Many times I've found myself in situations like 'yak shaving'. To do this I first have to do that, and to do that I have to do some other thing, thus falling into a never ending stream of tasks that make me lose focus of my original goal. It seems to me something very common while performing unexpectedly complex jobs.

My point however is not to discuss this. What bothers me, and only a little, is the label chosen to describe situations such as these. Why 'yak shaving' and not something else?

I mean, the Ren & Stimpy connection is meaningful for the author, and that's ok. But if every time I want to refer to it I have to explain why it's named as such, or even explain who Ren & Stimpy are, maybe I'll be better served by some other, perhaps more appropriate label.

Calling it 'Going down the rabbit hole' is no doubt better, at least to me, but not completely. This expression captures a different mood, namely that of finding ever more connections in an endless stream that does not necessarily make me forget my original goal. For instance, while writing a paper, many times I find myself going down the rabbit hole, ending up with these monstrous footnotes that try to record how deep that rabbit hole goes. But when that is done, I go back to the main topic and move on.

So what could I call it other than 'yak shaving' or 'going down the rabbit hole'? I'm open to suggestions.