As a manager, I would be interested in 9 and 10.

The transition is one part but how to become a strong and effective manager is also critical.

Leading the Platform Team at Taulia, part of SAP

Umang Vanjara

The grass might seem greener on the other side.

The "What If" question will be one you will ponder many times in a long career.

What If you had joined an F1000 and the actual work might not have been what you expected.

What If you had joined the other company, perhaps you would have the same question - maybe I should have joined the startup.

In some of the big companies, it might be easier to get lost and the impact might not have been as visible as a startup.

These are just some counter examples and things might have been positive also, if you had joined the F1000.

As the other answers below mention, live a good life, your story is still being built and you have a long career ahead. Good Luck!

First, let me commend you on your awareness.

This is a great starting point.

As Alex and others have mentioned below, start with compiling your questions where you fumbled, find patterns, and proactively prepare some questions that may come your way.

An additional step would be to check with your peers/seniors/manager and do some prep, if possible, before the demos.

Observing what questions are being asked to other members during their demos and how they answer would provide good learning too.

Senior Manager at SAP

First, you are not alone in this.

I have seen projects overrun and miss estimates many times.

When we were doing waterfall development, releases would get delayed frequently.

When you say open-ended, there seems to be an exploratory angle. \
You are likely soliciting stakeholder feedback periodically. As they see what you deliver, requirements and deliverables might change.

In the Agile setup, with the frequent feedback cycle, I have also seen changes in scope or solutions taking longer than you expect.

The estimations are based on past predictors and/or what you believe needs to be done as per initial requirements.

When you start working on the project, you may find new information or experience unforeseen issues.

In another scenario, I have also seen some other critical issues come up and resources may need to be redirected to address them. As a result, in-flight projects might get delayed.

Communicating up your chain, as you have done, is the right step.

To meet deadlines, typical steps are:

- Reduce scope and break down the project into additional phases with stakeholder buy-in.
- Add more resources, if possible
- Add in buffers to ensure you have time to address the unexpected.

Love the simple template that Rahul has provided here and the suggestions from Alex too.

If the 1:1s feel like status reports, bring that up with the Manager too, and suggest sharing those offline or in another async format.

Remember that the 1:1 is your meeting and not your manager's. It might feel weird, but you drive the agenda.

A question that might be interesting to ask your manager that I recently learned through LinkedIn:

What is one thing you need from me that you are not getting?

Be curious. Ask your manager about their career journey and learnings (following along with the Personal life suggestion from Alex).

Here are a few things that I do

- Take periodic breaks and if possible, take a walk outside. 
- Don't have your lunch at your computer, have it in a different place. I prefer to watch TV while having lunch. 
- Shut down your computer after work. 
- Exercise - Go to a gym or find some physical activity outside. 

I agree with Rahul. Scheduling regular time for reflection is super helpful. 

On a different perspective, the practice of daily journaling can be helpful. Writing things down can be a way to let things out. 

You have not mentioned if you have other hobbies or interests. Regularly disconnecting and doing something else unrelated to work can be a good destressing option. 