Time management & cognitive bias: why do we have such a hard time estimating our working hours?

17 November 2023

3 minutes

Timeregistration

We should be able to define the length of time it will take us to perform a particular job, but reality is very different and shows consistently exceeded execution times.

This underestimation of the amount of time required has a name: cognitive bias in planning. So what are the solutions to address this and complete tasks within the allotted time?

When it comes to estimating the length of time it will take us to perform a particular task, being too optimistic often ends in disillusion. So much so that we are greatly disappointed and the result is rarely there.

Something which recent studies have shown to exist through people’s cognitive bias when it comes to planning. Ultimately, individually estimating the time you will spend working on any given job is quite difficult, even though it is a key element in the way we manage our time.

Why are we unable to properly assess our time expenditure and do we seem to think we are better organised and armed in this respect with each new project we take on?

We need to go back as far as 1977, when two psychologists - Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky - came up with the concept of the so-called planning fallacy. They looked into how people were able to predict the length of time it would take them to perform a given task by observing individuals who, as optimists, underestimated the amount of time it would take them to accomplish their projects. Which in all cases ended with delays.

These people did not learn from their past mistakes and did not call themselves into question. The situations seen on the shop floor nowadays and which ultimately end in people exceeding the time allotted to perform a particular task sometimes involve added costs to the company or have an impact on other team members.

However, we should point out that not everybody has this cognitive bias. This only relates to people who themselves decide the amount of time they are giving themselves to perform particular tasks.

Quite simply because there are solutions out there that enable people to better manage their working time at the office, increase efficiency by delivering the project or completing the task on time and making them feel pleased with the job they did!

All of which also helps to build a better work-life balance which means one less source of stress to worry about. Pretty sweet, right?

So to avoid disappointments and to deliver the work within the allotted time, it is a good idea to take a step back and to put barriers in place that will counteract this cognitive bias, which is deeply ingrained in some people.

Listen and adopt the view of an outside party (a colleague) to better estimate the length of time it will take to complete a job.
Allow yourself a degree of leeway that is greater than the length of time initially planned.
Get an accurate idea of the project and all associated duties to be performed so as to restore the time balance and to stop yourself from procrastinating.
Finally, please be aware that there are methods to take a more efficient approach to work, such as time blocking or the Pomodoro method which involves working to a timer. The aim is to remain focused on one and the same task in 25-minute sessions.

Chez Protime, nous mettons à disposition des outils de gestion du temps spécialement pensés pour limiter l’impact du biais de planification. Grâce à nos solutions logicielles, vous pouvez :

réaliser des estimations plus précises : en exploitant les données issues de projets précédents, le logiciel affine les prévisions de durée et diminue les erreurs récurrentes.
améliorer l’efficacité au travail : une planification plus structurée permet une utilisation optimale du temps, sans entraîner de surcharge.
travailler dans un environnement moins stressant : en intégrant des marges de sécurité et en limitant les retards, nos outils favorisent un rythme de travail plus équilibré.
analyser les écarts de performance : des tableaux de bord permettent de comparer le temps planifié au temps réellement utilisé, facilitant ainsi les ajustements continus.
réduire la tendance à procrastiner : une planification plus réaliste rend les tâches plus accessibles et limite la tentation de les remettre à plus tard.

Avec une mauvaise gestion des temps, les projets accusent régulièrement du retard. Ce qui est étonnant, c’est que même lorsque les écarts entre prévisions et réalité se répètent, les collaborateurs concernés ne changent pas leur façon de planifier. Ce comportement est très fréquent dans le monde de l’entreprise, où les délais non respectés provoquent des surcoûts et désorganisent le travail des équipes.

En vous offrant une meilleure visibilité sur le temps réellement disponible, nos solutions vous aident à répartir plus efficacement vos efforts sur les priorités, tout en soutenant une organisation de travail plus sereine et performante.

Would you like to find out more about solutions for managing your teams' time more effectively?

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