Podcasts about backlogs

The Yard of Hard Drives Episode: Throwing Hands with Backlogs, The Literal Yard, Drives Cast Out, The Grind of Pain, Survivorship Bias, The Success and the Failure, The Arcane Nature of Repair, The Realization of Entropy, The River Styx.I find myself staring down many, many hard drives left in the yard, and try to find value and rescue in what I can get. It's going fine! But it's noisy.

Download the “65 Investment Terms You MUST Know to Reach Your Financial Goals” for FREE by going to https://TodaysMarketExplained.com/  In this episode of Today's Market Explained, hosts Brian Kasal and Chris Reardon break down the shifting dynamics beneath today's market highs. While headline indexes remain near record levels, leadership is clearly rotating — and understanding where capital is moving is critical for investors, founders, and business owners planning for 2026.The discussion covers equity performance across asset classes, sector rotations away from overextended tech stocks, the resurgence of M&A activity, and what mixed economic signals really mean for future growth. Brian and Chris also explore how AI-driven optimism is colliding with real-world supply constraints — and why that matters for valuations.

In this week's episode of The Game Deflators Podcast, John and Ryan bring a packed agenda to the table. The duo kicks things off with fresh updates from their ongoing Strixhaven D&D campaign, sharing the latest twists, character antics, and how the story is evolving. Looking ahead, they set their New Games Resolutions for 2026, laying out the titles they're determined to play, backlog goals, and what they hope to accomplish as gamers in the new year. The conversation then shifts to the 2025 Game Awards, where John and Ryan break down the highlights of the show, their favorite (and least favorite) trailers, and whether the event lived up to the hype. Adding a more analytical angle, the hosts dive into a new Boston Consulting Group report on gamer purchasing habits, exploring what the data says about how players are spending, and what it could mean for the industry moving forward. Finally, they wrap things up with a retro spotlight: a review of Batman Returns for the SNES, revisiting the beat 'em up classic to see if it still holds up today.   00:00 Introduction to the Game Deflators Podcast 01:17 Recent Game Pickups and D&D Updates 03:36 D&D Campaign Adventures and Challenges 10:58 Future Campaign Plans and Game Mechanics 19:39 Current Gaming Experiences and New Game Resolutions 27:48 Nostalgia in Collectibles and Blind Boxes 28:21 Exploring Metal Gear Solid: A Legendary Experience 34:19 New Game Resolutions and Game Picks 38:08 Game Awards Highlights and Reactions 49:17 Exciting Game Trailers and Anticipations 56:43 The Changing Landscape of Gaming Purchases 01:01:03 Backlogs and Gaming Habits 01:04:31 Inflation vs. Deflation: Game Pricing Discussion   Want more Game Deflators content? Find us at www.thegamedeflators.com     Find us on Social Media Twitter @GameDeflators Instagram @TheGameDeflators Facebook @TheGameDeflators YouTube @The Game Deflators   Permission for intro and outro music provided by Matthew Huffaker http://www.youtube.com/user/teknoaxe 2_25_18 

