How to Perform a Cemetery Sweep on Your Backlog

The Haunted Backlog — When Old Stories Won’t Die

• Triage: Mark backlog items > 90 days old as “graveyard candidates.”

• Reframe: Turn vague epics into a one-sentence outcome + metric. If you can’t, bury it.

• Timebox an experiment: If still valuable, create a 1-week spike with a clear success metric.

• Assign ownership: No owner = forever ghost. Give it to someone accountable for outcome vs. activity.

• Retire ritual: Monthly “retire or revive” cadence — items not revived are archived with a short rationale.

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