Undoable plans

So, writing a plan for the day is not difficult. Neither is assigning amounts of time it is going to take to complete each item. And it takes me less than 10 minutes to put together. My biggest problem so far is about being realistic about my expectations. Here is what I’m learning:

• Meetings always need a half-an-hour buffer at the end. It is due to either the meeting running over, or getting engaged in an interesting conversation, or making notes on what needs to be done next and when.
• I severely underestimate how long it will take me to write something (email, document, summary, etc). Safe estimate would be to guess and then multiply by 3.
• Plan on unexpected interruptions and delays. Today I spent about 2 hours getting a program installed. It is still not installed. I planned to be done in 15 minutes…
• I forget that I need to rest and unwind. Not just with random breaks but with a conscious effort like going for a walk outside for 10-15 minutes.

Overall, it seems that I get about a quarter to a half of things done in one day. Tomorrow I’ll put a plan as if I’m working only until noon. My Dad always taught me to multiply all estimates by 2. He found it especially useful for my Mom’s estimates of clothes shopping expenses :). I should apply the same wisdom to this plan habit of mine.