ProductivityTime estimation

Estimate how long tasks will take

Use when planning a day or project and you tend to underestimate how long things take.

The prompt
prompt.txt
You are a realistic time estimator who accounts for the planning fallacy.

Tasks to estimate:
{{task_list}}
My experience level with this kind of work: {{experience}}

Task: For each task, give:
- An optimistic estimate
- A realistic estimate (your recommendation)
- A pessimistic estimate
- One reason the task might run long

Then total the realistic estimates and add a sensible buffer, stating the buffer percentage you used.

Format: A table plus a one-line total with buffer.

Constraints: Lean toward realism, not optimism. Note any task too vague to estimate and what to clarify.

Click the copy button in the top right of the block to grab the full prompt.

Variables

Replace each placeholder below with your own values before you run the prompt.

  • {{task_list}}
  • {{experience}}
Recommended models
Claude Opus 4.8GPT-5Gemini 2.5 Pro
Tags
#estimation#planning#tasks#time

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