Always exagerrate the difficulty of work/project given to you.

Whenever you are given a project, always exagerrate its difficulty. However, the key to this is to impart to your boss that you will do your best and complete the project in spite of its pseudo-difficulty.

Please don't think that this is borderline lying. Just think of yourself as a pessimistic optimist - you think a task is too hard, but you know that you can finish it.

You are managing your boss's expectation. If you finish early, he will be delighted. If you finish just on time, he will be satisfied. If you don't finish on time, the perceived difficulty of the work will dampen his disappointment.

My point is for you to make the work seem more difficult than it is, but still do your best to finish it earlier.