I've never been good at estimating schedules, either. I initially picked up the rule of thumb "figure out how long it should take, and then double that because you're leaving out all the time that isn't directly productive, and then double it again because you're too optimistic and assume everything will go okay," but that didn't help much. The best advice I've gotten is to break things down as far as you can, estimate the time for the parts, which is easier to at least think you're getting right, and add it all up. Then multiply by 2, and keep track of exactly how far off you were, and adjust that '2' next time.
Joel On Software has some really good stuff, too. He talks in terms of Microsoft software, because he's an ex-MS guy, but none of his methods actually require specific software.
But since I've already admitted I'm still no good at this, you should probably take my advice with a grain of salt. :-)
Scheduling
Joel On Software has some really good stuff, too. He talks in terms of Microsoft software, because he's an ex-MS guy, but none of his methods actually require specific software.
But since I've already admitted I'm still no good at this, you should probably take my advice with a grain of salt. :-)
Re: Scheduling
Re: Scheduling