Adopting Agile Practices to Tackle Our To-Dos

As a Scrum trainer and Agile coach, I often get asked how Agile ways of working can help people manage their work and their personal lives when they are not part of a team, or at least not one that is using Scrum, Kanban, or any other framework or method that falls under the Agile umbrella.

As an Agilist, this is something that I, like many others in the community, am very familiar with since I incorporate these practices in my own personal life as well as when I am trying to manage my own work.

So how can we do this?

I. Set a goal

“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” – Earl Nightingale

Setting a goal will help you stay focused on your purpose.

What do you want to achieve

• This year?
• This quarter?
• This month?
• This week?
• Today?

Make sure the goals align to each other.

II. Create a "Backlog" of Your Work

All of your work should be contained in one place so as not to lose track of the things that need to get done.

A backlog can be:

• A To-Do List
• Sticky Notes

Tools to use:

• Physical or Online Kanban Boards
• Dry Erase Boards
• Spreadsheets

*Regardless of the tool, ensure that the items can be reprioritized/moved as needed.

III. Prioritize

Prioritization is key when it comes to working in an Agile way.

By prioritizing we ensure that the most important or most valuable items are taken care of first and that we are not wasting time on items that do not need our attention.

Prioritization should be revisited frequently as new items that come into your “backlog” may shift the prioritization of items that are already there.

There are many techniques that can be used to prioritize work, here are a few:

• MoSCoW Analysis
• Eisenhower Matrix
• Eat That Frog

If there are multiple items that are equally important, tackle the largest/most time consuming one first.

IV. Plan Continuously

Planning is crucial in order to ensure that we are focused, can hold ourselves accountable, and that we are making the best use of our time.

Your plan should align to your goal.

Planning can be done at various levels – Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly, Weekly, Daily.

Give yourself enough time to plan so that you are prepared to start the new day, week, month, quarter, or year.

Planning at the end of the previous period for the upcoming period usually works best.

Ask yourself – Is what I am doing right now bringing me closer to my goal?

V. Use Timeboxes

A timebox is the maximum time allocated for an activity.

Benefits of timeboxing:

• Better focus
• Easier monitoring of progress
• Improved efficiency

Work until one item is complete or 90 minutes, whichever is shortest.

Our brain can only last for 90 minutes at optimal levels.

Recharge by getting up and moving for at least 10 minutes (20 minutes would be ideal) before sitting down to tackle another item or continue working on the previous item for another 90 minutes.

VI. Inspect & Adapt

Inspection

• After completing each item, review it to ensure that it has been done to your satisfaction and meets its completion criteria.

Adaptation

• If tweaks need to be made, do so before moving on to the next item.

VII. Reflect

At the end of each day, week, month, quarter, and year reflect on the following:

What went well? What propelled me forward? What were my wins?

• Make sure to celebrate!

What didn’t go well? What were my setbacks? What mistakes were made?

• Note what you learned.

What do I want to do differently tomorrow/next week/next month?

• Adapt your way of working based on this.

VII. Rinse and Repeat!

Review your goals often, add new items that need to be done to your "backlog", prioritize your to-dos, continuously plan, do your work, inspect and adapt, reflect, and apply your learnings!

In a Nutshell