Scrum Master yourself!
A story about self-improvement and actionable goals
As you may remember from earlier stories, I have my own retrospectives weekly. It has become a comfortable Sunday morning routine. This week, I used the KALM format: Keep what is going well, Add new valuable activities, do Less of what is too much, and More of what's too little — an elegantly simple format.
During last week's retrospective, I acknowledged that two improvements were ineffective: getting a better night's sleep and reducing my mobile phone usage.
I often succeed in implementing improvements in my daily life. I'm used to making these actions concrete enough to execute. But when these actions are too big and abstract, they work out differently than expected.
That's what you get when you are your own Scrum Master: you don't always notice that you let yourself get away with it.
Sleeping well
One of my improvement actions last week was to improve my sleeping. Too often, I would wake up in the middle of the night. After tossing and turning for over an hour, I would get up to watch some golf videos on YouTube until I felt tired again. And then I'd crash on the couch. That doesn't help at all to get into a good sleeping routine.
So, as of this week, I will change a few things: enjoy a cup of herbal tea in the evening, switch off my phone before going upstairs, and carry out a short mindfulness exercise when the lights are out. If I do happen to wake up at night, no more dopamine rewards like reading or watching YouTube. I will be counting the nights without sleepless intermezzos.
Since a good night's sleep is vital for my health, I've made this my goal for this week.
Reduced screen time
Looking back, I wouldn't say I liked how often I still reached for my mobile phone throughout the day. I had already set some timers on apps like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Medium (a tricky confession on this platform), but I suspected more time could be saved. I would love to spend that time on my book project. Apart from the actual writing, there is also research, marketing, organizing, and a lot more work involved when taking the self-publishing route.
I wanted to reduce my screen time by 50% this week. When I looked up the actual usage data, I was shocked to find that my average daily screen time ranged from 2 to 4 hours. I'm aiming for 2 hours. Wish me luck!
Takeaway
To set yourself up for success in continuous improvement, make your improvement actions actionable and tangible. This works for Scrum teams and also for personal development. So don't forget to wear your Scrum Master hat and lead yourself!
Take care and till next time!
Kind regards,
Herman / Scrumpy Dad
PS My new book, A Scrum Master's Guide to Happiness, covers many practical exercises to help you stay loyal to your goals and values. Please check the Scrumpy Dad website for more information.
