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On personal processes

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TLDR: Bullet Journal rocks!

Third is not a solely technical post. 

Over almost 25 years of working in software development I've seen multiple practices, frameworks and processes for individuals and teams. Some implementations worked and others became so bureaucratic that they made for a very unhappy group of people.

From free for all to things so complicated as rational unified processes (RUP) and Capability maturity model integrated (CMMi) passing through Personal Software Process (PSP) and Team Software Process (TSP). Some of those have their merits and can be used successfully in certain contexts but when it comes to really individual things they didn't quite help me a lot. They either required use of extra tools or even create new ones to be able to do what was required of the process in addition to do the value work which in turn adds to the inertia and extra effort. 


The one practice that did really help me is Bullet Journaling (Ryder Carrol) precisely by being non technical, you just need pen and paper, and grabbing a lot of the things from other processes that do work.  Focusing on the important things, simplicity, having rituals for reflection or improvement and becoming a second brain (yes, another thing that works from Tiago Forte).


It has really helped me a lot, I've been journaling for 6 years with some patches where I've just not followed through, and every time I resume my practice it does show on my focus.


For that matter, one of my intentions for this year is to keep my journal frequency as high as possible throughout the year. 


If you have not yet checked Bullet Journal please take a look, it is a really good tool. 


Do what works for you, not what every single Pinterest board tells you to do.  


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