BONUS: Swimming in Tech Debt — Practical Techniques to Keep Your Team from Drowning in Its Codebase In this fascinating conversation, veteran software engineer and author Lou Franco shares hard-won lessons from decades at startups, Trello, and Atlassian. We explore his book "Swimming in Tech Debt," diving deep into the 8 Questions framework for evaluating tech debt decisions, personal practices that compound over time, team-level strategies for systematic improvement, and leadership approaches that balance velocity with sustainability. Lou reveals why tech debt is often the result of success, how to navigate the spectrum between ignoring debt and rewriting too much, and practical techniques individuals, teams, and leaders can use starting today. The Exit Interview That Changed Everything "We didn't go slower by paying tech debt. We went actually faster, because we were constantly in that code, and now we didn't have to run into problems." — Lou Franco   Lou's understanding of tech debt crystallized during an exit interview at Atalasoft, a small startup where he'd spent years. An engineer leaving the company confronted him: "You guys don't care about tech debt." Lou had been focused on shipping features, believing that paying tech debt would slow them down. But this engineer told a different story — when they finally fixed their terrible build and installation system, they actually sped up. They were constantly touching that code, and removing the friction made everything easier. This moment revealed a fundamental truth: tech debt isn't just about code quality or engineering pride. It's about velocity, momentum, and the ability to move fast sustainably. Lou carried this lesson through his career at Trello (where he learned the dangers of rewriting too much) and Atlassian (where he saw enterprise-scale tech debt management). These experiences became the foundation for "Swimming in Tech Debt." Tech Debt Is the Result of Success "Tech debt is often the result of success. Unsuccessful projects don't have tech debt." — Lou Franco   This reframes the entire conversation about tech debt. Failed products don't accumulate debt — they disappear before it matters. Tech debt emerges when your code survives long enough to outlive its original assumptions, when your user base grows beyond initial expectations, when your team scales faster than your architecture anticipated. At Atalasoft, they built for 10 users and got 100. At Trello, mobile usage exploded beyond their web-first assumptions. Success creates tech debt by changing the context in which code operates. This means tech debt conversations should happen at different intensities depending on where you are in the product lifecycle. Early startups pursuing product-market fit should minimize tech debt investments — move fast, learn, potentially throw away the code. Growth-stage companies need balanced approaches. Mature products benefit significantly from tech debt investments because operational efficiency compounds over years. Understanding this lifecycle perspective helps teams make appropriate decisions rather than applying one-size-fits-all rules. The 8 Questions Framework for Tech Debt Decisions "Those 8 questions guide you to what you should do. If it's risky, has regressions, and you don't even know if it's gonna work, this is when you're gonna do a project spike." — Lou Franco   Lou introduces a systematic framework for evaluating whether to pay tech debt, inspired by Bob Moesta's push-pull forces from product management. The 8 questions create a complete picture:   Visibility — Will people outside the team understand what we're doing? Alignment — Does this match our engineering values and target architecture? Resistance — How hard is this code to work with right now? Volatility — How often do we touch this code? Regression Risk — What's the chance we'll introduce new problems? Project Size — How big is this to fix? Estimate Risk — How uncertain are we about the effort required? Outcome Uncertainty — How confident are we the fix will actually improve things?   High volatility and high resistance with low regression risk? Pay the debt now. High regression risk with no tests? Write tests first, then reassess. Uncertain outcomes on a big project? Do a spike or proof of concept. The framework prevents both extremes — ignoring costly debt and undertaking risky rewrites without proper preparation. Personal Practices That Compound Daily "When I sit down at my desk, the first thing I do is I pay a little tech debt. I'm looking at code, I'm about to change it, do I even understand it? Am I having some kind of resistance to it? Put in a little helpful comment, maybe a little refactoring." — Lou Franco   Lou shares personal habits that create compounding improvements over time. Start each coding session by paying a small amount of tech debt in the area you're about to work — add a clarifying comment, extract a confusing variable, improve a function name. This warms you up, reduces friction for your actual work, and leaves the code slightly better than you found it. The clean-as-you-go philosophy means tech debt never accumulates faster than you can manage it. But Lou's most powerful practice comes at the end of each session: mutation testing by hand. Before finishing for the day, deliberately break something — change a plus to minus, a less-than to less-than-or-equal. See if tests catch it. Often they don't, revealing gaps in test coverage. The key insight: don't fix it immediately. Leave that failing test as the bridge to tomorrow's coding session. It connects today's momentum to tomorrow's work, ensuring you always start with context and purpose rather than cold-starting each day. Mutation Testing: Breaking Things on Purpose "Before I'm done working on a coding session, I break something on purpose. I'll change a plus to a minus, a less than to a less than equals, and see if tests break. A lot of times tests don't break. Now you've found a problem in your test." — Lou Franco   Manual mutation testing — deliberately breaking code to verify tests catch the break — reveals a critical gap in most test suites. You can have 100% code coverage and still have untested behavior. A line of code that's executed during tests isn't necessarily tested — the test might not actually verify what that line does. By changing operators, flipping booleans, or altering constants, you discover whether your tests protect against actual logic errors or just exercise code paths. Lou recommends doing this manually as part of your daily practice, but automated tools exist for systematic discovery: Stryker (for JavaScript, C#, Scala) and MutMut (for Python) can mutate your entire codebase and report which mutations survive uncaught. This isn't just about test quality — it's about understanding what your code actually does and building confidence that changes won't introduce subtle bugs. Team-Level Practices: Budgets, Backlogs, and Target Architecture "Create a target architecture document — where would we be if we started over today? Every PR is an opportunity to move slightly toward that target." — Lou Franco   At the team level, Lou advocates for three interconnected practices. First, create a target architecture document that describes where you'd be if starting fresh today — not a detailed design, but architectural patterns, technology choices, and structural principles that represent current best practices. This isn't a rewrite plan; it's a North Star. Every pull request becomes an opportunity to move incrementally toward that target when touching relevant code. Second, establish a budget split between PM-led feature work and engineering-led tech debt work — perhaps 80/20 or whatever ratio fits your product lifecycle stage. This creates predictable capacity for tech debt without requiring constant negotiation. Third, hold quarterly tech debt backlog meetings separate from sprint planning. Treat this backlog like PMs treat product discovery — explore options, estimate impacts, prioritize based on the 8 Questions framework. Some items fit in sprints; others require dedicated engineers for a quarter or two. This systematic approach prevents tech debt from being perpetually deprioritized while avoiding the opposite extreme of engineers disappearing into six-month "improvement" projects with no visible progress. The Atlassian Five-Alarm Fire "The Atlassian CTO's 'five-alarm fire' — stopping all feature development to focus on reliability. I reduced sync errors by 75% during that initiative." — Lou Franco   Lou shares a powerful example of leadership-driven tech debt management at scale. The Atlassian CTO called a "five-alarm fire" — halting all feature development across the company to focus exclusively on reliability and tech debt. This wasn't panic; it was strategic recognition that accumulated debt threatened the business. Lou worked on reducing sync errors, achieving a 75% reduction during this focused period. The initiative demonstrated several leadership principles: willingness to make hard calls that stop revenue-generating feature work, clear communication of why reliability matters strategically, trust that teams will use the time wisely, and commitment to see it through despite pressure to resume features. This level of intervention is rare and shouldn't be frequent, but it shows what's possible when leadership truly prioritizes tech debt. More commonly, leaders should express product lifecycle constraints (startup urgency vs. mature product stability), give teams autonomy to find appropriate projects within those constraints, and require accountability through visible metrics and dashboards that show progress. The Rewrite Trap: Why Big Rewrites Usually Fail "A system that took 10 years to write has implicit knowledge that can't be replicated in 6 months. I'm mostly gonna advocate for piecemeal migrations along the way, reducing the size of the problem over time." — Lou Franco   Lou lived through Trello's iOS navigation rewrite — a classic example of throwing away working code to start fresh, only to discover all the edge cases, implicit behaviors, and user expectations baked into the "old" system. A codebase that evolved over several years contains implicit knowledge — user workflows, edge case handling, performance optimizations, and subtle behaviors that users rely on even if they never explicitly requested them. Attempting to rewrite this in six months inevitably misses critical details. Lou strongly advocates for piecemeal migrations instead. The Trello "Decaffeinate Project" exemplifies this approach — migrating from CoffeeScript to TypeScript incrementally, with public dashboards showing the percentage remaining, interoperable technologies allowing gradual transition, and the ability to pause or reverse if needed. Keep both systems running in parallel during migrations. Use runtime observability to verify new code behaves identically to old code. Reduce the problem size steadily over months rather than attempting big-bang replacements. The only exception: sometimes keeping parallel systems requires scaffolding that creates its own complexity, so evaluate whether piecemeal migration is actually simpler or if you're better off living with the current system. Making Tech Debt Visible Through Dashboards "Put up a dashboard, showing it happen. Make invisible internal improvements visible through metrics engineering leadership understands." — Lou Franco   One of tech debt's biggest challenges is invisibility — non-technical stakeholders can't see the improvement from refactoring or test coverage. Lou learned to make tech debt work visible through dashboards and metrics. The Decaffeinate Project tracked percentage of CoffeeScript files remaining, providing a clear progress indicator anyone could understand. When reducing sync errors, Lou created dashboards showing error rates declining over time. These visualizations serve multiple purposes: they demonstrate value to leadership, create accountability for engineering teams, build momentum as progress becomes visible, and help teams celebrate wins that would otherwise go unnoticed. The key is choosing metrics that matter to the business — error rates, page load times, deployment frequency, mean time to recovery — rather than pure code quality metrics like cyclomatic complexity that don't translate outside engineering. Connect tech debt work to customer experience, reliability, or developer productivity in ways leadership can see and value. Onboarding as a Tech Debt Opportunity "Unit testing is a really great way to learn a system. It's like an executable specification that's helping you prove that you understand the system." — Lou Franco   Lou identifies onboarding as an underutilized opportunity for tech debt reduction. When new engineers join, they need to learn the codebase. Rather than just reading code or shadowing, Lou suggests having them write unit tests in areas they're learning. This serves dual purposes: tests are executable specifications that prove understanding of system behavior, and they create safety nets in areas that likely lack coverage (otherwise, why would new engineers be confused by the code?). The new engineer gets hands-on learning, the team gets better test coverage, and everyone wins. This practice also surfaces confusing code — if new engineers struggle to understand what to test, that's a signal the code needs clarifying comments, better naming, or refactoring. Make onboarding a systematic tech debt reduction opportunity rather than passive knowledge transfer. Leadership's Role: Constraints, Autonomy, and Accountability "Leadership needs to express the constraints. Tell the team what you're feeling about tech debt at a high level, and what you think generally is the appropriate amount of time to be spent on it. Then give them autonomy." — Lou Franco   Lou distills leadership's role in tech debt management to three elements. First, express constraints — communicate where you believe the product is in its lifecycle (early startup, rapid growth, mature cash cow) and what that means for tech debt tolerance. Are we pursuing product-market fit where code might be thrown away? Are we scaling a proven product where reliability matters? Are we maintaining a stable system where operational efficiency pays dividends? These constraints help teams make appropriate trade-offs. Second, give autonomy — once constraints are clear, trust teams to identify specific tech debt projects that fit those constraints. Engineers understand the codebase's pain points better than leaders do. Third, require accountability — teams must make their work visible through dashboards, metrics, and regular updates. Autonomy without accountability becomes invisible engineering projects that might not deliver value. Accountability without autonomy becomes micromanagement that wastes engineering judgment. The balance creates space for teams to make smart decisions while keeping leadership informed and confident in the investment. AI and the Future of Tech Debt "I really do AI-assisted software engineering. And by that, I mean I 100% review every single line of that code. I write the tests, and all the code is as I would have written it, it's just a lot faster. Developers are still responsible for it. Read the code." — Lou Franco   Lou has a chapter about AI in his book, addressing the elephant in the room: will AI-generated code create massive tech debt? His answer is nuanced. AI can accelerate development tremendously if used correctly — Lou uses it extensively but reviews every single line, writes all tests himself, and ensures the code matches what he would have written manually. The problem emerges with "vibe coders" — non-developers using AI to generate code they don't understand, creating unmaintainable messes that become someone else's problem. Developers remain responsible for all code, regardless of how it's generated. This means you must read and understand AI-generated code, not blindly accept it. Lou also raises supply chain security concerns — dependencies can contain malicious code, and AI might introduce vulnerabilities developers miss. His recommendation: stay six months behind on dependency updates, let others discover the problems first, and consider separate sandboxed development machines to limit security exposure. AI is a powerful tool, but it doesn't eliminate the need for engineering judgment, testing discipline, or code review practices. The Style Guide Beyond Formatting "Have a style guide that goes beyond formatting to include target architecture. This is the kind of code we want to write going forward." — Lou Franco   Lou advocates for style guides that extend beyond tabs-versus-spaces formatting rules to include architectural guidance. Document patterns you want to move toward: how should components be structured, what state management approaches do we prefer, how should we handle errors, what testing patterns should we follow? This creates a shared understanding of the target architecture without requiring a massive design document. When reviewing pull requests, teams can reference the style guide to explain why certain approaches align with where the codebase is headed versus perpetuating old patterns. This makes tech debt conversations less personal and more objective — it's not about criticizing someone's code, it's about aligning with team standards and strategic direction. The style guide becomes a living document that evolves as the team learns and technology changes, capturing collective wisdom about what good code looks like in your specific context. Recommended Resources Some of the resources mentioned in this episode include:  Steve Blank's Four Steps To Epiphany The podcast episode with Bernie Maloney where we discuss the critical difference between "enterprise" and "startup". And Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm, and Dealing with Darwin.   About Lou Franco   Lou Franco is a veteran software engineer and author of Swimming in Tech Debt. With decades of experience at startups, as well as Trello, and Atlassian, he's seen both sides of debt—as coder and leader. Today, he advises teams on engineering practices, helping them turn messy codebases into momentum.   You can link with Lou Franco on LinkedIn and learn more at LouFranco.com.

