Anonymized sample from a real engagement
What to expect each sprint
The day by day rhythm, what you receive and the response times in CET, with US Eastern and Pacific times.
A sprint is one working week of about 40 hours, unless the written scope says otherwise. The first week after both sides sign the agreement is free of charge. After it you continue on paid weeks, or you stop and keep the week 1 work as the agreement says.
Everything is written and async. You get a written plan, a written update every working day and pull requests. There are no calls, no meetings and no video. You read the work when it suits you.
This rhythm comes from 20 real sprints for one client in 2026. The timeline and the samples show the real documents behind each step.
Day by day
| Day | What I do | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Before day 1 | I read your brief, the code and the live system with the access you grant. I measure before I estimate. | A written scope within one working day. Each item in your words, what I deliver, how I check it, hours per item, and what I need from you. |
| Day 1 | I start on the agreed scope. Anything urgent that I found goes first. | A kickoff note with the short version of the scope, the delivery day and what it depends on. |
| Days 2 to 4 | I build each item on its own branch, with tests and migrations that run both ways. | A written update every working day by 18:00 CET. Pull requests as items finish. |
| Day 5 | I review the merged code, run it from a fresh copy on real data, check every changed page in a browser and check every figure in the report. | The delivery message, the sprint report, the evidence folder, the coding rules compliance sheet, the time statement and the commit list. |
| Deploy | I deploy only after your written go ahead. Snapshot first, backend before frontend, each step checked against production. | A short note on what is live, what is built but switched off, and why. |
| After the deploy | I watch the first nightly run or the first real use. | A dated follow up with the live readings, and a dated correction if any number changed. |
What each daily update holds
- What is done, with the evidence for it
- What is next
- Anything that changed my estimate, and why
- Any decision I need from you, with my recommendation and what it costs either way
What the sprint report holds
It has one section per scope item, each with a status such as Live, Built or Waits on you. Then what I found on the way, with the finding that changes your risk placed first, and what waits on you, in order of urgency, with the time each step takes you.
Every figure carries an evidence reference, and I state my own corrections plainly. The time statement sets hours per item against the hours I quoted, and lists the hours I didn't charge. Every migration and deploy step has a rollback plan.
Response times
My working window is 09:00 to 17:00 CET, Monday to Friday. I work from Warsaw, Poland. CET here means Warsaw local time, which is CEST in summer. The daily update follows by 18:00 CET. The one later answer is the paid priority reply, which reaches you by 19:00 CET when you pay by 17:00 CET on a working day.
| Commitment | CET | US Eastern | US Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working window starts | 09:00 | 03:00 | 00:00 |
| Reply to messages that arrived overnight | by 11:00 | by 05:00 | by 02:00 |
| Last time for a same day answer | 16:00 | 10:00 | 07:00 |
| Working window ends | 17:00 | 11:00 | 08:00 |
| Daily written update posted | by 18:00 | by 12:00 | by 09:00 |
So a message you send in the US afternoon is answered before your next working day starts. The daily update reaches the East Coast at midday and the West Coast at the start of the morning.
A production fault that you report in the working window gets a first written reply within 1 hour. The reply says what I checked, what I found and what I do next.
Clock changes
The table holds from early November to early March and from late March to late October. Europe and the US change their clocks on different Sundays. For about three weeks a year the gap is 5 hours and not 6. In those weeks 18:00 CET is 13:00 ET and 10:00 PT. In 2026 that applies from March 8 to March 28 and from October 25 to October 31.
What you never get
- A figure with no source behind it
- Done for something that's only built and not live
- A charge for my own merges, reviews or fixes to my own work
- A change to production, security settings or who can see what without your written go ahead
- A request to talk when a written answer will do
Names, fund tickers, vendors and amounts are replaced. Everything else is as sent.