How to Never Lose Track of a Great Idea Again (Without Falling Prey to Shiny Object Syndrome)

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

You’re determined to not let Shiny Object Syndrome get the best of you, right?

A few weeks back, we talked about how, instead of acting on all those shiny ideas the second they come your way, you can put them instead in a dark parking lot, where, with time and distance, they may, in fact lose their luster.

But you might be wondering what exactly to do with those shiny objects once you’ve hidden them away. Because some of those shiny objects, are, in fact, really good ideas. And you don’t want to lose them. (Trust me, I know!)

So, those ideas that are still shiny, even in the dark parking lot? 

You’re not going to ignore them forever.

Instead, you can decide to prioritize and act on them.

And since I wrote that article, a few people have reached out to ask what, in retrospect, is a very logical follow up question.

What, exactly, am I supposed to do with all the tasks and ideas in the “parking lot”?

And you know what, you ask and you shall receive!

I like to tag those tasks (in my task system) as “someday/maybe”, because that represents my actual commitment level to doing them. 

• Do I like the I idea? 

• Do I want to do it? 

• Would I do it if I had the time? 

Yes, yes and yes.

BUT, I haven’t committed to WHEN. 

And therefore these tasks are best placed in the “someday/maybe” category.

Once in the “someday/maybe” category, there are 2 methods you can use to manage those someday/maybe tasks:

Method 1: Review on a regular schedule

As mentioned, you can tag the tasks as “someday/maybe” and any other tags that may help you in the future to review the tasks. 

Or you could put them in a “someday maybe” list, depending on what task app you’re using.

Using this method, these tasks will not have a “next action date” associated with them because you haven’t decided when to do them yet, or even if you will.

But, if using this method, you will want to add a recurring task called “Check the someday/maybes and decide if I will do any of them this [time period]”. 

What time period should you use? 

Well, that’s up to you, but monthly or quarterly works well for this type of thing, in my experience.

You’ll want to set the recurring task to that frequency.

Then, then the recurring task pops up, you’ll take a quick look through those someday/maybes and you’ll decide which, if any, you want to commit to actually doing. 

Then you’ll decide the next action, the next step you can take to move you closer to the end goal, and the next action date (when you’ll do the next action). 

If you’re not ready to assign a next action date? 

Well, then this task should stay a someday/maybe, because what you’re telling yourself is that you’re not willing to commit actual time to this task. 

And that’s totally ok. 

Because that’s actually what the someday/maybe category is there for to begin with.

Method 2: Make your next step to “decide if/when”

If method 1 didn’t quite resonate with you, there’s another option!

In this method, you’ll choose a next action date for your someday/maybe task, but the next action itself will be “decide if I want to do this this [week, day, month, year]”.

Then, when that task pops up in your system you’ll simply do the next action: 

You’ll decide if you want to do the thing in the time period mentioned, and if so, you’ll add a new next action (the first step to moving your task forward), and you’ll update the date to when you’ll (realistically) do the next action.

If you don’t want to do the thing just yet, you’ll leave the next action as is (“decide if”), and you’ll simply move the next action date to the next time you want to offer yourself the decision of whether to do the thing or not.

Which method should you use?

It’s totally up to you!

You can use whichever method resonates with you, and you can even use both methods for different things.

Test it out and see what works best for you!

Now, why bother with the someday/maybe category at all?  

Because it’ll help ensure that your task system doesn’t get overly bloated or become unusable.

Because it helps you to separate obligation from aspiration.

And because you can’t do it all.

At least not right now.

And that’s OK, because your system is designed to account for that.