If you're like most people, you come up with a list of things to do each morning, only to find yourself deflated at the end of the day to realize you haven't completed them all. In fact, you may have only completed a couple on the list. What's going on here? Hofstadter's Law is the principle that things always take longer than we think- even if we know about Hofstadter's Law. And research shows it has to do with the fact that we have no sensory receptors specifically dedicated to perceiving time.

So we can feel better to know that we're not alone, that it's a human nature, and that our brains aren't even working in our favor. But what can we do?

First, it can help merely to know that we've got a cognitive bias toward underestimating how long it can take. (And now you know!).

Next, there are a few tools to help combat the bias:

1. Use past reference as an indicator for how long this task will take. When I think about past projects, did they go according to the schedule I had in mind? (For me, not even close- I should double or triple my first estimate).
2. Think about how things might not go according to plan and budget in extra time. (So in my case, I should have counted on the contractors running into problems, or figure in that my work projects get delayed by computer issues.)      
3. Break the project into chunks and estimate how long each portion will take. (I should have broken down the painting by room, ceilings, walls, trim in order to get a more accurate estimate. At work I more accurately anticipate my preparation time for a training when I bullet out the pieces I need to design and then assign a time estimate to each section.)

From my coaching work, when people talk about their frustration with getting things done, I often invite them to track their time for a set period to get a better idea of how they spend their days and how long things.

Finally, I offer the "All I have to do today list": put a maximum of three things on that list. If you finish, great, you can add one to three more, but it prevents you from making a list of 25 things, resulting in demoralizing failure when you only finish a couple. Hofstadter's Law-- look out!

I love this book because it breaks down why we err in our decision-making process and what we can do to remedy that. It reminds me a bit of Hofstadter's Law, and so I'm offering it here as a way one can become more intentional about making good decisions. The authors explain their WRAP model to help with good decision-making: 1. Widen your options. 2. Reality-test your assumptions. 3. Attain distance before deciding. 4. Prepare to be wrong. It's not rocket science, but the book gives example after vivid example of ways in which we fail to apply these principles. It's a way to get intentional about how we can use tools to override our decision-making biases. It's definitely worth checking out.

And if you want a visual, here's a good video review that explains the basic principles:

Video Review for Decisive