Scrumify Your Health: Sprint 1
Setting the foundation for success
Previously on Scrumify Your Health…
Well, nothing happened. This is the first Sprint, and it’s largely about scaffolding.
But it’s still an important Sprint, because it sets the stage for all the rest of them.
I started first with some Product Planning. I brainstormed about the kinds of problems I have that could use solutions, and I didn’t eliminate any of them. Which of them I’ll actually solve, I don’t know. But these would be the seed for making a Product Backlog.
After I identified problems, I started thinking about where I’d like to be in the future in the context of these problems. I looked for metrics that would help me to measure if I was making progress, and then refined my desired outcomes into aspirational but achievable goals.
The base measurements and some of the metrics you see here actually were entered or refined later on.
I used the goals defined in this workshop as my Product Goals, and extrapolated a unifying Product Vision to help guide myself as I continue. Then I started creating the Product Backlog, a set of ideas about things that might help me to move toward achieving each of these goals. As you can see, I color coded the PBIs to match the goals I felt they most aligned with, but there were definitely some items that would serve multiple goals.
The backlog extended well beyond what you can see in this image. Populating it was a bit more of a brainstorming exercise than anything else. I didn’t attempt to remove any ideas from the Product Backlog once they were written down.
Now it was time for the first actual Sprint Planning. I set my goal quickly. While I’m not a fan of “Sprint 0” there were definitely a lot of setup items I needed to handle. So I started making small behavioral changes while the bulk of the actions I selected for the Sprint were about recording those baseline measurements.
And then I went off to do all the things.
On the first day, I went to a local laboratory and got a blood test to check my general health. A few days later I went to my doctor for a physical and his analysis of the test results.
I already knew my cholesterol was higher than normal from a test a few years earlier, and this test confirmed that was my only concerning area.
I visited my dentist for a cleaning and consult. No changes to be made to my current brushing routine; all good.
I had a Fitbit already, but I invested in a new Garmin Venu smartwatch with additional health metrics. This one was actually based on Jeff Sutherland’s framework, as he relies heavily on these metrics in TEHS.
I got a gym membership. I moved my desk where I work all day to a brighter room in my apartment. And I started taking walks.
There were also a few things I had in my Sprint Backlog that I didn’t do. My focus wasn’t on reducing my stress yet, so I didn’t put meditation into my schedule. I also wasn’t sure I could measure whether it helped with anything until I had some baseline stats on my stress levels from the new smartwatch.
I also decided not to see a physical therapist (kiné in French in the image) for my bad shoulder yet, electing instead to make a habit of doing the stretches my old PT had assigned me a year ago that I had stopped doing.
Originally, my idea for a Daily Scrum was just to think about the day before and day to come, but part of the way through the first week I realized the value of keeping a journal. I amended my framework on the fly and started keeping notes on what I’m doing, how I’m feeling, etc.
The Sprint Review is really where the heavy lifting is done. Here I employ my Scrum Master to gather lots of metrics, then I inspect them to try to infer links and make decisions about what’s really working and what’s not.
Since this was the first Sprint and I didn’t have any previous metrics to compare to, there aren’t a lot of clear takeaways. However, I did try to look at what was happening on the day when my watch metrics indicated high stress. I noted correlations with work, parenting, contentious interactions with my ex, and workouts. Even chocolate was a possible culprit.
I won’t go into all the details; you’re welcome to blow up the image above to see how the first week went and what my takeaways were.
And for the actual retro, there wasn’t that much to do. I had no format defined, and I was already making changes as soon as I noticed something that could be improved. So for now at least, it mostly stays as a placeholder and reminder to think about the process and not be afraid to switch things up.
And that’s that! I was prepared to dive into Sprint #2, where I hoped to actually start to see changes in a positive direction. My wrap-up on that will be next week.