Your Backlog is a Disaster - A Brutally Honest Guide for Founders

Look, I get it. Your backlog is a dumping ground of half-baked ideas, urgent customer requests, and that massive technical debt you've been ignoring since launch. Every time you open Jira (or whatever tool you're using), it feels like staring into an abyss of unfinished work.

I've been there. We all start with good intentions - "I'll keep it organized this time!" But then reality hits. A critical bug appears. That big client wants just one more feature. Your developer is asking for details on a ticket you wrote at 3 AM. And somehow, your beautifully planned backlog turns into chaos again.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Your backlog isn't just messy - it's actively hurting your product. Those vague tickets written in a hurry? Your developers hate them. That critical feature you described in three words? It's going to come back wrong, and you'll blame the dev team when it's really your fault.

Here's what I usually see in solo founders' backlogs:

  • "Add login system" (What kind? What requirements? What edge cases?)
  • "Make it faster" (How much faster? Which parts? How do we measure this?)
  • "Fix the thing John mentioned" (Good luck remembering what that was in two weeks)
  • A mix of huge epics and tiny tasks, all marked as "HIGH PRIORITY"

If any of these sound familiar, don't beat yourself up. You're running a company solo - no dedicated product team, no scrum master, no fancy processes. But that doesn't mean you can't get your shit together.

Let's Fix This Mess

I won't give you some theoretical framework or a 20-step process you'll never follow. Instead, here's what actually works when you're doing this alone:

1. The Two-List System

Stop trying to maintain one perfect backlog. It doesn't work. Instead, have two lists:

  • The "Right Now" list: Max 5 items you're actually working on this week
  • The "Everything Else" list: Your brain dump of ideas, requests, and todos

That's it. Stop pretending you'll get to 100 things. You won't. Focus on the 5 that matter.

2. The 5-Minute Ticket Rule

If you can't write a proper ticket in 5 minutes, you don't understand what needs to be built. Simple as that. Every ticket needs:

  • What problem it solves (not just what to build)
  • How we'll know it's done (actual criteria, not "it works")
  • Any obvious gotchas or edge cases
  • Links to relevant discussions or designs

No exceptions. Bad tickets waste more time than they save.

3. Kill Your Darlings

That feature you've been dragging from sprint to sprint for six months? Be honest - it's never getting built. Not because it's bad, but because it's not important enough. Delete it.

Your backlog isn't a wishlist - it's a tool for getting shit done. If something's been sitting there for months, either:

  • Move it to top priority and build it now
  • Delete it and stop lying to yourself
  • Write it down somewhere else if you really can't let go

4. The Weekly Reality Check

Pick one day. Spend 30 minutes reviewing your "Right Now" list. Be brutally honest:

  • What actually got done?
  • What's blocking progress?
  • What needs better clarification?
  • What should move to "Everything Else"?

This isn't about beating yourself up - it's about staying connected to reality.

What Good Looks Like

Here's a real ticket I wrote this morning:

Title: Users need email verification before accessing paid features

Problem:
We're getting hit with fraud attempts - people using stolen cards and testing them on our platform. We need email verification to add another barrier.

Success Criteria:
- New users must verify email before accessing payment screens
- Existing unverified users get prompted when trying to access paid features
- Verification links expire after 24h
- Users can request new verification emails
- Admin dashboard shows verification status

Edge Cases:
- Users who change their email need to re-verify
- What happens to existing paid users who never verified? -> Grace period of 7 days

Not perfect, but clear enough that my team knows exactly what to build.

The Hard Truth About Getting Better

You won't fix your backlog in one day. But you can stop making it worse right now. Start with your next ticket. Make it clear. Make it actionable. Your developers will thank you, your future self will thank you, and your product will be better for it.

Remember: A messy backlog isn't just a symptom - it's usually a sign you're not clear about what needs to be built and why. Fix that clarity problem, and the backlog starts fixing itself.

Now go look at your backlog. Does it help you build a better product, or is it just a graveyard of good intentions? You know what to do.