This is the first piece in our "From Students" series — a note originally shared by IDTECH student Nilufar Safarly on her own Substack. From now on, we'll be sharing our students' articles in this format.
Do you have an overflowing to-do list, but still forget everything the moment something new and interesting catches your eye?
Good news: in psychology, your "problem" has a name — Shiny Object Syndrome.
I say good news, because when you learn to manage it, it's a "condition" that can lift you sky-high. But let's first look at what happens when it isn't managed:
What happens when it isn't managed?
- 1. You can never see a plan through to the end — the moment something else grabs your interest, you cross out everything you had planned and chase after the new thing instead.
- 2. You never go deep into any single area — you know a little about everything, but there's nothing solid to hold on to.
- 3. Eventually it catches up with you — you realize that no matter how much you ran or how much effort you put in, you've stayed superficial in everything. This is where self-doubt and underestimating your own potential begin.
But really, there's only one problem, and it comes down to approach. Now that we've gone through the moment of realization, let's get to how to deal with this shiny problem.
First step: you have time ahead of you
Remember that you have many years ahead of you to make your plans happen. The things you make time for today simply take the place of some habit or routine that has left your life.
That also means more shifts will happen later — the interests you're currently neglecting due to a lack of time or resources will get their turn eventually. So let's set this part aside for now.
Second step: short-term, specific goals
Set yourself short-term, specific goals. Roughly plan out who your goals will turn you into and by when, and describe the qualities of that future person in a way your own mind can actually act on. Stay committed to those goals and plans, add in the reminder from the first step, and the problem is largely solved.
A tip that takes a bit of courage
Everything above is standard advice that I've tried myself and am now passing on to you. But there's another side to this that takes a bit more courage.
I'm sure we all have that one chest: whether it's the "saved" folder on Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social platform, packed with ideas and useful resources. Sometimes that's not even enough, so we go and create a separate Notion page just to store the books we should read, the articles we should check out, the little things we should look into — and so on.
That's exactly what you need to delete. When you come across an interesting article, quickly scan it with your eyes — if you see something genuinely useful, read it right away, as soon as possible.
Otherwise, you'll end up carrying that to-do list around in your head, and it will cost you your peace of mind.
In conclusion
Let's not forget: this syndrome actually says a lot about the size of your potential and your inner appetite for learning. You just need to channel and train that energy properly. In short, instead of chasing every new and shiny thing, let's focus on polishing what we already have — so we can put a better version of ourselves out into the world :)
Author: Nilufar Safarly