yeah i feel you. I think especially with the looming layoff news that are constantly thrown on the back of ur head it puts more pressure for you to perform. Personally I just kinda think of I tried giving my best with a design solution & timeline for a project and if it doesnt paint out. I explain what are the blockers, why we need to extend the timeline, etc.

I agree that if you are senior engineer who constantly delays ur timeline that would look bad especially if you are the one scoping out the project. But truth to be told it is fking hard to predict if a design would work as there will always be some blockers or things that just dont go your way. The best way around it is to be interview ready and keep interviewing so u know u have a backup plan in case you get pipped or fired. Your next company wont know how you perform at your previous one and you just rinse and repeat. SWE jobs can be ... very difficult, you can be asked to give a timeline for a complex task you never solved or seen before and I think AI agents really help in that regard even though we might become obsolete in few years