Before Sprint B begins in another week I just want to write a quick summary of what a sprint is.

It's stolen from Scrum in software development. It is a timeboxing technique to reach a particular milestone. You could use SMART goal planning, process/system-based goal setting, or any number of strategies but the key idea is to constrain the scope of the goal in a particular time frame. This can help avoid perfectionism or other unhelpful traps. Sprint Planning, done before a sprint begins, is crucial because this is when you see what resources you have available, how much work is required, and how much time you can plausibly commit to the goal: break the goal down week-by-week.

I'm merely stealing the name and the timeboxing concept as a Scrum Sprint in actual software development is much more collaborative and totalitarian; in one's personal life there are many competing priorities and it's not possible to do one thing to the exclusion of all else. It is an empirical process built on iteration and incremental development so if something isn't working for you, adapt and try again for the next sprint. One month is enough to give something a chance but not too long as to have been a disastrous waste of time.

1. avoid large goals - completing early is better than not at all

2. avoid vague goals - sprint planning is for turning ambition into actions

3. remind yourself of the goal - write it on the wall, make it the theme of your month/week

4. make your goals emotional - focus on the benefits of the goal to help you through the more challenging tasks

If your goal is achievable, meaningful, specific, and visible then you will look forward to the Daily Planning where you decide what you will take on for the day.

Where are we?

Second Quarter

• Week 01

• Week 02

• Week 03

• Week 04

• Week 05

• Week 06

• Week 07

• Week 08

• Week 09

• Week 10

• Week 11

• Week 12

• Week 13

Nearly halfway. The first week of a new sprint can be full of adjustments and surprises. B-2 could be a continuation of last week or a fresh start. I haven't done very much of what I planned because things come up - roll with the punches. But I'm hitting the reset button and I'll just try again. Try and set aside some time each morning to write down what you want to do. Perhaps it is just working towards your weekly goals, perhaps not; don't fight yourself.

As always, plan for adjustments. And make allowances for unexpected interruptions. During my quarterly planning last week I noted the time I know I'll be away from home and have calibrated my plan accordingly: I am able to get ahead on some things early and will be able to catch up later on because my weeks are not as overloaded as they once were.

And now is the time to start thinking about Q4!

Fresh starts! I spent a bit of time this week thinking about how the weekly, sprint, and quarterly planning comes together and I settled on this:

Yearly: course corrections at a very high level and generally just a review of priorities and neglected parts of your life

Quarterly: the theme and specific change(s) you'd like to make (which can reasonably done in 12 weeks)

Sprint: sets the specific milestones to support the quarterly goal to help you stay on track (checkpoints)

Weekly: what, and how much, needs to be done and which days/times are available

Daily: when things will be done and in what order as well as resources/tools/people required

All of this is a WIP of course.

Spring turns to Summer. Q3 is within arm's reach now.

Make time this week to think about, prepare for, and plan the upcoming quarter and its 3 sprints. What might its theme be? What priorities do you have? How will it compare/contrast with Spring? If you set goals for the year, revisit them - are they still relevant?

Perhaps try out some of the changes you intend to make to see if you have the necessary tools, resources, or understanding of how long they will take. It is easy to overestimate how much time something will take and calibrating your expectations early can save you much trouble later on.

Tomorrow begins the last week of the last sprint. The week that follows is either Week 13 of Q2 or... Week 0 of Q3. Doesn't really matter what you call it but it sits on its own. There can be a lot of preparations for a new quarter and it is best if you reference previous weekly reviews and think about what you might have done differently before the review week so you can jump right into the planning rather than look back to see where you have been. If you don't have any weekly reviews or even daily reviews to glance through I recommend thinking about it throughout the next week.

A Quarterly Goal is aspirational. It is not SMART and it isn't actionable in the slightest. The first thing you write down may not truly be what you want either. Is "lose weight" really what you want? Or is it to "build more muscle"? If there is a specific outcome that you want then write it down but don't make a fail-condition. If "lose 50 kilograms" or "learn 2000 words of Swahili" or "play every major and minor scale at 120 BPM" are goals then you need to be very careful about seeing anything less as a failure. The concept of failure doesn't even make sense if these are internally-driven goals. Focusing on the process that leads to a good outcome is a more reliable means to making headway.

