• Apr 2, 2025
A heartbreaking work of convicts, caffeine, and cats
A tongue-in-cheek field guide to shipping ambitious things while staying human — powered by espresso, empathy, and the occasional office cat.
Riley Chen
Apr 2, 2025
1. Build Sustainable Sprints
- Two-week arcs: plan in outcomes, not tasks; leave 20% for interrupts.
- Demo always: show the smallest valuable slice every Friday.
- Protect focus: 3× 90-minute blocks of deep work per day beats heroics.
How to act
- Cap WIP to 2 per person; if you want more, finish something first.
- Timebox reviews to 15 minutes; longer feedback goes async.
- Track energy, not just velocity — burned-out teams don’t ship better.
Tip: Cats are great rubber ducks. Explain the bug to the cat; fix usually follows.
2. Communicate Like Adults
- Write more, meet less: default to docs with context, trade-offs, and asks.
- Assume positive intent: hard problems create tension; curiosity dissolves it.
- Close loops: every ask gets a yes/no/when — silence is a blocker.
DAILY PLAYBOOK
- 09:00 plan day (15m)
- Deep Work block A (90m)
- Messages (20m)
- Deep Work block B (90m)
- Standup + reviews (30m)