Date for a Date

UpdatedSeptember 13, 2025

•1 min read

I like programming (at work) and learning for fun. You'll often find me cooking and working on my house in my spare time.

Part of seriesFor Managers

Imagine you’re at work and someone asks you when a new project will be done. Perhaps it’s a request for an on the spot estimate. Further, imagine you have little to no idea.

I’d like to introduce you to a concept that I thought was entirely ridiculous but have since embraced: a date for a date.

A date for a date (D4D for short) is a date on which you’ll have an answer. You many not know how long a project will take, but you can probably say how long it will take you to come up with an estimate, and, consequently, a date. So, if today is April 23rd and you’re asked when a project will complete, instead of saying “I don’t know”, say, “I’ll get you a date on April 30th”.

Did I invent this term? No. I picked it up at work, and it’s fairly common in industry.

#due-date #date-for-date #d4d #manage-expectations #date #deadlines #deadline

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For Managers

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This series is includes recollections as a software engineering manager.

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