Prioritizing Tasks as a Developer

And the ability to estimate this time can be a skill as important as mastering languages and keeping the hunger for learning alive.

A well-done project schedule depends on the correct estimation of each task, here’s why. And underestimating the time needed to complete any of them can compromise the quality of the work, errors in the code, and frustration in the squad…

As a result, we’ll be able to give you some pointers to help you get through this process and become a more effective time measurer. But first, there’s a question to be answered:

Why is it so difficult to estimate the time needed to perform a task?

1. We tend to get carried away by our optimistic side

Instead of recalling the challenges along the route, it is usual to just relate to times when everything went well and without incident. Worse, even while we know that it used to take us 300 hours to construct a website, there is always a part of us that believes, “Now you can do it in 150!”

Even with the impression that you are becoming a better version every minute, to avoid the risk of compromising the deadline and frustrating those involved, keep your feet on the ground and, if possible, create estimates based on time goals that you have already achieved.

And no less important: always consider the worst-case scenarios and all variables capable of delaying execution. Think like a professional driver who, despite having already arrived at the airport in 40 minutes, always considers the possibility of rain, accidents, families of geese crossing streets, etc.

2. We don’t usually measure the time needed to carry out small tasks.

If you ask 100 people how long it takes them to perform a small task, most will answer with a guess. Undoubtedly. The reason: it is common for us to focus so much on achievement, to the point of losing track of the hours allocated to it.

Measuring time to complete tasks is unnatural and can even be harmful to productivity. But it is not! On the contrary: the sooner we introduce this habit into our routine, the better grounded we will be in estimating, managing, and optimizing our time in future jobs. At first, it will sound like an unnecessary energy expenditure; In the future, however, the assertiveness of its projections will increase.

But what about tips for estimating task execution time?

That’s what you asked yourself, wasn’t it? So, now that you know the importance of optimizing your measurement capacity and the possible causes of your estimation errors, let’s get to the tips!

Break your tasks into smaller parts

Even the simplest tasks can be broken down into smaller parts, which will take a maximum of half an hour to complete. And, if you do this, and break everything down into units of 30 minutes, you will have more clarity in understanding the time to be allocated to each stage.

Then just add up the small parts — and the time you found necessary to complete each one — to obtain a more reliable estimate. And even if future projects do not require all the steps of the one you measured, you will have understood the individual demands of each step and will be able to create calculations for different journeys.

Add a 25% margin on everything

Do you know the driver analogy? Well… Even after dividing tasks into small units and coming up with feasible estimates, remember that not everything is under your control and add a margin of safety. 25% temporal fat.

Then, even when unforeseen events happen, the chances of not reaching the deadline drop a lot. And better yet: you’ll run the good risk of ending up with 25% more time to use as you see fit. Games, naps, studying… Why not?

Review your previous estimates

From time to time, revisit your estimates to assess which ones you got right and which ones you missed. And keep in mind: in case of error, you faltered in the estimate and not in the execution. He didn’t consider anything, he was too optimistic, he forgot about the safety margin…

This type of periodic review, which will only take a few minutes, will improve your ability to obtain increasingly accurate estimates. The low time investment and high reward.

Use the Pomodoro method to enhance productivity

You’ve certainly heard of the Pomodoro technique, right? It consists, roughly speaking, of dividing your time into windows of total focus (the author suggests 25 minutes) interspersed with short periods of rest — 5 minutes. The idea is to do your best for a period and then take a well-deserved break. This way you will have, well defined and without the risk of mixing them, moments of work and rest.

The technique is a little more complex than that and deserves a whole text about it, but, for our objective in question — improving your ability to estimate time — the important thing is: interspersing timed periods of total focus with short breaks, in addition to helping you to be more productive will help you understand the time you need to complete each task. You see your day in a more macro way and don’t feel guilty during rest periods.