Backlogs in the nation's immigration courts have reached record levels in recent years, with nearly 4 million removals cases pending—adding new pressures to longstanding challenges that have overwhelmed the courts. With it now taking an average of four years for an asylum applicant to get a hearing, the delays are undermining the goals of both the U.S. asylum and immigration enforcement systems. This discussion draws on an MPI policy brief that examines how the immigration courts have reached a point of crisis, with panelists focusing on how the courts have been shaped by the policies of the current administration and its predecessor. The conversation also touched upon the administrative and legislative reforms that are urgently needed to transform the system, key among them increased funding for the courts, commensurate with the historic spending on immigration enforcement included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.    Speakers:  Kathleen Bush-Joseph, Policy Analyst, MPI Muzaffar Chishti, Senior Fellow, MPI Chiqui Sanchez Kennedy, Executive Director, Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project Kyra S. Lilien, Former Immigration Judge, Concord Immigration Court, Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice Moderator: Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program, MPI   Report available at https://bit.ly/immig-courts More information at www.migrationpolicy.org 

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rTuIIrp5h4M In this episode, I look at the November Services PMI report and explain why a sharp drop in New Orders—despite overall growth—sends a mixed message about the economy's true momentum. Also in this episode:

December begins with a decided risk-off mood in financial markets, led by more painful liquidations in crypto. Bitcoin starts off the month with a nearly 7% drop to what would be a new recent low. Why? Economic woes continue to dominate concerns. Starting with Chicago, ISM's regional business barometer put up its largest single month decline in new orders in more than two years. Backlogs crashed by nearly 22 points to the lowest since March 2009. Its employment index fell to the worst since May 2009, with not a single respondent saying it had increased employment last month. Eurodollar University's Money & Macro Analysis---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What if your gold could actually pay you every month… in MORE gold?That's exactly what Monetary Metals does. You still own your gold, fully insured in your name, but instead of sitting idle, it earns real yield paid in physical gold. No selling. No trading. Just more gold every month.Check it out here: https://monetary-metals.com/snider------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Eurodollar University's AFTER BLACK FRIDAY SALEGet our DDA+ subscription including the DDA, a membership, and the Daily Briefing for one ultra-low price. Not only that, we'll also include the Substack One Big Weekly Theme subscription to. Huge value and huge savings. https://https://www.eurodollar.university/black-friday-2025---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ISM Chicago Business Barometer November 2025https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N7xXT_P4Z_g7u0dJYI_kOYkSk1fcvLcQ/viewISM Manufacturing November 2025https://www.ismworld.org/supply-management-news-and-reports/reports/ism-pmi-reports/pmi/november/S&P Global Press Releaseshttps://www.pmi.spglobal.com/public/release/pressreleasesBloomberg Small Businesses Turn to Lending Startups as Tariff Costs Mounthttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-15/tariffs-drive-small-importers-to-costly-loans-as-lending-startups-surgeBloomberg First Brands' Blowup Puts Trade Finance in Spotlighthttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-10-19/first-brands-blowup-puts-trade-finance-in-spotlight-jnj-jpm-ubs-jefhttps://www.eurodollar.universityTwitter: https://twitter.com/JeffSnider_EDU

Agilität lebt von Menschen, nicht von Maschinen, oder? Wenn KI plötzlich Backlogs schreibt, Teamentscheidungen beeinflusst und in Retros mitredet, stellt sich die Frage: was bleibt dann eigentlich noch von der Selbstorganisation übrig? Wir sprechen heute über die Chancen, die Risiken und vor allem über unsere eigenen Erfahrungen mit KI in agilen Teams.

As the House gets ready for a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein case files, more emails have been released between former Prince Andrew, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The government is now open, but there's a slew of backlogs at federal agencies. Another high-profile Democrat has been accused by the Trump administration of mortgage fraud. A mosque has been torched and defaced by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Plus, we have an update on the Hyundai workers deported from Georgia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wie viel Zeit sollten Product Owner eigentlich in das Schreiben von User Stories investieren? Wenn der Kalender voll ist und die To-do-Liste überquillt, wirkt das Story-Schreiben schnell wie eine lästige Pflicht. Viele sehen es als reine Schreibarbeit. Doch in Wahrheit ist es vor allem Denk- und Teamarbeit. Eine gute User Story entsteht nicht allein am Schreibtisch, sondern im Gespräch. Sie ist das sichtbare Ergebnis gemeinsamer Klärung; ein Zeichen dafür, dass sich ein Team verstanden hat. Wer User Stories schreibt, arbeitet also nicht an Texten, sondern am gemeinsamen Verständnis. Eine Story ist kein Dokument, sondern ein Kommunikationswerkzeug. Sie erinnert an ein Gespräch, in dem klar wurde, welches Nutzerproblem wirklich gelöst werden soll. Manche Teams versuchen, Sicherheit durch besonders ausführliche Formulierungen zu schaffen. Dabei verlieren sie leicht das eigentliche Ziel aus den Augen. Gute User Stories entstehen, wenn Teams gemeinsam begreifen, worum es geht – nicht, wenn sie jedes Detail zu Papier bringen. Tim beschreibt User Stories als Einladung zum Dialog. Sie sollen Empathie für Nutzer:innen wecken und den Blick auf deren Bedürfnisse richten. In dieser Haltung wird das Schreiben von Stories zu einem Werkzeug, das Orientierung schafft. Wenn Teams verstehen, warum etwas wichtig ist, finden sie auch den passenden Weg dorthin. Dann reicht manchmal ein einziger Satz, um eine Idee zu verankern und das Gespräch darüber am Laufen zu halten. Dominique beobachtet, dass Organisationen sehr unterschiedlich mit User Stories umgehen. In großen Unternehmen wird oft zu viel dokumentiert, vielleicht, weil man es immer so gemacht hat. Startups dagegen schreiben häufig zu wenig auf. Beides zeigt ein Ungleichgewicht zwischen Vertrauen und Kontrolle. Ein Team, das seine Prozesse kennt und sich gegenseitig vertraut, braucht keine langen Texte. Es verlässt sich auf Dialog und gemeinsame Verantwortung. Wie viel Zeit also in die Story-Erstellung fließt, hängt stark von der Reife eines Teams ab. Wer schon lange zusammenarbeitet und den Produktkontext kennt, kommt mit wenigen Worten aus. Neue Teams dagegen brauchen mehr Austausch, um ein gemeinsames Verständnis aufzubauen. In jedem Fall sollte die Energie lieber in Nachdenken und Reflexion fließen als in das Polieren von Formulierungen. Hilfreich ist die bekannte Zehn-Prozent-Regel: Rund zehn Prozent der Sprintzeit sollten in die Erstellung und das gemeinsame Refinement des Backlogs investiert werden. Diese Zeit zahlt sich aus, weil sie Klarheit schafft – über Ziele, Annahmen und Prioritäten. Wer hier spart, zahlt später mit Missverständnissen und Nacharbeit. Auch Künstliche Intelligenz kann dabei unterstützen, etwa durch Strukturvorschläge oder Formulierungsideen. Doch sie ersetzt kein gemeinsames Denken. Eine automatisch erzeugte Story ist noch keine Story, solange das Team nicht darüber spricht. KI kann inspirieren, aber kein echtes Verständnis schaffen und am Ende braucht es immer jemanden, der beurteilen kann, ob das Ergebnis wirklich gut ist. Gute User Stories entstehen also in Gesprächen, nicht in Tools. Sie schaffen ein gemeinsames Bild des Nutzerproblems und machen Produktentwicklung wirkungsvoller. Wer sich Zeit für den Austausch nimmt, gewinnt Klarheit und diese Klarheit ist die beste Grundlage für jedes gute Produkt.

