I pretty much guessed on all of my effort estimates. I didn’t really have a set way of doing it — I’d just look at the task and think, “Okay, this might take like 30 minutes,” and hope for the best. Most of the time I was wrong. I tend to procrastinate a lot, so even if something could’ve taken 30 minutes, I’d start it late and it’d end up taking way longer. I think the only time I got close to being accurate was when I had to do something I’ve done before, like making the nav bar look nicer or fixing something simple. Anything new or involving bugs? I always lowballed it.
Yeah, it actually helped more than I expected. Even if my estimates were totally off, it gave me something to aim for. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t even start until the night before it was due. Having a number in my head made it feel more doable. Like, “Okay, I only need 45 minutes, I can squeeze that in before dinner.” Even if it ended up taking two hours, it at least got me to start. I don’t think I would’ve managed my time at all without estimating something, even if it was wrong.
Yeah, it helped me see how off my guesses were. It also made me realize how bad I am at focusing. I’d think I was working for an hour, but then look back and realize I was just switching tabs or zoning out for half of it. So tracking helped me stay a little more honest with myself. Downside was that sometimes it made me feel bad, like, “Wow, I really wasted that much time?” but overall it was helpful. Once I stopped seeing it as a grade and more like data, it felt fine.
I used the clock on my laptop or phone, and I’d try to keep note of when I started and stopped. If I forgot, I’d just guess. I paused the timer if I took breaks, but there were definitely times I forgot to pause it or got distracted and came back like 20 minutes later. So… not super accurate, but good enough. I wasn’t trying to be perfect, just trying to get a general idea of how long stuff took.
It didn’t really take much time. Maybe a minute or two to start or stop a timer or write something down. It didn’t get in the way of working. Honestly, sometimes it helped me get into work mode because starting the timer kind of forced me to start the task too. So if anything, it kept me more on track, even if I wasn’t super strict with it.