How to Avoid Shiny Object Syndrome: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Buy

Aug 11

woman on laptop online shopping holding credit card

As an online entrepreneur, you’re probably overwhelmed with the amount of tools, software, courses, and programs available to you — all claiming to be the “secret” to your productivity and success.

How often have you thought that signing up for a program, or using the latest app, or completely re-doing your website would solve all your problems?

There’s a harsh reality we need to get comfortable with if we’re going to be able to purposefully and intentionally complete projects that make a difference in our businesses:

😬The problem isn’t the tools you’re using…it’s you.

Before we dive into how to reel ourselves back from pushing that buy button, I want to be clear that I’m not saying this to be patronizing or on my high horse. I say this because it’s an uncomfortable realization that I’VE been through in my entrepreneurial journey since 2015.

😬I’ve wasted so much money on programs that weren’t a good fit and hiring contractors to fix trouble spots in my business (that I should have known how to fix before I hired out for it).

😬I’ve lost untold money because instead of marketing an amazing product consistently, I just moved on to the next product creation I thought would fly off the shelves.

😬I’ve bought tons of pretty and functional planners (more on that in a bit), that I loved filling out and prepping to use…only to stop using them after a few weeks.

One of my most expensive lessons was switching from ConvertKit to ActiveCampaign because I was lured in by the shiny object of their visual automations (before CK had them).

ActiveCampaign sent my emails from a bad IP address for 6 months before I figured out what was happening (and 5 emails to get them to admit it) — and I lost ONE-THIRD of my email list. Plus the money I had spent on hiring someone to get everything from ConvertKit over the ActiveCampaign.

I ended up switching back to ConvertKit with less money, a smaller list, and lost time that I could have been marketing effectively.

So I give advice about shiny objects as distractions from your best work from a place of painful, hard-earned, and expensive lessons.

Take the gift of learning from my mistakes.

A note on shiny objects in your personal life: this can show up in your personal life as well. How many times have you searched for a better app for your calendar, or grocery lists, or habit trackers? Same thing my friend.

My journey to being more distraction-free now involves pausing before I get sucked into a shiny object and asking myself a few key questions.

Here are the 5 questions to ask yourself before you decide on buying the next shiny object:

01. Do I already have a solution available?

I have yet to find the perfect planner, or the perfect project management system, or the perfect website host.

What I do have, are a bunch of tools for my business that work just fine to get the job done.

And what I find, is that if I take the time to actually use those tools and create habits and systems around them, they do, in fact, provide the solution to the problem I’m trying to solve.

I’ll admit, there are instances where the tool simply isn’t a right fit for me or the way my brain works (i.e. Trello makes no sense to me, but ClickUp does).

I test out different planners all the time (mostly for fun and curiosity), and I know within a month whether it’s a good fit.

But truth be told, MOST of the time the not-a-good-fit excuse is just that — an excuse.

I bet with a little more conscious effort, most of the tools you use in your personal and business life work just fine if you use them.

Getting distracted by a new tool with good marketing and pain points copy is a big time suck.

02. Am I avoiding something?

When I was in college, my apartment was never so clean as during exam time.

Avoiding the hard (read: important) work is something we can all relate to, right?

The same tendency to get distracted by shiny objects shows up in our businesses as well.

One of the sure-fire ways I can tell I’m avoiding something is when what I want to do is tedious busy work.

Example: What I really should do is finalize the evergreen marketing plan for my products, but instead, I’ll spend a month updating my opt-in graphics on my blog. Mmmm-hmmm.

Example: I’m just going to take some time to organize that folder (instead of when I scheduled time to do so) because I don’t want to send out that client proposal.

If you feel drawn into tedious busy work in your business, take a minute and question whether you’re avoiding more important work.

But what about when your brain just needs a break from deep work, and you still want to feel productive?

I feel you. When you’ve spent an hour doing something requiring a lot of creative and/or analytical thinking, sometimes that “I’m going to engage on Instagram” instant gratification is irresistible.

There are 2 ways you can go with this scenario:

Do the brain-break thing with that busy work task, but schedule it in between focused work time so you know when you need to be done and on to the next important thing.
Step away. Get up and stretch or go on a walk. Drink another glass of water while staring out your window. Take a 15-minute power nap. You’ll come back refreshed and ready to be focused and in flow again.

I actually do one or both of these on any given day. On low-energy days (i.e. the 4yo was awake and ready to play at 4:30am), I go for option #2. On days when I’m firing on all cylinders and following my plans, I go for option #1.

You decide what feels best — but make it by choice, not by default.

03. Would my future self/business be doing this?

Our businesses go through evolutions and changes (just like we do). If you’re in the messy middle of growth — meaning you’ve decided against the old, but you’re still figuring out the new — then you might find yourself getting distracted by updating or re-working the old.

Why do we do this? Simple…it’s our comfort zone.

You’ve probably spent a lot of time in “the old” version of your business and you know it inside-out.

So when you’re feeling into the uncomfortable middle of what’s next, you might try to soothe yourself with work that serves the old instead of the new.

The question I ask myself when I think I might be getting distracted with projects that aren’t going to serve me is, “Would the business I’m running a year from now be doing this?” If the answer is no, then you know it’s just a distraction and you’ll have to be uncomfortable just letting it go.

04. Will this actually save me time and/or money?

There are a few busy work scenarios that might seem like a distraction on the surface but are actually pretty important long-term to leverage time and money in your business.

Examples of these business tasks could be:

Setting up an automation (email, Zapier, etc)
Switching cart/payment providers to get cheaper merchant fees
Upgrading to a paid version of a free project management or team app to create a better workflow and lower billable hours.

In each of these scenarios, you can clearly draw a line between making the effort on tasks for long-term benefit.

While the above 3 examples are common instances I have run into in my business, there are probably more. But be careful - don’t be fooled into thinking every time and money scenario is an easy yes and not, in fact, a distraction.

05. Am I spending more time planning than doing?

I’m a planner too - I get it.

I spent 10 years as a Special Agent conducting criminal investigations and putting together operational plans where peoples’ lives were quite literally on the line.

Planning and preparation are skills that are not only good to have as a functional adult, but essential for the business owner looking to not only survive, but grow.

But here’s where you can get stuck:

You spend so much time planning that you fail to execute.

There is one big sneaky reason this happens…if you stay in planning mode and don’t move into action — then you can’t fail.

Planning is fun. It’s comfortable. It’s dreaming about the future.

It’s not the reality of whether your plan was successful or failed.

Here are some common “failure to launch” scenarios that indicate you’re stuck in planning mode:

➡️You spend more time meal planning and searching for recipes than on grocery shopping and cooking.

➡️You spend more time crafting the perfect bullet journal layout and using stickers and doodles than you do doing the tasks you’re planning.

➡️You spend more time researching marketing strategies and downloading freebies than you do picking a strategy and consistently executing it.

When we’re talking about Shiny Object Syndrome, ask yourself if you’re being sucked into “planning mode” as a distraction from executing your plans.

The other planning shiny object that falls into this category is education.

This happens when you think you need to take a CSS course before you can launch your website, or a YouTube course before you can launch your channel.

While some preparation and education are important with a new project, don’t let them keep you from launching your next big thing.

Conclusion

Making decisions about tools, software, and programs in your business can easily distract you from your priorities and goals. Before you click buy on that next Shiny Object, ask yourself these 5 questions to help you know if it’s a good decision: