𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗.

There's 1 reason for it:

The work is never "just the work".

Here are 8 categories to split up the work:

0. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Meetings, reviews, project management, etc.

1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Research, experimentation, scoping, quoting, pitching

2. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Configuration, setup, services, infrastructure

3. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: The actual build, product, design, tests, docs, etc.

4. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Iteration, debugging, refactoring, maintenance, tooling

5. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Changes, omissions, nice-to-haves, scope creep

6. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Surprises, contingency, disasters, mission creep

7. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: Hosting, deployment, security, support, updates, fixes

Consider every aspect of the work to create realistic timelines.

This way, you can better manage expectations and ship on time.

One good tip is to break down tasks as much as you can.

What tips do you have?

Credit for the framework: davestewart.co.uk/blog/…

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