Send us a textTrav moves on from Steve and courts another podcast host, this one an exotic european. Top 5 games that haunt our backlogs! Congrats to our food-based Polykillers Burgerchamp and Huge Muffin!Find Vayar on Kindled Across the Sea!Games this episodeDragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (October 30 - PS5, Xbox X|S, Switch 1 & 2, PC)Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (October 30 - PS4 & 5, XboxOne & X|S, Switch 1 & 2, PC)1000xResist (November 4 - PS5, Xbox X|S)Of Lies and Rain (November 4- Quest 2 & 3, Steam, PSVR2)Lumines Arise (November 11 - PS5, PSVR2, PC)Presentiment of Death (PSVR2)Ratshaker (PS5)Dead Cells (PS4)2Xtreme (PS on PS5)2Xtreme (PS on PS4)Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission (PS5)The Playroom VR (PSVR)Drums Rock (PSVR2)Swordsman VR (PSVR)Doom (Jaguar)Pumpkin Jack (Switch)Argus (Famicom)Man of Medan (PS4)Aragami 2Syphon FilterMervils: A VR AdventureSilent Hill fRetrorealms: Ash vs. Evil DeadFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Tariffs Harm Consumers, Reduce Hiring, and Cause Customs Backlogs. Veronique De Rugy explains how tariffs are costing American consumers and businesses over 80% of the expense, leading to higher prices and reduced corporate margins. The tariff policy is harming the job market, causing 40% of CEOs to pause hiring and investments. Customs authorities are overwhelmed by the volume of small packages now requiring assessment, causing significant backlogs and lost goods for consumers. Special interests are expanding the tariff application to derivative products, such as peanut butter packaged in metal containers. 1931

Hey everyone! thanks for watching this episode of FSP! we take a look at our backlogs... what games do we most regret not playing this generation?The passing of a legend.. Tomonobu ItagakiThe #rogxboxally launches today! the reception seems mostly positive but there is still a lot of confusion from gamers on what this device is... #gaming #gamingpodcast Thanks everyone for watching our content.. for more info follow on X at @FunSpecluationFor more info on these awesome batteries check the link below!Affiliate link! Any Purchases help to support the channel!https://mupoer.com/?ref=FUNSPECULATIONsave $3 with coupon code FUNSPECULATION328Restream 2.0 is here! https://try.restream.io/studio-FunJoin our Discord!! https://discord.gg/qGq8wkhVJgFun Speculation Merch here!https://my-store-11567836.creator-spring.com/Channel Membership link here! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQAcuLpUYsuNltjRkrAGQkQ/joinMusic all created by Judzilla Music https://twitter.com/JudzillaUK https://www.youtube.com/@JudzillaMusicPong Soul also on www.youtube.com/@LivingSplitScreen @PongSoul on X3Bit https://www.youtube.com/@PixEcho/featured @ithreebit on xJasper also on www.youtube.com/c/LoreMasterJasper@LoreJasper on xFuzzy Belvedere also on www.youtube.com/FuzzyBelvedere@Fuzzy_Belvedere on xKaitlin also on www.tiktok.com/@kaitlin_fancy@Kaitlinx0615 on xPsychonauts @Psychonauts8 on XGamePassDad https://www.youtube.com/gamepassdad @gamepassdad on xTurn your videos into live streams with Restream https://restre.am/ANIm

Tersia du Plessis joined Clarence Ford on News and Views to discuss her free online education initiative for unplaced Grade 8 learners, how the Western Cape school placement crisis affects families, and what she believes the Department of Education should be doing to partner with citizens offering real solutions. Views and News with Clarence Ford is the mid-morning show on CapeTalk. This 3-hour long programme shares and reflects a broad array of perspectives. It is inspirational, passionate and positive. Host Clarence Ford’s gentle curiosity and dapper demeanour leave listeners feeling motivated and empowered. Known for his love of jazz and golf, Clarrie covers a range of themes including relationships, heritage and philosophy. Popular segments include Barbs’ Wire at 9:30am (Mon-Thurs) and The Naked Scientist at 9:30 on Fridays. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Views & News with Clarence Ford Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 09:00 and 12:00 (SA Time) to Views and News with Clarence Ford broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/erjiQj2 or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/BdpaXRn Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko dissect three important developments in driving law and public accountability in BC. They begin with a major delay in the ICBC double billing class action, where a technical objection from the provincial government—challenging the scope of the claim based on how “medical practitioners” was defined—has thrown the case off course. Kyla and Paul criticize the government's interference, noting how procedural nitpicking is undermining access to justice and stalling compensation for affected individuals. Next, breaking news hits mid-recording: the BC Court of Appeal has released a decision upholding an acquittal in a red-light fatality case involving a dangerous driving charge. Paul and Kyla unpack how the Court's ruling reaffirms that a momentary lapse in attention—without more—is not enough to meet the legal standard for dangerous driving. The decision marks an important pushback against the expanding scope of criminal liability in driving cases. Finally, the Ridiculous Driver of the Week is a junk removal employee caught on camera illegally dumping hazardous waste in the woods—a repeat offence in the Lower Mainland. While the company has since fired the employee, Paul and Kyla reflect on what this says about trust, accountability, and regulation in private services. Check out the 'Lawyer Told Me Not To Talk To You' T-shirts and hoodies at Lawyertoldme.com and 'Sit Still Jackson' at sitstilljackson.com

The full crew has returned! Restoring TSG to it's former glory, Taylor rejoins the crew to chat about the pains of moving, strategies on clearing the ole' backlog, and when to know it's time to quit a game that you just aren't vibing with. Other topics include Alien: Isolation, Battlefield 6 Beta, Mafia: The Old Country, and the disappointment of DOOM: The Dark Ages. Enjoy!

Nearly half of all US passport renewals are now happening online through a platform the State Department launched less than a year ago. Before its launch, the paper based process for renewing a passport remained largely unchanged since the 1970s the department is also increasing its passport adjudicator workforce to avoid backlogs and delays for more on all of this federal news networks. Jory Heckman spoke with the acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Matt Pierce.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us a textTrav and Steve prepare to celebrate the podcast's 10 year anniversary, Trav is turning 40, and Steve is still Dragon Questing! Top 5 non-traditional RPG Battle Mechanics round out the show!MYT is back on the Polykiller winner circle!Track us down on Monday August 18th 9pm Eastern, 8 Central. https://www.twitch.tv/polymedianetwork !Games this episodeDrag x Drive (Switch 2) – August 14Off (Switch, PC) – August 15Mafia: The Old Country (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – August 83D Ultra Pinball ThrillrideTime Flies428: Shibuya ScramblePuzzle Bobble (Wonderswan)Horse Racing (Intellivision)A Fisherman's TaleHot Shots GolfDragon Quest VIIIMetroid Prime 2Binding of Isaac Find more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

In this episode of The Gaming Duo, Rob (@ridicrob) and Kelvin (@foxphotons) tackle the ever-growing problem every gamer faces: the backlog. Why do we keep adding games we never finish? Is it our fault, or is modern gaming to blame? We break it all down and share our own plans to finally take control of our game libraries.We also dive into the major reveal of Battlefield 6. After years of ups and downs, is this the return to form fans have been waiting for? We give our full thoughts on the multiplayer gameplay trailer and what it means for the series.Plus, we react to the official Darksiders 4 announcement and what excites us about seeing all four Horsemen together at last.Like, review, and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Join our Discord to talk games and backlog battles with us!

Send us a textTrav finally knocks a big one off the backlog and Steve takes on the new Donkey Kong. Is it good? Top 5 games that start with the letter "M".Brainiac is sipping tea in the PK winners circle AGAIN!Games this episodeWheel World (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – July 23Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – July 31Norn9: Var Commons2XtremeTony Hawk's Pro SkaterAsura's WrathCastlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate (3DS)The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (Switch)Wild Arms 3 (PS2)Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2)Mario Kart World (Switch 2)Dragon Quest VIII428: Shibuya ScrambleCursed Mountain (Wii)Find more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

The construction industry is facing the longest backlog of work in history, with contractors booked through 2027. In this episode, Luke Powers, founder and CEO of Gear Flow, explains why procurement is the missing link, and how digitizing it can save contractors millions. We cover the true cost of downtime ($234 per minute!), why independents thrive, and how AI will shape the future of construction workflows.

Dylan and Kirklin breakdown the Ghost of Yotei showcase, talk about the games they've been playing and share their gaming backlogs and how they manage them.Ad-Free version: https://www.patreon.com/GeekVerseQuests0:00:00 intro0:02:20 What Kirklin's been playing0:17:20 Dragon Quest0:29:30 Ghost of Yotei0:59:00 Our gaming backlogsLinksDylan on Twitter @DylanMussDylan on Backloggd backloggd.com/u/Rapatika/Taylor on Twitter @TaylorTheFieldKirklin on Twitter @kirklinpatzerTravis on Twitter @TravisBSnellhttps://www.youtube.com/c/GeekVersePodcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/geekverse-podcast--4201268/support.

