Yak shaving
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What is Yak shaving?
Doing a long chain of prerequisite tasks before you can start the real task, often in a way that feels increasingly indirect.
Yak shaving is when a simple goal turns into many smaller side quests. For example, fixing one bug may require installing a tool, updating a setting, and solving another unrelated issue first.
When you would use it
You use yak shaving when the real work is being delayed by lots of necessary but distracting prerequisite tasks.
Common operations
- Describing frustrating dependency chains
- Explaining why a small task took too long
- Warning that work may branch into setup chores
Related terms
Where this is taught
No learning path uses this term yet. Browse the Learning Atlas for guided sequences through related ideas.