Decomposition in Everyday Life You already use decomposition every single day. You just have not called it that. Every time you face a task that involves more than one step, your brain automatically breaks it down — even without being asked to. Let us look at a few everyday examples. Getting Ready for School "Getting ready for school" sounds like one thing. But try writing out everything that actually happens: 1. Wake up and sit up 2. Turn off the alarm 3. Go to the bathroom 4. Brush teeth (2 minutes) 5. Wash face 6. Get dressed — choose clothes, put them on 7. Go to the kitchen 8. Pour cereal and milk, or make toast 9. Eat breakfast 10. Put breakfast things away 11. Pack your school bag — books, pencil case, water bottle, lunch 12. Put on shoes 13. Check for anything you might have forgotten 14. Leave the house That is 14 steps — and some of those can be broken down further! "Get dressed" is not one step — choosing clothes, putting on each item, doing buttons or laces — these are all separate actions. "Getting ready for school" is a completely decomposed program. You follow it every morning. Making Pasta A recipe is one of the best examples of decomposition in everyday life. The goal: Make a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce. Decomposed steps: Step Action --- --- 1 Fill a large pot with 2 litres of water 2 Place the pot on the hob and turn the heat to high 3 Wait until the water reaches a full boil 4 Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the water 5 Add 100g of pasta 6 Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes 7 While the pasta cooks, open the tomato sauce jar 8 Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and heat on medium 9 Stir the sauce every minute so it does not stick 10 Drain the pasta using a colander 11 Pour the sauce over the pasta 12 Serve in a bowl Without this decomposition, "make pasta" is just a wish — you know the goal, but you have no path to get there. With decomposition, every step is clear, and the whole task becomes manageable. Travelling to a New Place Think about the last time you went somewhere unfamiliar. You did not just go there . You planned: 1. Look up the address 2. Check what route to take (bus? Train? Walk?) 3. Find out what time to leave 4. Get to the starting point 5. Follow the route, step by step 6. Check you are going the right way "Travel to a new place" without decomposition is just hoping for the best. With it, it is a series of decisions and steps you can actually follow. The Puzzle: Decomposition vs Just Doing It Here is something interesting. When you do a task that you have done a thousand times — like brushing your teeth — you do not consciously decompose it. Your brain does it automatically, as a practiced sequence. But when you face a new task — something you have never done before — your brain does not have the sequence memorised. That is when you need to consciously break it down. This is exactly what a programmer does when they face a new problem. They have never written this exact program before. So they decompose. What does this need to do? What are the steps? What is the order? Decomposition Gets Deeper Here is something important: decomposition is not always just one level. "Pack your school bag" (from the morning routine above) can itself be decomposed: 1. Check what lessons you have today 2. Put the right books in the bag 3. Make sure your pencil case is in 4. Fill your water bottle and put it in 5. Add your packed lunch 6. Zip the bag up Each of those could be decomposed further too. "Fill your water bottle" has steps inside it. The programmer decides how deep to go — they decompose until each step is specific enough for a computer to act on without guessing. 🎯 Try This Yourself The One-Step-Only Relay A game for three or more people, around a table. It needs nothing at all — no paper, no props. It is also very hard to play without laughing. 1. Someone picks an everyday goal and says it out loud. Good ones: wash the dog , post a letter , make a cheese toastie , catch a bus into town . 2. Going round the circle, each player adds exactly one next step , in order, starting from the very beginning. 3. Here is the catch. If a step secretly contains two actions, anyone can call "that's two!" — and that player is out. "Get dressed" is two (at least). "Put your left arm through the left sleeve" is one. 4. You must also start properly. If the first player says "wash the dog with shampoo", they have skipped finding the dog, filling the bath and getting the shampoo. Out. 5. Last player standing wins. Then try the same goal again and see how much further you get. What to watch for: the first three or four steps are easy, then everyone slows right down. That is the moment your brain runs out of the memorised version and has to actually look at what it does. Notice how often the argument is about a step someone thought was "obvious". 🤔 Check Yourself 1. Why do you not decompose brushing your teeth, but you do decompose a journey to somewhere new? Because your brain has already m…