I Love Shaving Yaks

There are apparently two definitions of yak shaving:

Any apparently useless activity which, by allowing one to overcome intermediate difficulties, allows one to solve a larger problem.

and

A less useful activity done consciously or subconsciously to procrastinate about a larger but more useful task.

I think the latter is actually quite useful, because it allows your brain to do something else for a bit while it works on whatever you're stuck on in the background.

In tech, we say we're shaving a yak when we do something that seems tedious or boring. This often includes things like writing documentation, refactoring code, working through tickets, going after tech debt. It carries kind of a negative connotation, as if it's something that should be avoided at all costs.

I however want to argue that yak shaving is a wonderful activity that should be embraced and celebrated.

People often talk about getting the most energy from working on and delivering big projects, and yak shaving is seen as a waste of time that distracts from that. What I found in my 17 years of working fulltime is that yak shaving is actually the most rewarding part of my job. It allows for a sense of accomplishment as it rewards instantly through constant iteration and small wins.

When I work on a big project, I often feel like I'm not making any progress for weeks or months at a time. But when I shave a yak, I can see the results of my work immediately. Every time I fix a bug, write a piece of documentation, clean up some code, or tackle a small piece of tech debt, I feel like I've made the platform a little bit better. I've contributed to the overall health of the platform and codebase, and I made the job easier for future me.

This is not to say that big projects aren't important or rewarding, but I think we should also recognize the value of yak shaving. It's not just a distraction from the real work; it's essential to help us maintain and improve the systems we work on, for ourselves and others.

So next time you find yourself shaving a yak, don't think of it as a waste of time. Celebrate the small wins and the progress. Remember that every yak you shave brings you one step closer to a better platform, a healthier codebase, and an easier job for future you.