There are many times I get “writers/coders” block – when trying to do work. Staring at an empty page, an empty class. … … … And all you can do is start, you can start doing something, anything related to it – don’t go off and do something else, do this, that one thing in front of you – take that page, that class file and make it do something. For the next 20 minutes…
Your field is your job, your role, your team, what you do, what you deliver, what you bring to the table each and every day. You are the expert of your own field. You are the one best positioned to answer questions and figure out where to go next. You. No one else. You are the Expert of One, and that’s where it starts, believing that and knowing that.
Not when the plan will change, but know that the plan WILL change. It will change, and you will have to adjust and roll with it. Give yourself slush time, space, confidence, etc in all your estimates. And work from there. But go in, knowing this will change and you will have to adapt – that is the first step to not being controlled and beholden to the plan.
Not your sprint backlog. Not your work backlog. Your personal backlog, that big list of things rolling around in your head. Don’t let it grow uncontrolled. Don’t let it sit there collecting moss. Don’t let it take up rent in your mind. Clean it but, schedule the time, to think, ponder, and prune. And then move forward.
If the same question is getting you the same answer – you’re good. If the same question is getting you different answers, there is a problem. Time to dig in and figure out what it is, because it should always be the same.