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A big chunk of it is probably writer's block.

For instance, if my wife asked me to make a pizza, I know very specifically what steps are necessary.

When a client asks my employer to create a piece of software, it's a lot like being told to write a book. Sometimes you don't know where to begin and a lot of the time you get the thing 40% finished and you feel like throwing it in the trash and starting over from step one.

I usually set aggressive dates to keep myself accountable. If it's loose, I'll over-engineer or pick up a side project doing something else.

Management doesn't really set dates for us right now.

Mostly managers who hold very low opinions of developers and think they’re useless if you don’t yell “boo!” at them with some frequency.