Q1 Retrospective: The Honest Numbers — What Worked, What Tanked, and What I'm Changing

So it's March 2026 and I'm 14 days out from the end of Q1. I've been staring at my Notion dashboard all morning trying to decide if I should post this.

Real talk: not everything I set out to do this quarter actually happened. And I think that's exactly why I need to share it.

Here's my full Q1 retrospective — the actual data, what worked, what didn't, and how I'm adjusting for Q2.

The Setup: What I Planned

I ran a modified 90-day sprint framework for Q1. Three Wildly Important Goals (WIGs), max. I picked:

WIG 1: Career — Get promoted to Senior Product Marketing Manager (I was told end of Q1 was realistic based on my review timing)

WIG 2: Career Goals Blog — Publish 25+ posts, hit 3,000 email subscribers

WIG 3: Skills — Complete the Google Advanced Data Analytics certificate (career relevance for PMM role)

I also tracked secondary metrics weekly: deep work hours, email list growth, blog traffic, and sleep (because I refuse to believe burnout is a productivity strategy).

The Results: By The Numbers

WIG 1: Senior PMM Promotion

Status: DELAYED

I didn't get promoted in Q1. Here's what happened.

My manager confirmed in January that I was "on track" for Senior by end of Q1. In February, our VP of Marketing announced a hiring freeze and restructured the team. My promotion got pushed to "sometime in Q2" with no firm date.

What I actually accomplished this quarter:

• Launched 3 product campaigns (2 exceeded targets, 1 underperformed by 18%)
• Mentored the new marketing coordinator (she's crushing it)
• Built a competitive analysis framework the team is now using company-wide
• Got verbal confirmation from 3 cross-functional partners that I'm "operating at senior level"

The uncomfortable truth: I did the work. The promotion didn't happen because of factors outside my control. That's annoying but it's also just... reality.

WIG 2: Career Goals Blog Growth

Status: EXCEEDED

Here's the actual data:

Metric	Goal	Actual	Variance
Posts Published	25	31	+24%
Email Subscribers	3,000	3,847	+28%
Monthly Pageviews	3,500	4,923	+41%
Avg. Session Duration	2:30	3:47	+51%

The blog grew faster than I expected. The "90-Day Sprint Framework" post went mini-viral on LinkedIn in early February and drove 1,200 new email subscribers in 10 days.

What worked:

• Posting consistently (Monday framework posts, Thursday book summaries)
• Adding a "Try This Week" action item to every post
• The 90-day sprint framework resonated — it's my most-shared content by far

WIG 3: Google Advanced Data Analytics Certificate

Status: INCOMPLETE

I finished 4 out of 7 courses. I'm currently on Course 5 ("The Nuts and Bolts of Machine Learning").

Why I fell behind:

Weeks 3-5 of Q1, I averaged 6.2 hours of deep work per week on the certificate. Then in mid-February, I got assigned to a high-priority product launch at work that consumed all my cognitive bandwidth for 3 weeks. I tried to keep up with the coursework but was honestly too tired to absorb SQL concepts at 9pm.

I tracked my study hours. Here's the ugly truth:

• January: 18 hours
• February: 7 hours (the launch month)
• March so far: 11 hours

I need about 25 more hours to finish the certificate. At my current pace, I'll wrap it mid-April.

Secondary Metrics: The Real Story

I also tracked some habits that support my WIGs. Here's the data:

Metric	Target	Average	Notes
Deep Work Hours/Week	12	8.4	Feb was the killer — 5.1 hrs/wk
Sleep/Night	7.5 hrs	7.1 hrs	Acceptable but not optimal
Books Read	6	4	On track to hit 6 by end of Q1
LinkedIn Posts/Week	4	3.2	Dipped in Feb, recovered in March

The lesson: When work intensity spiked (that February launch), my entire system got stressed. Deep work crashed. Sleep suffered. I tried to maintain the certificate study schedule and failed.

This is why I track these metrics. The secondary habits are leading indicators of WIG success. When they tank, the WIGs are at risk.

What I Got Wrong (Honestly)

1. I underestimated work volatility.

I planned my Q1 as if work would be steady. It wasn't. The February launch was unexpected and intense. My system had no buffer for that reality.

2. I tried to do too much in February.

Even while drowning in the product launch, I kept telling myself I'd "catch up on the certificate on weekends." I didn't. I should have just paused that WIG instead of pretending I could maintain the pace.

3. I didn't protect deep work aggressively enough.

I let my calendar fill with "quick syncs" that weren't actually quick. My average meeting load went from 11 hours/week in January to 16 hours/week in February. That's 5 hours of deep work gone, poof.

What's Changing for Q2

Based on this retro, here's my Q2 strategy:

WIG 1: Career — Secure Senior PMM Promotion

I'm treating this differently. It's no longer "wait and see if the promotion happens." I'm scheduling a specific conversation with my manager in the first week of April to get a hard commitment on timing.

I'm also documenting my "senior-level work" more aggressively. Weekly wins doc. Specific metrics. Cross-functional testimonials. If the promotion gets delayed again, I want data showing I'm already doing the job.

WIG 2: Career Goals Blog — Hit 6,000 Subscribers

The blog is working. I'm leaning in.

Specific tactics:

• Keep the Monday/Thursday posting schedule
• Double down on 90-day sprint content (it's my differentiator)
• Add a monthly "Reader Experiments" feature where I share YOUR results with my frameworks
• Launch the Q2 Planning Guide as a lead magnet (I've been promising this)

WIG 3: Skills — Complete Data Analytics Certificate + One New Skill

I'm finishing the Google certificate by April 15. Hard deadline. I'm blocking 90 minutes every morning before work starts until it's done.

Then I'm adding a second skill: prompt engineering for PMMs. 2-3 hours/week through May. Specific course identified. Starts May 1.

The Bigger Lesson

Here's what Q1 taught me:

Goals don't fail because you lack ambition. They fail because you lack buffers.

I had aggressive but achievable goals. Then life happened (work intensity spike) and my rigid system couldn't adapt. I should have built in 30% buffer time. I should have had a "pause criteria" for when to temporarily drop a WIG.

I'm building that into Q2. Every WIG has a "minimum viable" version and an "ideal" version. If circumstances get weird, I know exactly what to cut without abandoning the whole system.

Your Turn

We're 10 days from the end of Q1. If you ran a 90-day sprint, it's time for your retrospective.

Don't just look at what you achieved. Look at:

• Where did your time actually go? (Not where you planned it to go)
• What secondary habits supported or undermined your goals?
• What external factors derailed you that you didn't anticipate?
• What are you changing for Q2 based on Q1's reality?

And be honest. The retrospective that pretends everything went perfectly is useless. The one that admits what tanked and why — that's where the learning happens.

What worked for you this quarter? What didn't? Drop it in the comments. I read every single one.

Here's to a better Q2. Onward.