writes:

One more time, there is no black and white, cut and dried "method".

Many excellent pilots seem to have methods for doing everything when they fly.
The more methodical they are, the safer they tend to be (and this is not
limited to aviation). I was wondering what their methods might be. There are
regulatory requirements, but beyond that there are many other factors to
consider, as pointed out already, and I was wondering exactly how pilots take
these into account. There's obviously a practical threshold between trying to
consider every possible detail and just flipping a coin (or not thinking about
fuel at all).

I'm sure a few pilots prefer trial and error or guesstimates or simple
negligence when working with fuel, but they are headed for the NTSB database
and learning bad habits doesn't seem very instructive to me.