Agile spare time
This last six months I have focused a bit more on managing my spare time. It started out well, with me doing a bit more work on Wikka Wiki, maintaining a monthly (board) gaming evening and getting a bit more out of my evenings. Then it started to slip out again, as usual. Too many projects started, none ended - not even to a milestone or one measly todo-list item.
I suck at organizing myself outside of work, and I know it. What it usually boils down to, is my phasing creativity and motivation. It helps having people working on the same thing, or at least inquiring into my work. I guess this is one of the reasons I get things done at work. That and coffee, guilt and integrity. 
So, I’ve decided I need to get to burning bridges aga… things done again. I have Getting Things Done
standing unfinished in my bookshelf, I know how to do agile methods in projects, reviews and stuff. I just don’t apply it outside of work. Something must change.
I’ve been reading David Seah’s blog for a while, and at least one of his good ideas have registered over time; his Groundhog Day resolutions. I first thought I’d try something like that, but as I am trying to fix up my spare time, I wanted a bit more time on my resolutions. Quarterly or something like it. That being an awful lot of time, I thought to have some sub-goals sprinkled in between - monthly or some such. Right. Back at the start.
Last week I read Corvus Elrod’s Hats in the New Year, and decided that; yes - it is time to get something done around here. After a brief chat about one of his projects I managed to derail the conversation in on keeping focus on one project at a time, and he suggested taking an agile approach. As that actually makes sense, I’ll try it out. Quarterly (fuzzy) goals filled with two week sprints
. This, with accountability from blogging, should keep me focused on a (few) projects at a time. If not, the problem probably is the wetware aprox. ten inches from the screen…
As it is in the middle of the holidays right now, I won’t commit just yet. Though I’ll say this; there is an overwhelming chance that my first goals will be related to me getting into blogging regularly. I need that.
Have a nice time.
About this entry
- Published by: Tormod Haugen
- Published at: December 25, 2008 - 22:02 CET
- Category: projects
- Tags: agile, blog, corvus elrod, david seah, gtd, time, wikkawiki
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You make it sounds like spare time is like a spare tire: you don’t put it to use until there’s an emergency. I wish I had more spare time and less emergencies…
December 26th, 2008 at 14:20
Well, it is more like starting to be efficient during the emergencies. Or actually doing anything at all, instead of running around in circles. Which isn’t that good a thing in real life nor spare time emergencies.
December 26th, 2008 at 16:16
[...] there was a new year. I mentioned, at the end of last year, that I wanted to structure my personal projects a bit more, to actually get something out of the time I spent on them. And not, like usually, jump [...]
October 16th, 2009 at 20:25