How to live with shiny object syndrome?
Yes, live with it.
Shiny object syndrome has gotten a bad reputation.
People say that it prevents you from focusing and becoming the best in the field.
It’s like a monkey that jumps in your car and takes your lunch.
I have been dealing with this monkey for years now.
Then I started looking at it as a cure, instead of it being like a disease.
Why?
Shiny object syndrome occurs because people are innately curious.
We ask, “What if?”
And for some people, we immediately jump on it to try it out.
If we kill our curiosity, us human would never discover fire or invent the wheel.
Imagine if our ancestor saw fire, and they’re like, “Nah, let’s stick with stacking rocks and raw meat”
We will never know what a juicy burger tastes like.
Curiosity is at the heart of human discovery and invention.
Shiny object syndrome is just a byproduct of it.
So how do you say productive and curious at the same time?
Start a List
If a new idea or a train of thought pops up, write it down.
I have been using Evernote for years now. (Not an affiliated link)
Because I am either close to my laptop or my phone most of the time. Evernote helps me organize my thoughts on both devices.
Of course, there are other ways to keep track of your thoughts. A piece of paper is fine too.
It’s not so much you will need to revisit later. Writing it down takes the thought off your mind.
It will give you peace, and maybe a billion-dollar idea just happens to appear.
Prepare yourself
Opportunity Comes to Those Who are Prepared
— Sammi Xia, Head of Tencent Institute of Games
Like many self-taught programmers, we prepared ourselves first, then the opportunity presents itself.
If something is so interesting that you can’t ignore it, you should invest your time to learn about it.
Maybe coding becomes an obsolete skill when a sentient AI learns how to program.
But this skill was so interesting to me that I couldn’t help myself, I thought to myself, “How often are you given the power to create something out of nothing?”
How are you preparing yourself for the future?
Take Calculated Risk
Depending on how much responsibility you carry, everyone’s risk tolerance is different.
At every intersection of my life, I ask myself, “What’s worst that can happen?”
For example, when I quit my first job as a Uniqlo manager candidate to learn how to code, what were the worst things that could happen:
- I lose all my income
- I lose all my saving
- Uniqlo won’t hire me again
Ultimately, I was ok if all of those things happen, because I know at least I can try something new.
If it doesn’t work out, I can always find another way to make money.
Change it up
Whether you’re creating content or building a company, you have to be consistent with your fans.
That’s what the big platforms say at least.
After a while, you might feel like a hamster running in a wheel.
A wheel created by platforms or the economic game.
It’s ok if you’re tired of it.
Do something different. Give yourself permission to be human.
Explore. Rest. Come back later.
Finish what you started
This is mostly a piece of advice that I would give to myself.
To be real, I still struggle to finish what I started.
But sometimes, I am able to go on a streak and finish.
Here’s what I did when I was able to finish what I started:
- Block out a time in a day to work on it
- Break apart the tasks
- Get it out into the world as soon as possible
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article provides a fresh perspective on Shiny Object Syndrome.
If it did, please help smash the like button, so more people can benefit from this piece.
