Backlog: The Antidote to Chaotic Living

05/21/24 • 21 min

Backlog is where an Agile sprint begins. It's the foundation of the Agile Framework. Let's dive into the deeper meaning behind a backlog, why you need one in your life, and how to build one from scratch.

Timeline:
00:00 Why Agile?
01:26 Backlog - what it is
01:58 Chaotic life filled with frantic action
03:00 How much time we actually have
04:10 How do we measure the quality of our goals?
06:56 The best time management hack
08:26 Agile tool for measuring the quality of your goals
09:22 Example of using backlog
10:06 That's how you stop the chaos
12:50 How to start a backlog
17:36 What you can do today
19:08 Unpopular opinion
21:35 The comment that made me record this video

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How to apply Agile to your life: http://monthlymethod.com/start-here/

Or simply leave a comment!

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Previous Episode

Agile approach for managing your goals. Sprint cycle overview.

Let's review the core components and rituals of a sprint cycle and how you can apply those to your personal goals and projects.

Link to the video version of this episode.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - - Overview
(00:20) - - Creating backlog
(01:51) - - Calculating sprint capacity
(02:18) - - Deciding on the number of goals for the sprint
(02:57) - - Sprint planning and scrum board
(03:54) - - Duration of a sprint
(05:05) - - Daily standups
(05:37) - - Sprint retrospective
(05:57) - - Cool-off week
(08:18) - - Repeat the cycle
(09:15) - - Where to start
(10:19) - - If you don't want to wait for the next video

Useful links
- Subscribe to my newsletter for more frequent deep-dives into Agile life
- Recent newsletter entries
- Start Here page to see the blogposts on the core principles of Agile and how those can be applied to personal productivity
- Twitter for regular examples of my scrum board and how it looks throughout the sprint
- YouTube to 'Back to Agile Basics' type of videos
- Monthly Method School for step-by-step instructions on how to run your first Agile sprint ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Next Episode

What is a sprint? How to use it in your life

One of the core Agile concepts is working in short sprints vs. setting long-term goals and plans. Let's look into what a sprint is, how long it should be, how to calculate sprint capacity, and choose a sprint focus. As always, we'll discuss how you can apply all of this to your own personal projects and goals.

Timeline:
00:00 - Innovation in the tech industry
00:47 - What is a sprint?
02:07 - What is a good sprint duration?
04:36 - Sprint capacity
09:27 - Adjusting the scope of your sprint
10:15 - Calculating the sprint capacity is an investment in your future self
14:17 - Sprint capacity for the first sprint
15:49 - Sprint focus
20:29 - Topic for the next video
21:31 - Homework

How to apply Agile to your life: http://monthlymethod.com/start-here/

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Monthly Method - Backlog: The Antidote to Chaotic Living

Transcript

00:00:01.479

Hi, my name is Polina, and I've been applying Agile and Scrum frameworks to my personal projects and goals for the last 10 years. It worked incredibly well, despite contradicting almost every productivity advice you hear on the internet and self help books.

00:00:20.294

I've been able to apply Agile to a lot of projects over the last decade. I started applying it when I was working in a startup. Then I transitioned into grad school and used it to fi