When I was a child, there was a period of time when my father would stop at the store every Friday on his way home from work and buy me a new toy. I was always excited and full of anticipation as Friday approached.
Even though I had many toys at home, I wasn’t satisfied with what I had. Getting a new shiny toy would bring me great joy — for a few days. Then the cycle would kick in, and I’d be bored with the old toy and looking forward to the new toy.
I’ve noticed adults go through the same “shiny new thing” cycle, only now the toys cost a lot more.
Most of us have probably succumbed to the shiny new thing syndrome. Recently, I purchased a 1-year subscription to a new app. As it turned out, it was a complete waste of money. If I’d opted to do the 2-week free trial instead of experiencing the dopamine hit of buying a new thing, I would have avoided wasting the money.
The Shiny New Thing Syndrome is Recognized in the Business World
It’s called “Shiny Object Syndrome” in business circles.
It is defined as, “a continual state of distraction brought on by an ongoing belief that there is something new worth pursuing.” Prepare Yourself Against Executive Shiny Object Syndrome.
It’s understood that Shiny Object Syndrome is primarily “a disease of distraction.” Do You Have ‘Shiny Object’ Syndrome? What It Is and How to Beat It. As a result of this distraction, those afflicted have too many new projects and abandon projects in process. They waste the time and money they’ve invested with other products in a rush to run to something new.
The Productivity World Has Its Unique Version of the Shiny New Thing Syndrome
I’ve noticed that this syndrome is so prominent in the productivity realm that some productivity podcasts typically include a “What’s your shiny new thing?” segment.
Much of the productivity and tech press is focused on what the newest thing is. This is responding to the demand of readers for this kind of information.
Shiny New Thing Syndrome Can be Additive
It appears some productivity folks are addicted to discovering and implementing the latest shiny new thing. This can be new hardware or a new software product.
Software is a great example of the shiny new thing syndrome in the productivity realm. Some people are constantly looking for something better and never seem to be content with what they have, even if it’s meeting all of their needs.
They invest time and money over and over, jumping from one app to another. This seems especially evident regarding note-taking apps, where people are constantly switching from one app to another whenever a new kid appears on the block.
When they do so, they spend massive amounts of time learning a new software system and moving all of their notes from the last system to the new system. That lasts a month or two, and then they’re actively looking for the next shiny new thing to adopt.
Tiago Forte, the author of the Building a Second Brain system, has seen this syndrome at work with some of his students. He urges them to pick one note-taking app and stick with it for a while instead of constantly jumping around. “You can and should allow yourself time to play with new products, but make sure they meet a high bar before switching over.” How to Choose Your Notetaking App.
The Productivity Shiny New Thing Cycle
In the productivity realm, I’ve seen a 5-step process at work. I think the unique wrinkle about this process is that people in the productivity realm seem to feel obligated to justify their decision to buy with a productivity-related argument:
1. The person sees a shiny new thing that they want and buys it.
2. The person creates arguments about why this shiny new thing will make them more productive. This justifies the price and demonstrates how this shiny thing is superior to the other things they already have because it has so many more productivity benefits.
3. The person downplays the negatives of the shiny new thing.
4. After a period of time, the person sees a new shiny new thing and buys it to replace the old shiny new thing.
5. The person develops new productivity arguments to justify the new purchase. These arguments point out the flaws in the old shiny new thing (which were evident before but played down). They make new arguments to justify the new purchase, explaining how the new shiny thing will make them more productive than the old shiny new thing did. Occasionally, these arguments even contradict the arguments made for the prior shiny new thing.
An Example: Justifying the reMarkable Tablet — And Then a New Shiny New Thing
Recently, one of the hosts of a productivity podcast I listened to illustrated what I considered to be an example of the productivity shiny new thing cycle.
Several months ago he decided he wanted an expensive reMarkable e-ink tablet. He argued that this purchase was justified because of the huge productivity benefits it gave him. First, it was a device that could do only one thing, take notes. It was therefore less distracting than devices that did more than one thing (such as an iPad).
His second productivity argument was that since it only does one thing and apparently others in a meeting would also be aware it only does one thing, they would be more comfortable with him using it. They’d know he couldn’t be looking at distracting platforms like FaceBook.
After a few months of making these arguments, the co-host announced that he had now purchased an even more expensive Android e-ink tablet to replace the reMarkable tablet. This time, his primary productivity argument was that the new tablet could do more than one thing, since he could download his favorite apps to it. Furthermore, it would overcome the significant negatives of the prior shiny new thing in that it allows much better sharing between apps. (Sounding much like the iPad.)
To me, the productivity arguments to justify the new shiny new thing contradict the productivity arguments made to justify the old shiny new thing. This illustrates the problem of trying to justify purchases by making productivity arguments. In such circumstances, the arguments tend to be more rationalization than reasoned arguments, and contradictory arguments result.
Tips for Dealing With Shiny New Things
• Not every shiny new thing is an example of the shiny new thing cycle — some are genuine improvements worth adopting. Occasionally, a new device or software app comes out that really is a significant improvement over what we’ve been using, and meets needs that the prior device or app didn’t meet.
In those cases, it may be worth the time and money to make a change. But, the change should be made only after much thought and must meet a fairly high bar of improvement.
• Try to become aware of the motivations driving your desire to acquire a shiny new thing. Are you just bored with the old thing? Go slow in making a purchase. Do you have a problem you’re looking to solve, and this shiny new thing solves it? Then maybe it’s a worthwhile purchase. Or is this pure consumerism at work? Are you trying to buy happiness or status by buying this new toy? That’s a definite stop sign.
• When you learn about a shiny new thing that appeals to you, wait a week to purchase it. Often, an impulsive buy is a sign that the shiny new thing syndrome is in full operation. Wait a week and see if it’s still as appealing.
• Don’t feel compelled to create productivity arguments to justify your purchase. My sense is that many of these are rationalizations for justifying a purchase, rather than reasoned productivity arguments. You don’t need to justify your purchase by making these kinds of arguments. And you won’t be embarrassed when the productivity arguments you make for the new shiny new thing contradict the arguments you made for the old shiny new thing.
• Remember, it’s OK to keep the same software tools and devices for years if they meet your needs. I know of people who have used the same note-taking app, the same calendar app, and the same task manager for years because they best meet their needs. There’s no point in having the newest/shiniest just because they are.