One way to protect against this is simply to add a 50 per cent buffer to the amount of time we estimate it will take to complete a task or project {if 50 per cent seems overly generous, consider how frequently things actually do take us 50 per cent longer than expected}. So if you have an hour set aside for a conference call, block off an additional thirty minutes. If you've estimated it will take ten minutes to get your son to football practice, leave the house fifteen minutes before practice begins. Not only does this relieve the stress we feel about being late {imagine how much less stressful sitting in traffic would feel if we weren't running late}, but if we do find that the task was faster and easier to execute than we expected {though this is a rare experience for most of us}, the extra found time feels like a bonus.
( Greg McKeown )
[ Essentialism: The Disciplined ]
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