🎄Postcard for the Task That Never Got Done: A Love Letter to the Backlog

[#1]

SaaSJet Advent Calendar — The Postcards We Never Sent

Dear Work Item, we’ve been through a lot…

You were born in chaos,
assigned three times,
re-estimated five,
and somehow… still not Done.

Meanwhile, life kept moving on:

👶 Age 22. I’m a young, ambitious PM, full of hope. I believe in processes, deadlines, and the perfect team.
You appeared in the backlog — tiny, harmless, almost cute.

🧑‍💼 Age 25. I moved to a new city, changed my hair color, finally started taking vitamins.
You changed assignees three times, switched priorities twice, and jumped into a new epic.
But your status? Eternally "In Progress." A permanent fixture.

👨‍👩‍👧 Age 30. I sent my kids to school, learned how to meditate, rediscovered the magic of 8 hours of sleep.
You spawned a subtask. And another. Plus a 17-line developer comment reading “almost fixed.”

🧓 Age 40+. My friends send me back-pain memes and ask when I’m finally taking a vacation.
You’re still here. Honestly, you’ve lived in my backlog long enough to apply for residency.

My Dear,

I’ve survived project pivots, team reshuffles, and methodology fads. But you — you’re my constant. And honestly… I still believe that one day I’ll press “Done.”

Have you ever had a task sitting in your backlog for what feels like ages? What’s your story? Share your struggles with us so we can laugh and maybe even cry together about these never-ending tasks!

[Barbara Szczesniak]

One of my tasks is creating tickets for features where we've missed something or where it doesn't work as planned. Unless someone asks a clarification question, I often don't think about them again until they come up for refinement. Every now and then, though, I will realize that one hasn't been refined and ask someone from the product team, "what ever happened to that change request I wrote up for XXX?"