In doing research on how to have better more efficient launches, I discovered something fascinating: the same methodology Fortune 500 companies use to build billion-dollar products can transform your health habits. Srum methodology helps teams work towards a common goal.

Like habit building, this project management framework starts with the end in mind.

You decide on the vision and what you want to accomplish before making a task list. Each Quarter [a time box with multiple sprints], you meet to plan the highest priority focus for the next 90 days. Then, you’ll make a prioritized backlog of the most critical tasks.

My vision right now involves all the multiple “roles” I play in life. Some people like to think of areas of their lives, but because I’m an entrepreneur, I think in roles. What are all the different hats I wear, and how do they work together to create the bigger vision I seek?

As a multi-passionate creative (like many of you), my roles include:

• Customer Fulfillment & Success Coordinator
• Podcast Editor
• Graphic Designer
• Content Creator
• Health Habit Coach
• Home House Officer
• “My Healthy Habits” Lifestyle Executor
• Artist (Illustrator) **
• Writer **

** In development: roles I want to lean into in 2025 but don’t yet have the built behaviors to support them and are a work in progress.

For you, this might look like:

• Your Work Title
• Chief Home Officer (taking care of your home and all your “stuff”)
• Parent, Family member, Partner, or Friend - Relationship Coordinator
• Any hobbies you do?
• Chief Health Officer (the role you have in taking care of your body, physical and mental health)

If you're nodding along, recognizing yourself in these multiple roles, let's talk. My FEED Method coaching program helps creative professionals like you build sustainable systems for all these areas.

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In Scrum, you work in sprints that usually last 1 - 4 weeks. In the sprint planning meeting, you’ll review the backlog of tasks and expand on them, set a goal, estimate how long that will take, and then commit to the Sprint.

In practice, this looks like deciding on the most important behaviors for each role to implement daily.

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WORK: Customer Fulfillment & Success Coordinator, Operations Integrator, Podcast Editor, Graphic Designer, Content Creator

• “Eat the Frog.” Do work early to avoid anxiety and stress. Check-in first thing during working hours. Time-block and Prioritize.

Health Habit Coach

• Client Check-ins: Build that coaching muscle.
• Client Onboarding: Update Welcome package.
• Lead Generation: Finalize my latest freebie. Get stuff out there and launch instead of over-planning it. Have more conversations about my coaching.

Home House Officer: Build a regular declutter practice AND move things along out of the house and the car (weekly)

“My Healthy Habits” Lifestyle Executor: Lift 3x/wk, 8,000+ steps/day in 2 sessions, Protein, hydration, fiber, sleep

Artist (Illustrator): Sketch (Daily) Set up studio space for painting so I can build into that practice and make it easier to sit down and paint.

Writer: Write: have intentional writing blocks with a focus.

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Now, I usually suggest to new clients that they focus on ONE behavior to adjust at a time and continue to maintain everything else. Breaking things down like this gives you a road map, but I wouldn’t focus on more than four behaviors for your first Sprint. Some of these are already a solid part of my life, others I am tweaking, and two of them are new.

Like building a new habit, you’ll want to do a daily check-in. You’ll have a daily scrum meeting where you’ll review what you’ve done since the last meeting, what the plan is for today, and go over any obstacles getting in the way. This is a big reason I have made journaling such a huge part of my life - it allows me to look at my goals daily, reflect on whether I did the desired behaviors, and then plan and prepare for obstacles and how to improve.

To keep momentum going and keep track of your progress, you’ll have highly visible information radiators, which are visual displays that let you know your progress. In coaching, I have my clients keep weekly trackers so they can see their progress.

In Scrum, you have a burndown chart showing the amount of work left to do in the Sprint based on the number of days left in the Sprint and the estimated number of hours of all the tasks defined in the sprint planning meeting. You’ll be able to see two lines, one with actual tasks remaining and one with estimated ideal tasks remaining. You’ll also have a Task Kanban board that has different columns: the task (story), to do, doing or in progress, to verify, done.

After each Sprint, you’ll do a Sprint review & retrospective so that you can get feedback on the work done and how it was done, discuss what’s done and what wasn’t done, what was done well, what wasn’t, what they wish to continue, what they struggled with, how to improve the process and recommendations going forward, and an action plan created for next Sprint. In coaching, we do weekly check-ins where clients fill out a form at the end of the week and reflect on the above.

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So, while we are humans and not teams part of large corporations, you can use this project management framework to help you build behaviors and work towards your goals. The humanness of life will get in the way, but staying strategic can be a tremendous asset and help you stay the course even when motivation wanes.

If you're ready to stop overthinking and start building sustainable habits, I can help. My signature coaching program, The FEED Method, uses these same strategic principles to help creative individuals like you transform their health. Reply to this email or DM me @morgan.e.shepherd to discuss if we're a good fit.

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Morgan 🥳