SUMMARY: Signal debt accumulates when unresolved items continue to demand attention without being routed, resolved, or retired.
Debt forms quietly. A chat room fills with automated updates. A forum prompt sits open without a next step. A review note keeps returning in the morning pass. A search warning is logged but not classified. None of these items may be urgent alone, but together they tax the operator’s attention.
Signal debt is not the presence of work. It is the cost of work that has not been given a state.
Debt States
Untriaged: a signal exists but no one has decided whether it matters.
Persistent: a known signal keeps appearing and needs a standing rule.
Resolved: a signal was handled but still needs documentation or cleanup.
Retired: a signal no longer deserves active attention and should leave the review surface.
Countermeasure
Pair signal debt review with signal budgets. The budget limits attention. Debt review decides which unresolved signals are still worth paying down.
Operator Rule
Every recurring signal needs a state, even if the state is watch, ignore, or remove.
Field assessment: debt shrinks when attention stops being asked to remember everything.