Feeling Frozen...
Welcome to your new edition of my weekly?#linkedinnewsletter.
I'll drop the ear worm of one Frozen movie song here (Let it go or something like that -- you are welcome).
It almost like that they are two completely opposite concepts; in reality, like many things, the ONE problem and ONE actionable solution I present each edition here is not an "On / Off" switch -- it's more like a "Dimmer" switch.
We all learn (yes, even me) more as YOU and others provide more context in the comments for us to think about.
I am the ON / OFF switch with the initial idea and you are our dimmer switch to add comments and make it real.
Make sense? Maybe not.... Let' it go...
The Problem:?I have soooooo many ideas
This week, imagine we are sitting down drinking a Pina Colada (with or without any added alcohol -- your call (remember it's YOUR imagination lol)).
Taking a bit of downtime together in our crazy world of "always on".
ME: "Hey, how are you?"
YOU: "I have so many ideas, I feel paralyzed and can't do anything."
Analysis Paralysis.
This may be the root cause of what you and I experience when feeling burnt out.
We have so many things to DO that we either start all of them all or start none.
Either way, nothing actually gets done (even if we are REALLY BUSY all the time).
The Actionable Tip: Pick One
You have infinite choices.
One of the frameworks I use, teach, and apply with teams is around the concept of Implementing Scrum.
Within this framework, the team keeps two "lists" of things to be done...
One is called the "Product Backlog."
The other is called the "Sprint Backlog."
The Product Backlog is your wishlist of stuff (this stuff may or may not ever actually get done).
The Sprint Backlog contains a subset of the wish list of stuff that the team agrees will be focused on -- and delivered -- within a certain timeframe (called a Sprint).
During a Sprint, the magic comes to life when the team limits "Work In Process" (in "training world" this is one thing at a time -- seeing a pattern here?!).
Your Next Step...
Think about the problem I've described and my actionable tip today.
Here is the part where YOU contribute an actionable tip for others who are reading this article....
In the comments below, share?ONE?actionable tip about?HOW you pick ONE thing to do and WHAT is the benefit or cost of doing that.
Don't worry about using the framework of Scrum.
Worry about taking that never-ending-list-idea-forest-random-stuff-bla-bla-bla, picking ONE thing, starting it, and then finishing it.
Rinse and repeat.
We are all looking forward to read what YOU write in the comments below.
Thank you.
Michael Vizdos
PS: I don't usually geek out on Scrum stuff in this weekly newsletter. Imagine opening an email from me every Saturday morning (around 9:30 am eastern time) around the topic of Implementing Scrum, getting a cartoon, and learning a specific idea that helps you improve on a weekly basis. Imagine no more (smile). Click subscribe.mvizdos.com and all your geek out Scrum dreams will come true starting this Saturday morning if you subscribe right now (please subscribe [smile]).
I advise and consult with companies in Print, Media & B2B Tech to help them grow and thrive. #PrintChat host. Bylines: Print Media Centr, LaManna Media, PIA, Label and Narrow Web, Seybold Report. ?? Grammarly Ambassador
2 年Many of my highly-productive clients use the index card approach. Write each task on a card. If you need to include a subroutine of tasks, write those on the back or create an action stack in a Google doc or in Notion, The front of the card should be very simple. One task only, stated in simple terms. Try to have no more than about 8 cards going at any time. Stack them up. Put the one you are going to do on the top. Do it. Shuffle through and pick the next one. Put it on the top of the stack. Do it. Do not have other distracting items out, and keep the cards in a single stack. There is no ranking by difficulty or value. The only ranking is "What can I get done next?" When I have breakfast with one of my clients, I can see his stack poking up from his shirt pocket. My friend Michael Josefowicz taught me how to refine the process to gain even more efficiency. Sometimes the analog approach gets you where you want to go!
Agile Coach / Scrum Master / Project & Program Manager / Product Delivery Manager
2 年My partner and I use a Kanban board / stickies with column names "To Do - In Progress - Done" and ask over breakfast "What's on our backlog today?" so we do kind of a daily scrum ?? . Stickies range from "Pack for mtn trip" to "Prep for sprint retro" to "Review German proposal"... I also ensure I have calendar reminders as needed like every 4 weeks on a Saturday "Do Doggie Heart Pills".... Seems to work. ?? But sometimes we get a bit behind / overwhelmed and say "OK let's get real wrt what we can do here" so we do kind of a "To Do" overhaul and clean things up - as in updating and removing backlog items that are no longer important or will likely never get done... ??