Yak Shaving
Let me explain “yak shaving” by way of example: Let’s say you want to wash your car.
But you can’t because your hose broke over the winter. So you need to go to Ace Hardware to buy another.
But you can’t because you borrowed a pocket knife from the guy at Ace Hardware last time you were there, and forgot to give it back. So you need to retrieve the pocket knife.
But you can’t because your wife lent it to the neighbor. So you’ve gotta go ask the neighbor for it.
But you can’t, unless you return the yak fur pillow that you borrowed from him. So you go get the yak fur pillow to return it.
But you can’t return the pillow because a seam split, and all of the yak fur fell out.
So you find yourself at the zoo, shaving a yak, so you can stuff the pillow, so you can give it to your neighbor, so you can get the knife, so you can return it to the guy at Ace Hardware, so you can get a new hose, all so you can wash your car.
My younger brother heard this example and said, “This is my whole life.” Honestly, I believe this is most of life for most of us.
The lesson is this: Don’t get caught up in yak shaving, unless you want to.
The byways are not the goal. But there is also this: the most rewarding things can come from the byways.
My very best,
Philip
PS: As far as I can tell, the term “yak shaving” was coined by Merlin Mann around 2006 or thereabouts.