Dylan and Kirklin breakdown the Ghost of Yotei showcase, talk about the games they've been playing and share their gaming backlogs and how they manage them.Ad-Free version: https://www.patreon.com/GeekVerseQuests0:00:00 intro0:02:20 What Kirklin's been playing0:17:20 Dragon Quest0:29:30 Ghost of Yotei0:59:00 Our gaming backlogsLinksDylan on Twitter @DylanMussDylan on Backloggd backloggd.com/u/Rapatika/Taylor on Twitter @TaylorTheFieldKirklin on Twitter @kirklinpatzerTravis on Twitter @TravisBSnellhttps://www.youtube.com/c/GeekVersePodcast

Send us a textTrav and Steve get together and talk about the most unnecessary mechanics in video games.Games this episodeDeath Stranding 2: On The Beach (PlayStation 5) – June 26Ruffy and the Riverside (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC) – June 26Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One) – June 24Diddy Kong Racing DSBilly the WizardWolfenstein: The New OrderPursuit ForceGround Zero: Texas428 Shibuya ScrambleDragon Quest VIIICastlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of FateWild Arms 3Trav's comedy travterry.comFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Send us a textTrav fights bears in his neighborhood and Steve gets a Switch 2! Brainiac takes home the gold! Top 5 announcements from SGF!Standup dates: travterry.comGames this episodeFBC: Firebreak (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – June 17Maximum Football (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – June 17Dig Dig Dino (Playdate)Fulcrum Defender (Playdate)Mario Kart WorldTMNT 3: Mutant Nightmare (DS)Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome TourDiddy Kong RacingElden Ring: NightreignWild Arms 3Pursuit ForceFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Left behind - DNA backlogs, expired kits, and the failing fight against rape in KZN | Lifeline & Rape Crisis PMB Director by Radio Islam

Send us a textTrav is on a Wii kick and Steve finally plays one of the best roguelikes ever made. Brainiac is a maniac and Top 5 monkeys round it out.Games this episodeTo a T (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC) – May 28Elden Ring: Nightreign (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – May 30Lost Soul Aside (PlayStation 5, PC) – May 30Mario Kart World (Switch 2) – June 5Hidden AgendaThe Aquatic Adventures of the Last HumanThe American DreamBubsy: The Woolies Strike BackAry and the Secret of SeasonsSkydiving ExtremeJu-on: The GrudgeNinja Five-OUniracersRogue Legacy 2Wild Arms 3Cursed MountainFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

In this episode, we dive into our personal backlogs as we prepare for the eventual launch of the Nintendo Switch 2—what games are we trying to finish first, and what indie gems are we loving most right now? Then we take a nostalgic trip back to the golden era of puzzle games with a spotlight on some timeless classics:

Backlogs. We all have them. But, how do you clear them and then prevent them from happening again? That's what we're looking at today.  You can subscribe to this podcast on:  Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | TUNEIN Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin Getting Things Done With Linda Geerdink Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived The Time Sector System 5th Year Anniversary The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack  The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page Script | 367 Hello, and welcome to episode 368 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show. Organising your work, creating lists of things to do, and managing your projects in your notes are all good common-sense productivity practices. However, none of these are going to be helpful if you have huge backlogs of admin, messages, and emails creating what I call a low-level anxiety buzz.  You're going to be stressed and distracted and in no place to be at your very best.  What's more, this can become a chronic problem if those backlogs are growing. This is when critical things are going to get missed.  I'm often surprised to get an email from someone asking me if they can have a discount code for an early-bird discount that expired three or four weeks previously. I mean, come on. If it's taking you three to four weeks to get to an email—even if you consider it to be a low-value email—there's a serious problem in your system. (Or more likely, you don't have a system at all.)  So this week, I want to share with you a few ideas that can help you regain control of these backlogs and, more importantly, prevent them from happening again.  So, with that said, let me hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice for this week's question.  This week's question comes from Wyatt. Wyatt asks, hi Carl, how would you help someone who is backlogged beyond belief. I've got over 3,000 emails in my inbox, and my team are still waiting for me to finish their appraisals from last year! I feel so stuck. Please help.  Hi Wyatt. Thank you for your question.  Sorry to hear you feel swamped. I know it can be a horrible place to be.  Before we begin, let me explain the three types of backlogs we all have to deal with. The first is the growing backlog. This one is the worst because it's getting bigger and unless you take action immediately, it's going to overwhelm you. These kinds of backlogs will always be your priority. The next type of backlog is the static backlog. It's not growing, but it's there and it's on your mind. It needs to be dealt with, but the urgency isn't as big as a growing backlog.  And then there's the shrinking backlog. These are the best because if they are shrinking, they'll soon disappear altogether.  Now, one of the most common areas of our work that backlogs is our email. The last statistics I saw show that on average, people are getting 90+ emails a day.  If you need an average of 30 seconds to deal with each email—which I know is low—that's around forty-five minutes to deal with them.  Do you have forty-five minutes today to deal with your email?  Remember, that's a small amount of time for each email. It's likely you'll need more than thirty seconds for most of those mails.  Now the good news. If you're starting with a backlog of over 3,000 emails, many of those emails will no longer require a response. The moment's passed. What I would suggest is you take any emails older than a month, and move then to a folder called “Old In-box”. While my instinct it to tell you to delete them, I've never come across anyone courageous enough to do it.  Although, if you think about it. Deleting them gives you a perfect excuse if someone follows you up—“sorry, I don't seem to be able to find your email. Could you resend it?” Doing this means you've cut your list by a large margin. What's left can be processed. Email is a two step process. Just like we used to do with regular letters. Open your post box, take out the mail and sort it between letters you need to read or respond to and throw away or file anything you don't need to act on.  And by the way, nobody left their mail in the mail box. Why do we do that with email?  With email, it's the same process. Clear your inbox. As you clear ask yourself two questions: What is it? What do I need to do with it? If you need to read or reply to an email, then move it to a folder called “Action This Day”. If you don't need to do anything with it, either delete or archive it.  This is the processing stage. All you are doing is processing. You are not replying or reading. That comes later. This means, with practice, you'll be able to process an individual email in a second or two—ten tops.  Now, towards the end of the day, set aside some time for clearing your actionable emails. Try to do this as late in the day as possible. This prevents what is called email ping pong.  If you reply in the morning, you're going to get a reply in the afternoon. If you reply in the afternoon, even if you do get a reply, you can leave it until tomorrow to respond. Genius, yes? There are two additional things here. The first is to reverse the order of the mails in your action this day folder. This puts the oldest at the top. If you're responding to your mails once a day, you want to be working from the oldest first.  That way, no one will be waiting more than 24 hours or so for a reply from you.  The second is to follow this process every day.  I require around forty-five minutes a day for dealing with my actionable email. If I skip a day, then tomorrow I will need ninety minutes. I don't have ninety minutes to spend on emails. If I do skip a day, I've got a backlog building. Not good.  So, it's an everyday thing if you want to prevent your email from becoming backlogged.  And remember that one is greater than zero. In other words, if you don't have a great deal of time available today, still do some of your actionable mail. That keeps you in touch with what's going on in your mail box and it's surprising how much you can get done in twenty minutes.  Now, let's move on to your appraisals. You mention that your team is still waiting for their appraisals from last year. That suggests it's an annual event rather than a quarterly event. Either way, the same principle works.  For this kind of task, you need to be scheduling time for doing it. Often, with staff appraisals, you need a week to hold one-to-ones with your team before you can write anything. So, if you begin the appraisals in October, I would suggest you go into your calendar now and set up those appointments.  I know we are a good four months away from October, but by getting them in your calendar now, it's one less task to deal with and you're not going to be going back and forth trying to get these appointments scheduled into one week. You'll end up wasting time negotiating the best time. Do it now.  Then, schedule the third week in October to write your appraisals. Depending on how long, on average, this work takes, you could block a whole day—or two if you need it—to spend writing appraisals.  Getting it on your calendar means you are less likely to allow anything else to take that time away.  To deal with last year's appraisals, it's the same process. If you have not completed the one-to-ones, schedule those for next week. Make it a non-negotiable part of your week.  Then go into your calendar and block time out for writing the appraisals.  For things like this there's an element of intentionality. Things don't get done until you intentionally set aside time to do it and then get started.  Agin, this is two steps. First set aside time—that's the easy bit—then sit down and do it—that's the hard part.  Yet, as long as you begin, once you're in the flow and you know nothing else is coming up to tear you away from doing the work, you will get it done.  Clearing backlogs is one thing. Preventing backlogs from occurring is another.  Email is a good example, if you are not following the process every day, a backlog will occur. This is not something you can wish away. It doesn't go away. It's the same with Teams and Slack messages.  If you're getting a lot of notifications from these channels of communication, you're not going to get a lot done if you're responding to these messages moment they come in. It will exhaust you because of the constant cognitive load switching.  I find dealing with messages is best done between sessions of work.  Let me explain. We know about the sleep cycle—where you sleep in cycles of 90 minutes. Well, it turns out you are also awake in 90-minute cycles.  What this means is you can focus on a piece of work for around 90 minutes. After which your brain will tire, and you will need a distraction. That could be a toilet break, or the desire to get up and refresh your coffee or water.  This is your brain telling you that you need a break.  Now, if you use that to your advantage, you could schedule your focused work sessions around 90-minute blocks. For example, your first, and most important block, could be set for 9:30 to 11:00 am. Then you make sure you have a 30-minute gap before you allow anything else that requires a degree of focus.  In that thirty minutes, you could get up and go to the bathroom, refresh your water and deal with your messages. The longest anyone will be waiting for your response would be 90 minutes.  No demanding boss or client can complain at that. I know, I've dealt with some very bad, demanding bosses and clients in my time. They can be trained.  If you were to stick with these ideas and processes, I can promise you that you will get a lot more important work done, reduce your backlogs and feel a lot less exhausted at the end of the day.  You're in effect working with your brain instead of against it.  Preventing backlogs really comes down to how you structure your day. Most people are not doing that. They have no structure, so they are working on the latest and loudest thing. The problem is that the latest and loudest thing is often not the most important thing.  However, if you set aside time each day for dealing with your communications—say an hour and respect that time—and perhaps a further thirty minutes for dealing with your admin—another area that can become backlogged—you will prevent backlogs from happening.  If you run your day by the seat of your trousers, then, yes, you will have huge, growing backlogs. Responding to your email is rarely urgent, so it gets left behind on busy days. And that means you require double the amount of time tomorrow. And what happens if tomorrow is a busy day?  I hope that has helped, Wyatt. Thank you for your question and thank you to you too for listening. It just remains for me to wish you all a very very productive week.  

