A typical sprint... I am now in the 3rd sprint of my personal-life-gone-agile experiment, and the good news is that overall, it's going very well, and I feel like I am becoming more and more productive as I go!
This, however, has not been a straightforward nor an easy process. Let's review some of the big lessons learned here:
Perhaps I'll discover a way to link tasks into larger features in Trello, or perhaps I'll get inspired to write my own tool for this as a practice project on my own, but for now, I am trying out the 'slow lane' solution. My rule of thumb is not to have more than two items in the slow lane list at a time, and so far this is working out nicely.
Between the usual holiday insanity and the new (totally awesome and exciting) career opportunity, my second and third sprints have basically blended into one super-permissive 4-week sprint. I was able to pull in a couple of tasks from my backlog, but most of the tasks have been the same for the month. I've decided I'm ok with that given all of the events this month. I am half-way through my 3rd sprint now, and I feel very good about being able to finish up what's left. That will bring me into the new year of agile awesomeness, and an exciting new chapter in my life as a software developer.
I hope that all of you out there have been having a wonderful holiday season, and I am very much looking forward to what's coming in 2015. Happy new year, everyone!
This, however, has not been a straightforward nor an easy process. Let's review some of the big lessons learned here:
- Starting to attempt to run your life as an agile project is an excellent way to help get off your butt, and get more things accomplished... And you're going to feel really good about it!
- Life is freaking nuts, and your sprints will definitely get derailed, impacted, messed with, discombobulated, screwed up, and in all possible ways horked up beyond all recognition.
- Lesson number two is especially true if you start this whole experiment just as the holidays are starting.
- Lesson number two, especially when considering lesson number three, will be exponentially more true if you also find a new job during your second sprint of the experiment.
Perhaps I'll discover a way to link tasks into larger features in Trello, or perhaps I'll get inspired to write my own tool for this as a practice project on my own, but for now, I am trying out the 'slow lane' solution. My rule of thumb is not to have more than two items in the slow lane list at a time, and so far this is working out nicely.
Between the usual holiday insanity and the new (totally awesome and exciting) career opportunity, my second and third sprints have basically blended into one super-permissive 4-week sprint. I was able to pull in a couple of tasks from my backlog, but most of the tasks have been the same for the month. I've decided I'm ok with that given all of the events this month. I am half-way through my 3rd sprint now, and I feel very good about being able to finish up what's left. That will bring me into the new year of agile awesomeness, and an exciting new chapter in my life as a software developer.
I hope that all of you out there have been having a wonderful holiday season, and I am very much looking forward to what's coming in 2015. Happy new year, everyone!
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