I haven’t been kind to my iPhone 6S Plus. It’s been on a number of hikes where it got so cold it shut off.

It’s turned itself off due to being way too hot.

It’s slow now, and when travelling, I need to charge it every few hours because I’m using it. At home, it sits in a drawer on the lower floor of my house which means a charge there lasts a whole day.

All of these perceived drawbacks are benefits.

Because it’s slow, I’m tempted to use it less. Instagram kills the batter in minutes, seriously I can watch the percentages drop every second.

I’m forced to think about any digital note I take. Too often the ease of a digital note means we record stuff that doesn’t matter. That is one of the reasons I use a paper notebook for my book notes. If the quote isn’t worth recording, then it’s simply not worth it, so I don’t write it down.

Rules for Adopting Shiny Stuff

All the drawbacks on my phone beg the question, why not get a new one? I agree I’ll likely upgrade it in the next six months unless it gets significantly worse than it is now.

My case is fairly clear, but what about a perfectly good phone that’s just not the newest version?

What about your billing software that works, but has a few issues?

How do you stop yourself from jumping between new shiny tools all the time? How do you stop yourself from wasting hours just checking out options that you’ll never end up using?

It starts by not allowing yourself to search for new tools until you’ve answered two simple questions

What problems do I have that need to be solved with a new option?

and

Will said new device or software solve these problems without introducing a bunch of other problems I hate more?

When I walk my clients through these questions 90% of the time the problems they identify aren’t solved by a new option. Many times, the new option introduces a bunch of other issues that they hate even more.

So they stick with the same tools they’ve always used.

The second constraint

The second big constraint you need to put on yourself is that you can’t look for new options except for once a year. I usually use December to identify any pain points and then look at possible fixes, but you can pick any time of the year.

Pick the one or two things that are giving you the biggest trouble and give yourself four weeks to find a solution. If you don’t find one, stick with what you’ve got for the next year.

Intentional

Both of these rules are about being intentional. Not just jumping from one shiny new option to the next.

You’ve got better things to do with your time, like write that book, or publish that plugin, or build a tower with your kid.

Be intentional about looking for new tools.

Have an awesome day!

Curtis

PS: If you want to get intentional about your business, check out my 8 Week Business BootCamp. It will help you kick your business into overdrive.

photo credit: 99957142@N06 cc