Send us a textTrav busts out his VR while Steve decides to dig into his backlog graveyard to resurrect some ol' unbeatens. Kergon is a terrorist.Congrats to Kerg, Brains, and Burgers.Games this episodeClair Obscur: Expedition 33 - (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 4/24Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC)Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC) - April 17Nubby's Number FactoryThe Solitaire ConspiracyYakuza: Like a DragonGuacamelee Super Turbo Championship EditionFar Cry Blood DragonKiller FrequencyAttack on TitanPocketBike RacerBlue PrinceAry and the Secret of SeasonsMonster TaleGo! Go! KokopoloSplit FictionOctopath TravelerFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

BONUS: Keeping Backlogs Lean With The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework with Kent McDonald In this BONUS episode, we explore the art of backlog management with product management expert Kent McDonald. As someone with decades of experience in software product development, Kent shares practical strategies for keeping backlogs lean, meaningful, and focused on outcomes that truly matter. Learn how to escape the trap of bloated backlogs and implement a Now-Next-Later-Never approach that will transform your product management practice. The Problem with Bloated Backlogs "Some teams use backlogs as 'long term storage' devices." Product backlogs often become unwieldy and difficult to manage because teams view them as a permanent repository for every idea that comes along. Kent explains that this "storage mentality" is one of the primary reasons backlogs grow out of control. Another common mistake is diving in too early and splitting items before they're actually ready to be worked on, which multiplies the backlog size unnecessarily. These practices lead to confusion, lost focus, and ultimately decrease a team's ability to deliver value efficiently. The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework "You want to group things together on roughly categories of when you will attack it." Kent walks us through the practical implementation of a Now-Next-Later-Never roadmap approach that keeps things manageable. This framework provides a simple but powerful way to organize initiatives based on their priority and timing. Instead of maintaining an endless list of requirements, teams can group work into these four buckets, making it easier to communicate priorities both internally and with stakeholders. Kent emphasizes that these roadmap items should be described in terms of outcomes rather than features, helping everyone stay focused on the value being delivered rather than specific implementations. For more on the origin of the Now-Next-Later roadmap practice, see this article by Janna Bastow. Making "Now" Work in Practice "We only split items in the 'now' column." When implementing the Now-Next-Later-Never approach, the "Now" column is where the magic happens. Kent advises: Only split items that are in the "Now" column into actionable tasks Express roadmap items in terms of outcomes or customer problems to solve Limit the number of items in the "Now" column to maintain focus List outcomes rather than detailed features to avoid having a large number of items Kent explains that the "Later" and "Never" columns serve an important purpose in setting expectations with stakeholders about what won't be worked on immediately or at all. Managing the Movement Between Roadmap Categories "Items can move back and forth, to facilitate expectation setting." The Now-Next-Later-Never roadmap isn't static. Kent provides practical advice on how to manage the flow of items between categories: Revisit the roadmap regularly, ideally monthly Consider reviewing the roadmap during sprint review sessions Use this format when communicating with stakeholders for clearer expectation setting Hold strong on the "Now" items to maintain focus and avoid constant reprioritization This approach creates a dynamic but controlled environment where priorities can evolve without creating chaos or confusion. Dealing with Backlog Bloat "Create a 'museum', a set of items you can look at, but don't look at every day." For teams struggling with already-bloated backlogs, Kent offers bold but effective advice: Create a "museum" for items you want to preserve but don't need to see daily Consider deleting your old backlog and starting fresh Begin by asking: "What are the main outcomes we're trying to achieve?" Focus on getting to a smaller set of bigger items, then sequence them appropriately These approaches help teams overcome the fear of "losing" work while refocusing on what truly matters. Maintaining a Lean Backlog "Backlog items don't age well." Kent's team maintains an impressively lean backlog of just 23 items across three brand websites. He shares the routines and guardrails that prevent backlog bloat from creeping back in: Create a filter to control what gets into the backlog in the first place Keep the Product Owner just slightly ahead of the development team Avoid the anti-pattern of trying to keep all developers busy all the time Remember that backlog items don't age well and lose relevance over time These practices ensure the team stays focused on delivering current value rather than managing an ever-growing list of aging requirements. About Kent McDonald With decades in software product development, Kent is a go-to expert in product management, and agile strategy. He is a seasoned consultant and author of three books on agility, he helps teams cut through clutter to focus on what truly matters. When not optimizing workflows, he's exploring National Parks (52/63) or grooving to some jazz tunes. You can link with Kent McDonald on LinkedIn, or follow Kent McDonaldn on Substack.

Send us a textTrav survives the woods and Blink doesn't much care for his son's artwork! Games that start with the letter L serve as the Top 5 for this episode!Shoutout to the weirdo for bringing home that Polykiller gold. Vaylar wishes he were that cool.Games this episodeThe Legend of OasisWanderstopDrums RockSonic GenerationsShining Force IIIBeavis and Butt-Head (Genesis)Yakuza: Like a DragonDino Crisis 3Saw (Xbox 360)Octopath TravelerAttack on TitanBlue Prince (PS5, PC) - 4-10-2025South of Midnight (Xbox, PC) 4-8-2025Find more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari steps down to become deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. Mecklenburg County remains a point of irritation for ICE while immigrants face a massive court backlog due to a lack of resources. And Charlotte continues to woo the CIAA in an effort to bring its tournaments back to town.

In this week's episode, we delve into the fast-evolving landscape of battery energy storage systems (BESS) ahead of inspiratia's Energy Storage Summit on 27 March in London, from Italy's long-delayed but now-confirmed MACSE Auctions to the latest UK capacity market results.We also bring you an update on the UK's Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) cap-and-floor scheme details released by Ofgem and DESNZ, and dive into the UK's Planning and Infrastructure Bill, asking what it means for unlocking grid connections and streamlining major project approvals.Register for the Energy Storage Summit hereHosted by:Oliver Carr - Head of Data AnalysisAishwarya Harsure - Analyst Ashkenaz A.L. - Senior ReporterSend us a textReach out to us at: podcasts@inspiratia.comFind all of our latest news and analysis by subscribing to inspiratiaListen to all our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other providers. Music credit: NDA/Show You instrumental/Tribe of Noise©2025 inspiratia. All rights reserved.This content is protected by copyright. Please respect the author's rights and do not copy or reproduce it without permission.

