@snonux Yeah, that rabbit hole is real, though with both i3 and xmonad I only had to invest in the initial setup, then I could afford not to think about it for years.
I guess that's because I want a minimal approach with least amount of distractions and most amount of screen pixels for whatever I'm focusing on at the moment ^^
Since I spend 90+% of my attention in terminals, that's where I spend most of my optimization effort, and the DE/WM itself is just an incidental accessory for me too.