

The Scrum Backlog is where Features go to die. - tosh
https://medium.com/product-love/b1336ff707aa

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moron4hire
This is exactly right. It's why I don't use Trello anymore. I have a single
sheet of paper that I split down the middle with a line and fill up on either
side of the line with my tasks.

Even still, I end up with backlog that I have to discard from time to time.
The problem seems to be the speed with which items can be added to the list.
When the list is nearly full, I have to think hard about whether or not I'm
going to throw any old task on there. But when it's nearly empty, I start
filling it up.

Since I only keep one list for both business and personal needs (because I
only have one set of waking hours in a day), I have started to fight myself by
filling it up with things like movies I want to see but know I will forget
about. Now, _those_ tend to be the things that fall to the "backlog", i.e. the
top of the list, as the unfinished things are the first things to get written
down when the page is full.

So yeah, my paper is also self-prioritizing. The longer a task has been on the
list, the more likely it is to bubble to the top of the page. Also, scratching
off items is motivating, especially when there are only a few left.

Hah! Who am I kidding? There's never "only a few left". But I've gotten much
better about getting through the churn and making sure nothing ends up more
than a month old.

Hah! Who am I kidding, again? Filing my tax returns has been on there for more
than a month now!

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tosh
Thanks for sharing. I can absolutely empathize.

