Tip #5: The INVEST Principle

The next tip is about INVEST -- a.k.a. the INVEST principle and how you can apply it for learning and in your work.

Yes, yes, I know that right now, we're in survival mode and trying to live one day at a time among all this chaos. That doesn't mean we cannot learn :)

I totally understand if you're unable to use these tips right away, but you can absolutely learn and start using them bit-by-bit! I am invested in your long-term success and I know you can do it. You got this :) One day at a time, you can absolutely work towards your goals!

Anyway, on to our tip for today! Let us first explore how the Agile Alliance defines this principle (the principles below are used verbatim from source: https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/invest):

• "“I” ndependent (of all others)"
• "“N” egotiable (not a specific contract for features)"
• "“V” aluable (or vertical)"
• "“E” stimable (to a good approximation)"
• "“S” mall (so as to fit within an iteration)"
• "“T” estable (in principle, even if there isn’t a test for it yet)"

Did you know that this acronym works in your daily lives, particularly as you look to work on your tasks?

How can we use this principle, you ask? Let's take a look:

• Look at the overall task at hand -- be it in your assignments, at your work, or in your personal lives. Can this task be broken down into smaller tasks? The answer is likely to be yes. How do you break it down into smaller sub-tasks? Read along!
• Visualize your task or write it down or sketch/draw it on paper. Your task can be broken down into its components. Now, see if you can reduce it further into smaller components.
• We're in survival mode here. What do you mean break tasks down into smaller tasks? Okay, then you have your tasks, you have to think them through :) Next step!
• How do you know if these small components are complete? Think through your tasks or sub-tasks. How will you know that they're done? This brings us to our tasks being testable:
  • If your follow up question is -- Well the task is to do the assignment. How do we break it down? -- please know that you have to start your work to finish :)
  • Identify the smallest component of your assignment that you can do -- it could be creating a new folder as instructed in the assignment. That's a small task and you can test if it's done by seeing the folder that's been created :)
  • Use a similar idea to break down your tasks into smaller, testable components.
  • The Dal assignment calculator can be a helpful tool to see how to break down your tasks: https://util.library.dal.ca/calculator
• As you're think through the tasks, see if you can estimate how much time it might need for this task -- your tasks could also be broken down into sub-tasks that take an hour, etc.
• Each of your tasks would be valuable because each task contributes to incrementally building your larger task, i.e. assignment or work or personal tasks.
• It is natural for some tasks to take longer or to change. It happens. That's life. Think about these principles as giving you an idea of how to think through your tasks or problems. So, you're capturing a set of your sub-tasks that help complete the overall task. So, if these sub-tasks have to change or evolve, so be it! That is okay. This makes your sub-tasks negotiable.
• When you think of these sub-tasks, they will all appear to be connected to each other. They are. But, you see, you can also think of them in a way that you can re-order them based on what you can do or what you feel like doing on any given day. This makes your sub-tasks independent.
  • For example, let's say that you had four sub-tasks in one of your main tasks of getting started in an assignment -- (a) create a new assignment folder and all sub-folders, (b) create the README.md file, (c) create all HTML/CSS/JS/PHP files in your assignment folders, and, (d) add intro and details in README.md
  • You can always re-order and do them in whatever order you prefer. You will know when they're done and you will absolutely have completed the main task of getting started if you do them all! :)
• By breaking down your tasks, you are setting yourself up for long-term success. You will become a problem solver and this is one of the crucial skills you can develop -- be it for your time at university, or at work, or in your life!

Take things one day at a time. You got this!

Take care, and may the Force be with you!