{"slug": "building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome", "title": "Building a Project While Fighting Shiny Object Syndrome", "summary": "A developer known as *stillrefactoring* is tackling Shiny Object Syndrome by committing to finish a personal file drive project before starting new ideas. The project is a file storage system where users upload files from any device, with files stored on user-chosen hardware and automatic syncing when devices come online. The developer plans to document progress and build the system using Express.", "body_md": "Let's start simple.\n\nHere is the definition pulled straight from Wikipedia:\n\nShiny Object Syndrome is the situation where people focus undue attention on an idea that is new and trendy, yet drop it in its entirety as soon as something new can take its place.\n\nIn my own words, I would describe it as chasing the novelty and the rush of starting a new project only to lose interest when I hit the not-so-fun parts.\n\nI don't know. My guess would be that I have a lot of ideas that I want to see tangible results from * fast*. Like, for example:\n\nVery valid reasoning, but in the end, I'm left with a bunch of unfinished projects and feeling worse than when I started.\n\nThis is why I'm here: to share my progress as I try to overcome SOS. I think I perform better when I have someone watching me, waiting for my results, or when I have a real deadline that isn't enforced only by myself. I need the consequences and the pressure to commit.\n\nSo, now that you know what SOS is and why it sucks, let's see how to fix it.\n\nIn front of me is one of my latest Shiny Objects (SO), and I've decided that I will apply these next steps to finish it before starting on a new SO.\n\nNow that we have a vague plan of what we are going to do, let me tell you about the Shiny Object in question:\n\nIt is a personal file drive where users upload files from any device, but the files actually live on storage the user chooses — their own laptop, for example. Upload a file from your phone while your laptop's off, and it queues. The moment your laptop turns back on, it syncs automatically.\n\nIt is being implemented with Express, which I'm still leveling up on. In the next article, we'll get started on the basic architecture and figure out what we need for now.\n\nIf you're also a fellow sufferer of SOS, or you're just interested in seeing how this project turns out, feel free to follow along. I'm not entirely sure where this journey will take me yet, and honestly... that's part of the fun.\n\nYour one and only,\n\n*stillrefactoring*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/stillrefactoring01/building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome-2536", "published_at": "2026-08-14 00:02:16+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-14 00:16:42.956106+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools"], "entities": ["*stillrefactoring*", "Express"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/building-a-project-while-fighting-shiny-object-syndrome.jsonld"}}