Very interesting article, Steve. For years I've always multiplied my project estimates by roughly a factor of three. I had never really thought about it much, I had just learned that I'm overly optimistic about what I'm able to accomplish in a given period of time. I think it is a good idea to figure out what my 'fudge factor' is for given activities, to make my estimates more accurate.
For the last several months I've been working with a good friend of mine on some
web based time tracking software. They recently released a free personal version of it which I've been using to track my sleep habits and time spent exercising, etc. It's very illuminating to pull a report and see patterns emerge - like the fact that my body requires about 6.5 hours of sleep regardless of what time I go to bed. I'm planning to now use it to help track my estimates versus how long something actually takes me.
Anyway, thanks for the engaging read.
Jared