Backlog Problem, You Just Don't Know

In Honor of the Google Doc You Haven't Opened Since March

You don’t have to be a project manager (that’s what I used to do). You probably don’t have a sprint cycle. And the word “backlog” might sound like something reserved for software teams at funded startups.

But here’s what you do have: a running list in your head… or buried in a notes app, a Google Doc, maybe a napkin from Starbucks? It’s got notes of everything you need to do, want to do, keep meaning to do, and haven’t gotten to yet.

That’s your backlog. And if it’s unmanaged, it’s managing you.

In project management, backlog grooming is the regular practice of reviewing, reprioritizing, and clarifying the work that hasn’t started yet. Teams do it before each sprint so that when it’s time to execute, there’s no ambiguity about what gets worked on or why.

For you, artist, coach, leader, solo entrepreneur, the stakes are actually higher. You don’t have a team to absorb bad prioritization decisions. Every hour you spend on the wrong thing is an hour you can’t get back and there’s no one else picking up the slack.

Without a grooming practice, your backlog becomes a graveyard of good intentions. Work piles up with no priority signal. You default to whatever feels urgent, whatever landed in your inbox last, or whatever you feel like doing today. The strategic work, the stuff that actually moves the business, gets buried under the reactive. You stay busy. Probably gonna’ die busy.

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Here’s the fix

You need a weekly ritual 30 to 45 minutes, same day every week where you ask four questions about everything that’s written on your “napkin”

• Does this still matter?

  • Priorities shift. Some tasks age out. Delete them without guilt.

• Is this clearly defined?

  • Vague tasks don’t get done. “Work on website” is not a task. “Write homepage headline options” is.

• What’s the priority?

  • Not what feels urgent what moves revenue, fulfills a commitment, or unblocks something else.

• What goes into this week?

  • Pull only what you can realistically do, leave the rest in the backlog until next week’s review.

That’s it. No methodology certification required.

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When you groom your backlog consistently, something changes. You stop starting your week by asking “what do I need to do?” and start asking “what did I already decide to do?” The decision is made in advance, in a calm moment, not in the chaos of a some morning with a full inbox.

That’s the difference between a business that runs on intention and one that runs on reaction.

If your backlog is a mess, it’s not a discipline problem it’s a systems problem. And systems are exactly what I help solo and growing business owners build.

As a fractional COO, I work with entrepreneurs who are done winging it and ready to install the operational infrastructure that makes consistent execution possible not just in project management, but across every function of their business.