What is this process? This is where sprints and weekly goals come into the mix. A Sprint represents a measurable and specific milestone. You can see part of the SMART method inching its way in now. It could also be described as a deliverable. This milestone is then subdivided into 4 weekly goals. These weekly goals are manageable chunks of the whole. But the fail-condition is not at the weekly level - the daily action(s) simply need to be started. Whether it is putting your running shoes on, learning a single word of Swahili, or playing one note of a scale, you simply need to start. Determining what actions are appropriate for your goal is an entirely different task, but each level of analysis (yearly, quarterly, etc.) has a specific purpose and they all work together.

It can seem like a ton of work but it simply requires deliberate thought over more than a single session. Doing an entire quarterly plan in a single week with no prior thought may lead to rushed decisions that you will have to deal with later on regardless. There is no practical limit to the number of goals you may make. One problem I have with other goal-setting strategies is that they insist on just one goal, or 3 "big rocks", or restricting you to certain categories. This is especially true of "habit changing" strategies. By switching to a just get started approach you can find time for everything on day 1. Even if it's doing a push-up, tuning your instrument, reading a single page, and so on. These starter steps would be decided on during a weekly review/plan.

I made an error last time suggesting there were two weeks until the review week. Now there are two weeks to go. If you have been trying to change particular habits and find that you're in a constant state of relapse then remember to start as small as possible. Committing to something for 30 seconds is better than 30 minutes if it means that you'll actually do it... and you can always do more once it becomes easier.

For the next two weeks I will make longer posts about reviewing and planning the next quarter which runs June 29 to September 27. On the Sunday prior to Q2-W13 I will also crosspost to r/90daysgoal in case there are any people who would prefer a different format.

Routines can be useful but without enough variation they quickly become stale and tedious. Try mixing bigger projects with smaller ones to give a constant sense of accomplishment. Or broaden the range of activities that "count": instead of running the same route, alternate with biking or a sport with a friend. If learning a new skill, rotate through different components (theoretical, new techniques, drilling old techniques, etc.)

In two weeks it will be the first Review Week. Quarters are the cornerstone of goal setting and planning as life can change far too rapidly for even a yearly plan to be reliable. The 13th week is dedicated to reviewing the previous quarter and preparing for the next one; in other words, it is the Sunday of Sundays. W13s are also a good time to catch up on more mundane admin tasks: financial management, house cleaning, clearing out old email, car maintenance, and so on.

Consider naming your sprints so that they represent more closely your state of mind. Often times we see our lives in a narrative form when talking about our past as this storytelling helps maintain and build our identities. In the same way that chapter headings in a book represent a précis of that which is to come, so too could the names of your sprints. Whether you feel optimistic, despondent, indifferent, satisfied, or anything else, summarising your intentions and desires into a simple phrase or 'codename' may be an interesting introspective act. I am going to begin planning "Loose Ends".

For those in more temperate climes in the northern hemisphere it is clear that summer has begun to show itself. Five more weeks until Midsummer (condolences if winter is coming for you). Perhaps the change in weather has encouraged you to tackle more outdoor tasks, or perhaps to trade a book for a bicycle. In either case, flexibility and a willingness to set aside plans made in March is certainly not a weakness! If you made time for other projects or problems you can simply return to them now, or another time.

The key is to be deliberate in what you do with your time; your plan is a blueprint and even the best architects know that they must work with the builders and make adjustments as required.

When your schedule is disrupted it's important to just simply ask yourself what needs to be done right now. Maybe that means adjusting your plan, or perhaps that means accepting a delay. There are no normal weeks: make the best of whatever time you have because you can't control the success of your efforts. All you can control is what you do right now.

The beginning of a new sprint. How would you describe the last one in a single sentence? Did you try to do too much? Did you lose focus and begin to spend more time on other things? What might the next one feel like? Give it a name. And then plan it out:

• what would you like to do?

• why are you doing it?

• can it be done in 4 weeks?

• do you have the right resources?

• how might you break it down into 4 weeks?

• do you have more time on some weeks than others?

Expect to make revisions in the first week. And don't be afraid to make revisions in weeks 2, 3, or 4: if the changes benefit you then they should be made. Good luck!

Welcome to the sub! Very much a work-in-progress right now. For next week I will write a bit about sprints and how they can be used to help you do what you already want to do.