An obvious statement, but one often forgotten early on in the year: every quarter feels like it goes faster than the last.
The start of the year starts slow. People have a break over Christmas and the new year, and new projects are yet to start. In some cases performance review cycles further take minds off “real” work. It can take a month or two for new projects to get properly under way, and for people to get in the swing of things.
Time starts to move faster once projects are at full pace, and after a bit of a slog you find yourself in Q2. Often less holiday is taken over the first two quarters of the year too, helping to make them feel longer.
Now we reach July. It’s the start of a new half, but things often don’t reset as much as at the start of the year. Early on in Q3 summer holidays begin. When everybody is back, in-progress projects get back into swing. They most likely need to ship by the end of the year, and deadlines become tighter. Being more heads down, the time starts to run away with you.
That leads us on to Q4. Q4 is the fastest and most hectic of them all. In October people start to think they haven’t done enough in the year yet, or worse start to realise what they have planned can’t be finished on time. Things get frantic, and the time flies by. Before you know it code freezes arrive, the first being Thanksgiving if in an American company. Then the Christmas parties begin, and lots of people take a break over Christmas itself. The year is over before you know it.
So what, isn’t this obvious? Maybe it is, but it’s easily forgotten when planning at earlier stages of the year. If a project is particularly complicated and will make the largest leaps forward only when everyone is at work at the same time, try to avoid the summer months. If a project is likely to have a risky rollout, avoid the end of the year when code freezes hit. If you have some cleanup to do, remember there’s often a quieter time at the start of January.
And repeat.