This week begins with a prompt from the listener letterbag about backlogs and time management, then segues into a conversation about Sonic Unleashed Recompiled, the new fan PC port of the PS360 classic.Send us Mailbag Questions! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SonicWeeklyPodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more Bo: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Rings of Saturn!⁠⁠⁠⁠For more David: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sonic Retro!⁠⁠⁠⁠For more Grant:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky!⁠⁠⁠⁠For more Smoovies: ⁠⁠⁠⁠FTCR!⁠⁠⁠⁠​For more Sonic Weekly: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠Special thanks to⁠⁠⁠⁠ JACK OF OLD GAMES⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the video capture and to Smoovies for the edit!EXTRA Special Thanks to our Executive Producers Sonikku, Kal Belgarion, PigDan, Pabsy , SavingThrows, and AltSynth!If you enjoy the show, consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠DONATING TO OUR KOFI⁠⁠⁠⁠ to become an EP!

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Send us a textTrav and Steve re-join forces, capture their own synergy, and discuss games that have misleading titles. Shout out to the Polykiller, Potomax, and the runner-up, Cubicaqua!Games this episodeAvowedLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in HawaiiBlood TypersHyper Dyne Side ArmsPandora's TowerEnslaved: Odyssey to the WestTecmo BowlBoxxleBatographyA Symmetrical EscapeBlazing LazersMaken XCitizen Sleeper 2Who Framed Roger RabbitFinal Fight (arcade)Alien CrushRambo IIIAlleywayTommy Lasorda BaseballFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Governor Kathy Hochul says the recent resignations of four top deputies in Mayor Eric Adams' administration raise serious concerns about his future. Meanwhile, a new analysis reveals that New York City's small claims courts, meant for quick dispute resolutions, are facing major backlogs, delaying cases for months or even years. Plus, Kids Week continues at the Intrepid Museum, offering hands-on NASA exhibits and STEM activities for students on midwinter break.

Jerica and Kayla are once again revisiting their unholy Backlogs of Doom. Our Backlogs of Doom include any games we've started playing and for some reason just quit playing. Are there any we are going to add or remove from our lists?! Tune in to find out!00:00:00 Start00:01:00 Animal sounds00:04:25 DIDO00:08:00 Jerica KFGD00:15:25 ClickerBait00:17:30 Easy Mode00:32:30 Normal Mode00:44:40 Expert Mode Backlog of DoomFollow us @JKGamesPodcast on Twitter and Instagram. You can even watch us on YouTube! Also, we wouldn't be content creators without a TikTok. Let us know what you think of the show and share ideas on what content you would like to see next! Also email us at jkgamespodcast@gmail.com for questions, comments, or corrections! You all are are amazing and thanks for listening!

All backlogs are equal, but some backlogs are more equal than others.

Send us a textThe 2024 challenge recap and the 2025 challenge release. Lets beat some games! Shouts to Braniac and Kergon for Polykillin' for this ep and for the entire year.New Boards: Polykill 2025 Challenge2024 Bingo Stats Games this episodeThe Grinchforma.8Bloodstained: Ritual of the NightRogue Legacy 2Dragon's Dogma: Dark ArisenSly 2: Band of ThievesMcGear's ManorNBA in the Zone '98Jeopardy 64Dino Crisis 2Stone ProtectorsMega BombermanBomberman 64Sea of StarsFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Send us a textTrav and Steve reflect on a year of beats while sticking to the same ol schtick. Happy Holidays and happy beatin'!Games this episodeSly 2The GrinchSea of StarsDino Crisis 2Max MustardCrypt CustodianPunch-Out!! (Wii)Qix (5200)Slam 'n Jam '95Find more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Send us a textSteve goes hard on the nog and Balatro. Trav just goes hard in general. Braniac is the last great Beat Tweeter, Potomax trips and lands in the runner-up spot!Games this episodeMonument Valley 3Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's RewindAlien: Rogue IncursionBalatroSea of StarsArzette: The Jewel of Faramore1000xRESISTSuper Mario 64IndikaLoZ: A Link Between WorldsKaboom!Robotron 2084Resistance 3Army Men Air Attack 2Dino CrisisDino Crisis 2Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of HopeFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, BlueSky: Trav, Steve, Polykill, Polymedia twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on BlueSky or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Skeet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-skeet coverage!

Tonight's opening tale of liminal space insanity is ‘Trapped in the Backlogs', by Review Cultist, kindly shared with me via the Creepypasta Wiki and read here under the conditions of the CC-BY-SA license. https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/User:ReviewCultist https://aldenterigamortis.podbean.com/   Our second tale from the liminal world is ''The Defect'', an original work by Tetsuya H., kindly shared with me via the Creepypasta Fandom site and read here under the conditions of the CC-BY-SA license.  https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Defect https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/User:TetsuyaH  Today's next fantastic offering is ''I was Trapped in a Hallway with No Ending'', an original work by Black Friday's Witch 13, kindly shared directly with me for the express purpose of having me exclusively narrate it here for you all.  https://preternaturalclubgirl.blog/  Today's fourth fantastic offering is ''Time out of My Mind'', an original work by Jay-Dee-British, kindly shared directly with me for the express purpose of having me exclusively narrate it here for you all.  user/Jay-Dee-British/  Our next tale from the liminal world is ''Final Penance'', an original work by Gomez Capulet, kindly shared with me via the Creepypasta Fandom site and read here under the conditions of the CC-BY-SA license.  https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/User:Gomez_Capulet https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Penance  Today's penultimate fantastic offering is ''The Room'', an original story by Densu Kishaa, kindly shared directly with me and narrated with the author's permission:  r/DrCreepensVault/comments/8uxl0w/the_room_by_densukishaa_fiction/  We round off with ''People in Gas Masks are Outside a Building in a Dead Cornfield'', an original story by Mr. Outlaw, kindly shared with me via NoSleep and narrated with the author's express permission:  r/nosleep/comments/88gumm/some_people_in_gas_masks_have_been_standing/

To celebrate 3 years of Tales from the Backlog, I figured it was time to talk about the namesake of the show- The Backlog. Do we get FOMO as dozens of great games release every year? Do we feel pressure to complete the games we buy? What's the best approach to keep our habits healthy? All this and much more in this discussion episode! Guest info: * Matt aka Stormageddon of "Fun" and Games and Reignite (https://linktr.ee/dj_stormagedddon) podcasts. * Marcus Stewart of The Indie Informer (https://the-indie-in-former.com/). Find Marcus on Twitter (https://twitter.com/MarcusStewart7) and Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/marcusstreamsgames). Music used in the episode: * Pandora's Place (Yakuza 0)- SEGA Sound Team * Frozen Soul (Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere)- Tetsukazu Nakanishi * Yoga (Wii Fit)- Toru Minegishi, Manaka Tominaga Check out Dave's guest appearance on Retro Hangover (https://linktr.ee/retrohangover) discussing System Shock 2! Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson)! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR) Social Media: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/) Twitter (https://twitter.com/tftblpod) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TalesfromtheBacklog/) Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages (https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures) Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-top-3-podcast/id1555269504), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2euGp3pWi7Hy1c6fmY526O?si=0ebcb770618c460c) and other podcast platforms (atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

https://www.patreon.com/jarmedia Find us on Spotify and iTunes under: "Jar Media Posdact" Find the original episodes under: "The JARChive" Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/jar-media-store Twitter: https://twitter.com/FourFunnies Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 03:28 Housekeeping 14:38 Kill Tony/Trump on Rogan/The State of America 41:42 Mid Break 41:51 Question Segment: New Tyler Album Thoughts 44:39 Metal Gear 52:19 We Found the Backrooms 55:27 The Backlogs are Unending 57:51 YouTube Recs 1:04:29 Patron Names #Brocast31

