Typical Time Investment in AI
From the AI Workflow cheat sheet · Quick Start Summary · verified Jul 2026
Typical Time Investment
Expected time commitment for each phase
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TIME BREAKDOWN:
Planning Phase (one-time per project):
- PLAN.md creation: 30-90 minutes
- Context setup: 15-30 minutes
Foundation Phase (one-time):
- Manual boilerplate: 15-30 minutes
Development Loop (per feature):
- Breaking down feature: 5-10 minutes
- Each implementation step: 10-30 minutes
- Code review per step: 5-10 minutes
- Testing per feature: 15-30 minutes
- Feature completion: 15-30 minutes
Total per feature: 2-4 hours including all steps💡 Front-loading planning pays dividends throughout development
⚡ Small steps (10-30 min) keep you focused and productive
📌 Manual review time is non-negotiable for quality
🎯 These timeframes assume AI assistance - would be 2-3x longer manually
planningtime-management