You’d think I’d learn, bit I keep doing the same thing over and over. I under estimate how many things can go wrong in tasks I tell the customer are easy. There are always a lot more steps to any task, and I am too eager to call something easy. I tell myself, and the client (or whoever); it won’t take long. It’s super simple.
Then, as soon as I start, things pop up one after the next. Obstacles in my that add time to the task. Some of them are simple to solve and some of them require me to go away and research and come back before we can continue. Those of the most frustrating because usually I’d scheduled a set time for the work or consultation. Having to break it into two visits or two on screen communications frustrates everyone.
Part of this happens because I tend not to read all the instructions once I think I figured it out and part of it is just because things I didn’t foresee happen. The only constant is that it is never as easy as I estimate. An easy task can take up much of my day. I always learn along the way new things. No matter what I’ll still call it easy next time and still end up taking 4 hours instead of 1.
It really bugs me but I can’t bring myself to overestimate the time. The problem is me being me, I am hesitant to charge for the amount of time things actually take when I’ve already told people it will take a quarter of that time.
If I wasn’t currently living a poverty lifestyle it wouldn’t bother me. I’ve never been motivated by money. But I am motivated by not being able to pay the rent.
Today wasn’t so bad. Google had a few twists as I set up a group for a customer. Things I didn’t expect but probably should have or at least been aware of how I read more before dealing with the customer live.
It’s all good now. It’s just the story of how this keeps happening.
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