[ttfkam]

Day by day it feels less and less like regular data modeling and more like a debate with Jordan Peterson where you argue for ten hours what a "name" is.

Eventually you end up having to make choices and deal with the consequences. Otherwise Jordan Peterson would have you chasing your tail for days about what a "choice" is, and nothing would ever get done.

tl;dr: just make your best guess and always include an extra "notes" column where things can get leaky.

[sgarland]

Not days necessarily, but I think quite a bit of time should be spent data modeling, yes. Before you’ve ever touched the keyboard, it’s very helpful to attempt to model the problem on paper or a whiteboard. You quickly find problems with your initial guess that way.

Notes / data / extra et. al columns are the worst, as a DBRE. People inevitably shove various shit into them over time instead of making an effort to properly fix past mistakes, and at some point, they practically contain their own table.