• The project
• Where I’m starting
• The framework
• Example
  • The goal
  • Premise
• My execution scorecard
  • 1) Timely start
  • 2) 90-minute Daily Quest
  • 3) Phone lock at 15:00
  • 4) Early sleeper at 19:30
• Putting it together
• Control the controllables

The project

I’m building a lab-grade sleep-environment tracker. Wearables (Whoop, Oura Ring, etc.) tell you what happened - wake-ups, light sleep, blood-oxygen dips, breathing rate. They don’t tell you why.

Was it noise?
Too much light?
Too hot or cold?
CO₂ too high?

As a long-term insomniac, I want those answers.

Where I’m starting

I’ve never built an IoT device and I’m new to Rust. Step one: order parts, learn Rust. The official Rust book is excellent - and 700+ pages. I needed a system that lets me make steady progress without relying on perfect energy every day.

The framework

If you already know the 12-Week Year: I’m doing a 12-Week Year.

If you know Scrum/Agile/OKRs: think twelve 1-week sprints, review/plan weekly - working toward one big vision.

If you’re new to all of this: I set one big goal (“build the thing”). Each week I pick small goals that move me toward the big one in 12 weeks. Once a week I check what happened, plan the next week, and repeat.

Crucially, the 12-Week Year tracks inputs (what I control) instead of outputs (what I don’t).

Example

The current goal is to learn Rust via the official Rust book.
The book is big and complicated.
Sleep - and therefore processing speed - is not static.
It’s hard to measure “I learned Rust,” and even harder to quantify parts of it - so I focus on time invested each day.

The goal

Attempt to achieve 85% execution per week.

Premise

• Doing hard things is easier earlier in the day.
• I can control when I go to sleep, not how much sleep my body needs.
• Reactive devices (phones) disrupt evening wind-down.
• Blue light from screens delays melatonin.
• I can concentrate on a hard task for 90 minutes at a time.

My execution scorecard

Each day has the Daily Quest: a concrete chunk that moves the project forward.

1) Timely start

If I leave room to drift into creative thoughts, hours disappear. To ensure the Daily Quest happens, I measure “no time wasted.”

• Wake whenever I wake.

• 30 minutes to ramp (water/coffee/shower).

• After those 30 minutes, every minute I delay reduces a 1.0 score by 2%.

  • At +50 min, this category scores 0.

2) 90-minute Daily Quest

Life happens. Sometimes 90 minutes isn’t there.

• Set a 90-minute timer and start.

• Every minute under 90 reduces the DQ score by ~1.11% (i.e., minutes_worked ÷ 90).

  • Skip it = 0 for this category.

3) Phone lock at 15:00

Your phone is a gateway for others to hijack attention - media, colleagues, friends, family. If they had to knock on your door at night or early morning, most wouldn’t. The phone makes it easy. I haven’t seen a problem yet that couldn’t wait for the next day’s standup or didn’t resolve itself.

• Alarm at 15:00, phone off and put away.

• Every minute past 15:00 reduces a 1.0 score by 2%.

  • At 15:50, this category scores 0.

4) Early sleeper at 19:30

The body and brain like predictable patterns. Same for your sleep schedule. Keep this simple.

• Lights out at 19:30. No screens, no lights.

• Every minute past 19:30 reduces a 1.0 score by 2%.

  • At 20:20, this category scores 0.

Putting it together

1. Start early (hit the timely-start window).
2. Do the one 90-minute task that moves the project.
3. At 15:00, switch off and lock away the phone - stop taking on new problems.
4. At 19:30, lights out - no devices, no stimulation. Let sleep come.

Control the controllables

• I can’t control what happens during the day - I can win early.
• I can’t control what problems pop up - I can control the phone’s power button.
• I can’t control how sharp I feel - I can control sitting down for 90 focused minutes.
• I can’t control how much rest my body needs - I can control when I go to bed.