---
title: "Grouping Open Items by Creation Source Changed Our Total"
canonical: https://dxdev.com/blog/units-reference-overload/
datePublished: 2026-09-23
---
## How a mention became an open item

The rule was simple: if a ticket is named while work is going on, log it, so a follow-up cannot slip.

A mention is not a commitment, though. A ticket can be named to ask its status, to explain an old fix, or to say leave it alone. The capture treated all three as work to track.

## What the second count showed

## What we changed and what we only proposed

## What to check in yours

If you run a tracker with an automatic capture, group its items by how they were created before you read the total. If most of them came from a hook that watches what people say, the total measures chatter. The count you want is the one for items someone chose to write down.