Hello there!
I don't know if this happens to you, but once a new year gets going, life seems to fall back into its usual routines. Routine is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong, but I don't like being bored. It is the primary reason I am self-employed - I can say no to work or negotiate a deadline if I am too busy to take on new work. Another reason I decided to go back into self-employment was to spend more time being creative. Enter the 100 day project.
I tried it in 2024 and could barely make it to day 10 without giving up. It took some soul searching to discover why since I was making tiny paintings. Creative, for sure, and I should have been able to continue doing that for the following 90 days. The plan had been to make 100 tiny paintings. I eventually realised that I got bored. Doing 100 of the same thing definitely did not work for me. But I really wanted to try again, so I had to come up with a new idea. Will it work? I have no idea, but it is a better plan than what I had in mind last year.
The plan (and how it fits into my 2025 goals)
I mentioned the group challenges I plan to participate in and the projects I design for my art group in my previous post. I have also mentioned the novel currently with my editor. Knowing how my workload is expanding, I can hardly find the time to add yet another challenge to my day. Unless I think outside the box.
The 100 day project is not just about art, or craft, or even a single project. It is about being creative on a daily basis. So here is the plan for my 100 day project: I am going to draw, paint, write, or make something every day. It won't be the same every day.
I might do a project that will take several days or even weeks, but I will also do small things in between. This way, I won't get bored but still manage to do something creative every day for a hundred days.
Practically, I need to plan time to create every day. I have mentioned that my art group meets once a week for two hours, so that will continue to be the schedule for Thursdays. The rest of the week is not as easy. But I am committing to spend at least 30 minutes every day to create something. If I don't have 30 minutes, then 10 minutes will have to do.
The commitment (and my accountability tracker)
Habit trackers abound on social media in various shapes and forms. I also have one in my Bullet Journal for tracking my daily goals.
I thought I would use that, but I am inclined to think that a separate tracker would be more useful. Instead of just ticking off that I have achieved the objective for the day, I will add the time I spent to it. This way, I can see which days I have more time, which will be helpful for planning future art competition paintings or doing commissions.
Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect plan, with life throwing curve balls just as you think everything is under control. But a daily practice and some useful data will not go to waste even if life interferes.
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Some of my books, will be promoted as part of a special sale on @Smashwords to celebrate Read an Ebook Week 2025 from March 2-8. Be sure to follow me for more updates and links to the promotion for my books and many more! #ebookweek25 #Smashwords
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The challenge details
The 100 day challenge starts today. You can still join and find all the details and the social media sharing here.
I doubt that I will share every day. I don't like social media that much, but look out for my posts on Instagram with the tags #dothe100dayproject and @dothe100dayproject.
This is only a partial CreativeLife update. I will share my progress on the rest of my goals in my next post. Don't forget to check out the Smashwords sale coming next week.
Stay creative - until next time!
💜Linzé
