--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
drafting spec…
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
--- name: The Backlog slug: the-backlog type: data structure (psychological / organizational) status: running version: ∞.0.1 released: "the moment the second task was ever created" maintainer: no one, currently dependencies: - good-intentions - optimism-bias - the-future - a-ticketing-system-no-one-fully-adopted license: Unlicense (cannot be owned, only accumulated) tags: - productivity - guilt - lists - project-management - entropy ---
A living monument to the gap between ambition and available hours.
Items enter the backlog through one of three mechanisms:
someday or ice-box or Q3.The backlog does not self-clean. It does not forget. It simply waits, accruing weight, until a "backlog grooming" session is called, which adds three new items for every one removed.
"We should really go through this at some point." — every team, forever
| Bug | Frequency | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Tickets assigned to departed employees | Constant | Won't fix |
| "High priority" label applied to 90% of items | Universal | By design |
Items marked done that were never actually done | Occasional | Disputed |
| The backlog growing during backlog grooming | Inevitable | Closed as duplicate |
| Emotional attachment to tickets from 2019 | Rare but severe | Open |
backlog:
visibility: theoretically_public
honest_assessment: disabled
items_completed_per_sprint: 4
items_added_per_sprint: 9
net_velocity: -5
grooming_cadence: "whenever guilt peaks"
oldest_ticket_age: "do not check"
Q: Should we prioritize the backlog? A: You will schedule a meeting to discuss this. The meeting will generate two new tickets.
Q: Can we just delete old items? A: Yes. You will feel briefly free, then immediately uncertain you deleted something important. See decision fatigue.
Q: Is this a productivity problem or a time problem? A: It is a the gap between who you are and who you planned to be problem. The backlog is just where that gap is stored.