The amount of time it will take to complete a project is inversely proportional to the perceived difficulty of the project. This also applies to tasks and deliverables within the project. The project that you think will be easy and fast will be neither. The project that you think is going to be a tangled nightmare will turn out to have some surprising shortcuts and simplifications that make it not so bad.
Part of this is the stupid human trick factor - if we think something is going to be difficult, we approach it differently and with more caution. As a result we're more able to identify things to make the project go smoother. Conversely, if we think something is going to be easy, it's because we've only determined one path to approaching it, and if that path turns out to be non-viable, we have an immediate delay as we scramble to find other solutions that will work.
There's also the psychological factor at play for the customer - if we say something is going to be ghastly and difficult and will take us a long time ( because we think it will) but then turn around and deliver it ahead of schedule and under budget, we look good and feel good. This does not work if you say something will be ghastly and difficult but secretly think it will be easy and fast, however.