Project Management - How Do You Estimate Tasks?

I was talking to my friend Jackson, a long time collaborator and an excellent designer. We came across the topic of estimation.

How do you estimate your tasks and projects? Do you normally describe it in "durations" or "hours"?

Duration meaning in days as "I'll finish this task in about 4 days" or do you estimate your tasks as in "16 hours"?  If you are thiniking of "duriation", then how many hours do you actually think you'll be spending? Vice versa, if you are thinking "16 hours", exactly how many days is it?

The question came up because we found out that it's interesting when people talk in terms of "duration",  some expect it to be a full 32 hours as in 8 hours per day and when talk in terms of "hours", they simply divided it by 8.

Now this doesn't give you the accurate estimate at all, not even close. Because by hours, you might do 2 hours a day or 4 hours depending on your preference. If your pm is not familiar with your habbit of work, this gives a false impression.

Vice Versa. When you talk in "duration", you might be  THINKING 4 days, but your PM might be wondering why is that you need 32 hours?

What is the most accurate way of providing estimate?  The best way for me is to talk in "duration hours".  "I'll finihs this task in 4 days, about 16 hours in total".

What about you?

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