Too Long; Didn't Read
Yak Shaving is one of my favorite terms. Originally <a href="http://projects.csail.mit.edu/gsb/old-archive/gsb-archive/gsb2000-02-11.html" target="_blank">coined at MIT</a> just a year before I attended, it has been discussed by legends like <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/03/dont_shave_that.html" target="_blank">Seth Godin</a> and <a href="http://www.hanselman.com/blog/YakShavingDefinedIllGetThatDoneAsSoonAsIShaveThisYak.aspx" target="_blank">Scott Hanselman</a>. The original MIT thread sums it up pretty well: