The concept of a sprint comes from Agile product development. I first saw it in action years ago while working at a startup — and it changed the way I think about productivity forever. The speed of progress, the clarity, the ability to adapt… it was nothing like the traditional long-term planning I was used to.
Back then, I decided I wanted to adapt sprint planning for my personal life. This post is about what happens when you ignore the usual productivity advice and try something completely different.
What Sprint Planning Looks Like in SCRUM Teams
A sprint is a short, time-boxed period when a scrum team works to complete a set amount of work. Sprints are at the very heart of scrum and agile methodologies.
Here’s how it works:
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A team selects a sprint length (typically 2–6 weeks).
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They choose exactly what they can complete in that timeframe.
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They lock the list — meaning no new tasks get added until the sprint ends.
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They work intensely for the entire sprint.
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When the sprint is over, they pause, review results, and gather feedback from real customers to decide what to do next.
Yes, their product is not perfect when they ship it. But they want to see the real feedback about the features they’ve built. And based on this new set of knowledge, based on the real feedback (and not their assumptions), they decide what to focus on next.
If you’re curious about another SCRUM tool that supports personal productivity, I talk about it in Using Product Backlog for Personal Productivity.
Traditional Planning vs Sprint Planning
Contrast that with the traditional planning approach most organizations use:
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They create large year-long or multi-year plans.
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Dozens of revisions, meetings, and documents follow.
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Once implementation begins, it becomes obvious the plan didn’t account for many variables.
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Then come more meetings, more revisions, and more missed deadlines.
That approach worked decades ago when the world moved slowly. Today, things change too fast. Long-term plans rarely remain accurate, and sticking to them becomes stressful and wasteful.
Sprint planning, on the other hand, focuses on short-term action and real feedback. It embraces flexibility, iteration, and improvement.
Recommended reading:
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Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland
My Personal Sprint Planning System
My sprints are 3 weeks long. I work intensely for three weeks and then take the fourth week of the month as a cool-off week — a chance to rest, reflect, recharge, and plan the next sprint. During this week, I only do essential maintenance work.
That rhythm gives me the energy to push hard during each next sprint.
Here’s how I plan my sprint:
I choose 3 goals in 3 areas of life:
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Career & Growth — 3 goals
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Health & Key Relationships — 3 goals
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Quality of Life — 3 goals
(travel, leisure, hobbies, home upgrades — anything that makes life better now, not “one day”)
That makes 9 goals per sprint. Once chosen, I lock them in.
I can remove goals if they’re no longer relevant, but I do not add new ones mid-sprint.
My only job during the sprint is to make as much progress as possible on those 9 goals.
The Magic of Sprint Planning (A Real Example)
A helpful way to see the power of sprint planning is through one of my past goals: intermittent fasting.
Before I found this system, I tried intermittent fasting twice — and quit twice.
In December 2020, I made intermittent fasting one of my sprint goals. I wanted a 14/10 split for 3 weeks. That meant a total of about 290 hours of fasting.
Here’s what happened:
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Week 1: Motivation high. Super easy.
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Week 2: Motivation gone. Results not visible yet. Wanted to quit.
This is where sprint planning changes everything.
Instead of the usual “Do I have to live like this forever?” panic, I told myself:
I only have to do this for 3 weeks — then I’m free to quit.
That single mental shift made continuing possible.
By Week 3, the benefits became visible — my jeans fit better, my mornings were easier, my focus improved. It didn’t feel nearly as hard anymore. When January arrived, I chose to continue with a 16/8 split — and now it’s simply a habit.
Sprint planning allowed me to push through the critical “this is hard, but results haven’t shown up yet” period.
More Ways Sprint Planning Changed My Life
I’ve used sprint planning to:
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Start and maintain a weekly podcast
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Build and continuously improve my website
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Consistently publish content without perfectionism getting in the way
Under traditional planning, I waited until I felt “ready” or “good enough” — and that led to paralysis. Under sprint planning, perfection doesn’t matter. The goal is to ship, learn, and improve next time.
My website is not perfect, but it’s better every month.
My podcast episodes are not perfect, but they are published every week.
And most importantly: I don’t procrastinate anymore.
What good sprint goals actually look like
One of the hardest parts of sprint planning isn’t commitment — it’s scope.
I put together a free, living guide with 50+ real sprint goal examples from my own sprints and the sprints of people I work with, each with a clear Definition of Done.
It’s designed to help you see what a good 2–3 week goal actually looks like — so you don’t have to guess.
→ Download: 50+ Real Sprint Goal Examples (with Definitions of Done)
P.S. This is how I did sprint planning in 2021. I no longer do 3 goals in 3 categories. To see the most recent post on sprint planning, read What is a sprint? and How to choose your sprint goals.
If you prefer an audio format, please consider subscribing to the Monthly Method Podcast.
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