<i>...ending a sprint with a couple of late-night panic sessions to get everything out of the door...</i><p>My first reaction is you are not sufficiently grooming your backlog.  Stories are left too large, with too many unknowns.  If you tend to have a small number of large tasks, this is likely the case.<p>That, or you just aren&#x27;t very good at estimating.  A large number of small tasks would indicate this problem.<p>In the second case, you need to circle back with the PO and discuss which items can push to the next sprint.  And make a concerted effort to estimate better during grooming and planning sessions.