The Weekly Retro
Hey everyone,
In agile software development, we have the concept of a “retro,” which is short for retrospective. At the end of every two-week sprint, the team talks about what went well, what didn’t go well, and what we can improve next time.
Since last November, I’ve been running a retro on my personal life at the end of the week (typically on Sunday, either right before or after I write this newsletter). I ask myself what I wanted to get done, what I got done, why stuff didn’t get done, and what I want to do next week. (I’ve realized while writing this that I should probably expand to overall feelings about the week as opposed to only a task-oriented view of how things are going.) I’ve also created a Notion template which I fill out when I do my retro - feel free to use it or make changes that suit your needs.
For me, the value of the personal weekly retro has been the opportunity to prioritize parts of my week and to take time to think about how things are going. I’ve noticed a significant improvement in productivity and overall feelings about where I’m headed, as opposed to letting life pass me by without much thought. I hope you find the concept helpful as we kick this week off!
Pete’s Picks ✅
Series: I have been binging True Detective Season 2 this week. I’d watch Season 1, but I previously had the ending spoiled for me by a YouTube video. It’s pretty dark and gritty, but I’ve been hooked on it.
Product: Warby Parker glasses. I know everyone’s probably heard of WP by now, but the last 4 years of wearing these glasses (the Keene tortoise shell, to be exact) have been a game-changer for me, to the point that I basically never wear contacts. It’s been huge to have glasses that I enjoy wearing that much, and has saved me a lot of money in contacts. (I’m reflecting on this because I lost them in the lake yesterday after getting flipped off a raft.)
This Week’s Blog Post 📝
How I Passed the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam
Cheers,
Peter