.

3. Set specific goals. If you can’t be certain of the point at which the task is complete, you can’t expect to make a good time estimate.

Some examples:

“Make sales calls.” – Too non-specific. "Make five sales calls.” – Now you’re very clear about when the task is complete.

One trick to know you’re on the right track: you should be able to verbalize easily the first and last actions that need to be taken. If you know exactly how to start and how to finish, you’ll know exactly when you’ve completed the task. Remember to include any clean-up time. It might only take you 15 minutes to change the oil in your car, but what about putting everything away, disposing of the used oil, and washing up? I started budgeting this into my time estimates for home reorganization projects and that was a huge leap forward. Before I started doing that, I would start a project, underestimate the time needed, then get discouraged if I didn’t finish it and ended up with a big mess that was worse and that I then did not have time to clean up. That isn’t going to motivate anyone!

4. Keep track of past results. If you vacuumed the entire house last week and it took 72 minutes, then that’s probably a pretty good estimate to use the next time you do it. Much of our lives consist of tasks that we do over and over. If you measure yourself, you can use that information in the future.

Having this information also makes it a lot easier to plan for the day. You’ll be far less likely to over-plan or under-plan. And you'll have more time for things that are truly important.

Making more accurate time estimates is a valuable skill. With this skill, you can be much more productive and reliable. Plus, your clients or your boss will be thrilled if you start getting everything done when you claim it will be done! Although effective time management takes some practice, it’s certainly worth the effort.

Applying these concepts is just one of the ways we help our business clients not just prepare legal documents, but thrive in their businesses and lives. If that's something you would like to learn more about, reach out to book a free consultation to learn how we work with our clients to apply holistic solutions to business problems.