The odd thing about this is that even being aware of this Law of Tripled Time*, computer folk (including myself) still can’t seem to accurately estimate how long a job will take. Now I think I know why! It’s because of the Inverse Law of Tripled Time*.

It’s well known in the IT/Computer field that pretty much every task or project takes at least 2-3 times more time than you think it is taking while you’re actually doing it. You start some task, an after about an hour or so, you look up at the clock and discover that 3 hours or so have actually passed. You start some project, and after a month or so working it, you suddenly realise you’ve been working at it for 3 months.

So our estimates of how long a project will take are actually fully in sync with how long it feels like it’s taking – it’s just none of it matches what’s happening on the clock and calendar!

* I just made these up, if you see them again, remember you read them here first!