Backlogs… A rather bigger part of life that we probably wish wasn't. Did you know that there are three types of backlog, two of which you don't really need to worry too much about? Let me explain. You can subscribe to this podcast on: Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | TUNEIN Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin   Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived Subscribe to my Substack  Take The NEW COD Course The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page   Script | 344 Hello, and welcome to episode 344 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show. Let's be honest: somewhere in our carefully organised lives, backlogs will build. It could be email, the ever-increasing list of house repairs, or the daily admin life generates.  With everything going on in our lives, it would be easy to believe that finding the time to stop these backlogs from growing is impossible.  Yet, when you understand the three types of backlogs, you can develop a process that stops the backlog from growing.  The three types are the growing backlog, the stalled backlog and the shrinking one.  You don't need to worry about the shrinking backlog. It's doing what you want it to do—shrinking. That could be getting your receipts together in preparation for doing your taxes. You're gathering and sorting them, so the backlog is shrinking. This generally happens when the tax submission season is almost upon us.  The stalled backlog is also a little less urgent. It's not growing, but you need to watch it carefully because this kind of backlog can start snowballing—house or car repairs, for example, often do this.  The most dangerous backlog is the growing one. This often happens with email and admin tasks and can occur when you try to expand your business too fast without adding resources.  Before we go any further, let me first hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice for this week's question. This week's question comes from Janice. Janice asks, hi Carl, I'm trying to get my life organised but don't have time because I have so many things to do. My email's a mess, and every weekend, I spend all day cleaning up my home. How do you get on top of things when you are far behind? Hi Janine, thank you for sending in your question.  This is a tough one. It can feel like we are stuck between wanting to get ourselves organised and realising that we have such a big backlog of stuff to do that it would take several months to break even—so to speak. The strategy here is to first determine what kind of backlog you're dealing with. Is it growing, stalled, or shrinking?  If it's shrinking, keep doing what you are already doing. It's shrinking, so it's doing what you want it to do. Don't stop.  The one that needs immediate attention is the growing one.  Imagine that you have over a few thousand emails in your inbox. It's making finding important emails slow and cumbersome, and you want to get it cleared.  The challenge is that more emails appear every day, and that number is not fixed. Some days, you may receive 150+ new emails, while other days, perhaps it's eighty. Either way, until you can achieve a net gain—i.e., processing and clearing more emails than come in—the backlog will continue to grow.  With email, I would first clear out the older emails. There will be a point where you've ignored an email for so long that it would be embarrassing to respond to it now. Where is that point?  For me, that's two weeks. It would be embarrassing for me to respond to any email that's been sitting around for two weeks or more. You may be more tolerant than I am. You may be happy responding to emails older than a month or two. Where is your limit?  Once you know your limit, take any email older than your limit and move it to a new folder in your email program called “Old inbox”. This way, nothing has been lost, and you can go through that list when you have time. That list will no longer be growing. You've put a stop to it.  Now, to prevent the backlog from growing, you will need to clear whatever emails remain in your inbox first, so you start from zero.  Now, here's where you will need to be cautious of FOMO—the fear of missing out. This can paralyse you because you are fearful that you might be deleting something important. Fear not. Always remember with email if you have been sent something there will be a copy of it somewhere.  If for whatever reason you do need something you've deleted, you can reach out to a colleague and get a copy.  One of disadvantages of digitalization is we no longer see things piling up. Back in the day when most of what came across our desks was paper, it was very easy to see backlogs growing. The pile was physical and you could see it. With digital, it's very easy to go into Ostrich mode. (Although ostriches don't really bury their heads in the sand)—this is the out of sight, out of mind theory.  When I was working in a law firm in the late 90s, the majority of communications were through letters. Each day I would get in the region of a hundred to hundred and fifty pieces of mail. That needed processing. The advantage was I could see it all in my physical inbox and my goal was the clear that by the end of the day.  With email, the only way to see it is to open my inbox. That makes it easy to ignore it—which surprise surprise creates backlogs.  Admin is another area where backlogs can grow. Like communications, admin will grow each day if you are not dealing with it consistently.  This can be keeping your receipts organised, maintaining your company's CRM system or, in the medical profession, keeping patient notes up-to-date.  If you are not protecting time for these each day, backlogs will grow. If you've watched the brilliant film, Apollo 13, or read about that incredible story, one thing that will strike you is the astronauts followed checklists and routines to ensure everything was working as it should be.  The cause of the catastrophic explosion on board Apollo 13 was a simple routine task of stirring the oxygen tasks.  Astronauts are highly intelligent people. Yet, they know they cannot rely on remembering to do important routine tasks. They use checklists.  The same goes for pilots, surgeons and the military.  Each have checklists for daily mundane tasks that if not done will result in backlogs or something much worse.  You too can do something similar. Think of a shift at work as having a few key parts to it. Meetings, focused work and then routine work. Your routine work will likely be responding to actionable emails and messages, updating any internal customer management systems and your own admin.  This means estimating how much time you need for each of these activities.  The good thing here is you already have the data. How long, on average does it take you to update your company's internal client relationship management system? How much time do you need to stay on top of your communications? You can only work with averages here, but averages are enough. Some days you will get more than your average, yet other days you will get less.  If you've never measured how long it takes you, give yourself a week to track how much time you need in these areas. Again, you can only work with averages but that will give you an indication of how much time to protect each day for getting your work done.  One area I find people resisting this change is work they perceive as being more important. Meetings for example, seem to have a disproportionate level of importance. Sure, if you have a meeting with an important client, that will likely be more important than staying on top of your admin. But what about all those internal meetings? Are they really important or are you just showing up to show your face?  I cannot imagine a pilot or surgeon skipping their pre-flight or pre-operation checklist because they have an internal meeting. That would be a firing offense. So why do you do it?  We all will be different here, but I find if I spend an hour a day on my communications and thirty minutes on admin, I will, on the whole, end the week with no backlogs—certainly nothing overwhelming. That's just ninety minutes a day. Ninety minutes that prevents stress, anxiety and missing something important.  Now, there will be some days when that will not be possible. Days when I am travelling, for instance, often mean it's difficult to sit down and deal with my communications and admin. However, it's worth working on the principle that one is greater than zero, so spending twenty minutes on communications and perhaps ten minutes on admin helps to keep things from spiralling out of control.  Yet, perhaps the most important thing is to identify where backlogs occur in your life. That would be the first step.  One area I never thought of was household chores. It's easy to ignore that pile of washing in the corner of the bathroom until you find you have no clean underwear. Then it becomes an issue.  Now, on Tuesday's and Saturdays, I do the laundry. It's only fifteen minutes, but ensures I have a supply of clean clothes at all times. Plus, I can do it in between sessions of work. It gets me away from the screen and is far better for my eyes.  And I hate coming into the office and not having a clean coffee mug. Now, before I leave the office for the day, I will ensure the cups and tea pot are washed and ready for the next day. That's less than five minutes a day.  One tip on dealing with the stalled backlog. Because it's stalled you don't have the same sense of urgency. Yet, it still needs to be dealt with. What you may find works is to identify it when you do your weekly planning and allocate a little extra time the following week to deal with it.  For example, if you have a pile of documents that need to be processed from last month, give yourself thirty minutes or so around you lunch time or mid-afternoon to work on it. Depending on how big it is, you will find that within a week or two that backlog has gone.  I hope that has helped Janine.Thank you for your question.  And thank you to you too for listening. It just remains for me now to wish you all a very very productive week.   

Send us a textTrav and Steve are hit hard in the hot seat by Potomax, rename every show on the network, and then discuss their top 5 games oozing with vibes. Kergon and Braniac stay on top of the beat pile and Rob from the Classic Gaming Podcast has an interesting observation from last episode!VR OptricianGames this episodeSlitterheadMario & Luigi: BrothershipLife is Strange: Double ExposureClock Tower: RewindMetal Slug TacticsPistol WhipLunacyPrey (2017)Ridge Racer (PSP)X-Files: Resist or ServeNight ManorMad Rat DeadAnimal WellOperation CDestroy All HumansDemons of AsteborgFind more shows at polymedianetwork.com, Travis on Twitter @travplaysgames, Steve on Twitter @blinkoom, Steve streams on twitch.tv/blinkoom, Send us an email polykillpodcast@gmail.com, Check out our patreon at Patreon.com/polykill How to be a Polykiller: Beat a game, take a screenshot, post it on Twitter or Polymedia Discord, use #justbeatit, write a review and be sure to include @Polykill. Beat the most, become Polykiller. Beat any, have your Tweet potentially read on the show! Check out the Bonus Beats episodes on Patreon for more beat-tweet coverage!