Estimating time is like packing for a long holiday. No matter how hard you try, you always feel like you forgot something important.

We all know how hard it is to estimate time and amount of work needed to complete a project. We’ve all been there - our teams missed deadlines, and not because they didn’t work hard enough.

With experience we get better in estimating, but most often we need to rely on our team to do that. Let’s explore some factors that may not be obvious to developers. We’ll talk about how much we really work during a month, why research takes more than anyone expects and how Chinese New Year may destroy your plans.