Several years ago when I was on the web surfing, I fell down a rabbit hole and found the website The100DayProject and the idea immediately caught my attention. 

So what is The 100 Day Project? 

The 100 Day Project was started in 2006 by a Yale graphic design professor, Michael Bierut. He used this project as a teaching activity with his students. The requirement was each student had to repeat their chosen design operation in some form every day for 100 days and each day’s practice be documented. At the end of the 100 days, each student gave a short presentation of their 100 days of practice. The teaching activity became known as The 100 Day Project. Once the idea of The 100 Day Project filtered out to the “general public” it exploded in popularity.  

What are the benefits of taking part in The 100 Day Project? 

• Helps you to create a habit. This habit can be creative, physical, emotional or a mental one. 
• Will help boost your feeling of wellbeing, provide a feeling of accomplishment, and supply creative inspiration,  

• If you decide to join a The 100 Day Challenge community, you’ll meet others and make friends with those who are taking the same journey. You can connect with others by providing tips, giving and receiving encouragement.   

Ideas to think about . . . 

Your 100 Day Project can be 

• 100 days of learning a new skill, practicing a skill or working on a theme 
• 100 days of using a particular type of medium, perfecting the use of a tool or working with a particular color or color palette 

• 100 days of working on one single thing or creating multiple items of one thing 100 days of working on one single thing or creating multiple items of one thing 
• 100 days of working towards a goal and investing different daily actions to help move closer to obtaining your goal or even reach it 
• 100 days of creating a habit you want to cultivate 

How does The 100 Day Project work? 

You decide on a “project”, the day you’re going to start and then spend time doing your chosen project every day for 100 days. A lot of The 100 Day Project communities begin their group participation on the first day of winter December 21st, however, this year I decided I’m going to start on January 1st. The last several months have been difficult for me and I don’t want to start my project before I’ve made it through Christmas. The holiday season this year is stressful enough without adding something more to it. One of the great things about this project is you can start it any time you want! 

How do you count your 100 days? 

Any way you want to. The 100 days can be consecutive, or they can be a total of 100 days with “life happens” breaks as needed. It’s your project so you decide how you want to do it. Just remember this isn’t a project where you have to create a 100 of something, unless that’s what you want to do! Your project can be something physical or something intangible. Either way, The 100 Day Project is designed to help you grow. 

My Past Experiences . . . 

The first year I participated my practice was to complete projects I started and never finished. I got a great start and finished quite a few but then got bored and quit halfway through. My second year I adjusted my project. I decided I would be creative everyday starting with working on finishing projects that weren’t complete. I had another good start but ended up quitting without even making it to the half-way point.  

What I did was set myself up for failure. Both years were basically the same project. To work on something creative every day with the focus on completing the multiple unfinished projects I have. This worked for me as it “forced” me to clean up some outstanding items. What didn’t work well for me was I was too rigid in my mindset and wouldn’t “allow” myself a change of pace and start on a new project without finishing all the unfinished projects. What happened after that? Because I didn’t give myself “permission” to move on to a project I had supplies for or wanted to do, I ended up skipping a day. Then two days. Then three until I was no longer doing any creative activity. 

So, what is different this time? Why do I think this time I’ll be able to take part and complete the 100 days of practice? 

The 100 Day Project 2023 

This year I’ve done a bit a research on how to set myself up for a successful completion for the project. I’ve also done some reflection on my past experiences. 

The results of my reflections? 

• Having the desire to do the project isn’t enough for me. I need a reason why and reminders. Especially reminders. One of the side effects of ADHD for me is “Out of sight, out of mind.” I’ll do great until something pops up and distracts me. Then I’ll forget ALL about doing my practice. Once I miss a day it is hard for me to get back into the process.  
• I have to acknowledge my “limitations” and work with them not against them. What do I mean by that? I’m very ADHD. This means I will hyper-focus on something that catches my attention and become borderline obsessive about it. This will cause me to burn out and lose motivation. I also lose focus and become distracted easily. This means I have to “adjust” The 100 Day Project to work for me. 
• I didn’t complete the past years due to my mindset and being too rigid. This is also a side effect from ADHD hyper-focus tendencies. These are two things that stifle creativity. Which makes sense right? Creativity is all about flow, moving forward, branching out, testing new ideas, trying new things and techniques and thinking outside the box. And there I was trying to complete a creativity project with tunnel vision.  
• I wasn’t realistic in the amount of time I could commit and had an unrealistic expectation of what I could accomplish. I tend to “Go big or go home!” which sets me up to be overwhelmed and frustrated. I have to recognize when I’ve immersed myself in a project to the point, I don’t want to do anything else. That’s when I’ve slipped into a hyper-focused /obsessive mode and it’s time to make myself take a small step back but not a big enough step back to cause a lapse and lose interest.  
• The first year I did The 100 Day Project I joined a Facebook group and that helped a lot. I made it halfway through. The second year I didn’t participate in a group and didn’t even get through for 30 days. Sharing is important! 

How can you make The 100 Day Project successful? 

1. Write out why you want to do The 100 Day Project and what you’re going to do. Then post your “Reason Why” statement in locations where you will regularly see them. Your “Reason Why” doesn’t have to be long or complicated.  

2. Stop and do some serious self-reflection. Don’t do it in a way that is self-critical, just be honest with yourself. Think about projects or endeavors that you’ve done in the past, the ones you completed and the ones you didn’t. What worked for you? What caused road-blocks for you? Did you have physical, schedule, emotional or mindset limitations? Jot down what pops in your mind as you review. 

3. Choose a project you have a desire and a connection to. You will be “living” with your project for the next 100 days so pick one you want to do. That doesn’t mean you can’t adjust or modify your project as time progresses. Adjusting often happens as the project moves forward.  Plan what you want to do. Gather supplies. Create a “workspace” or a location for your practice.  

4. Be realistic. Commit to a specific amount of time. Spending 10-15 minutes a day on your project is realistic. Trying to commit 1+ hours a day towards a project isn’t. Don’t “Bite off more than you can chew.” Keep your project simple and uncomplicated, especially if this is your first time participating in The 100 Day Project. 

5. Set a goal. “What do I want to accomplish?” Complete lots of projects, complete one project, learn a new skill or just show up every day. A goal as simple as “Showing Up Daily” can have very satisfying results along with providing personal growth. 

6. Track daily activity by journaling, and/or photographing and/or marking a daily tracking sheet.  

7. Share project and progress with others by joining The 100 Day Project community. There are multiple groups on Facebook and Instagram. Or create your own Facebook page or blog to document your progress and revelations. Just make sure you share! Some of the most popular Instagram hashtags are #The100DayProject #100DayProject #DoThe100DayProject. There are many more, research those that fit your need. Some hashtags are geared towards specific endeavors such as #100dayprojectoflearning #100dayprojectofsimplepleasures #100dayprojectpolymerclay. If you can’t find one that fits your project, create your own. 

8. Have fun! Doing The 100 Day Project is supposed to be fun not stress you out. If you miss a day or two, don’t give up!! Jump right back in and mark off the next day. The 100 days don’t have to be consecutive – life happens. Don’t be hard on yourself or have tunnel vision. Remember this is your project. If you find your project isn’t holding your attention or causing you to feel overwhelmed, adjust and change to make it work FOR you not AGAINST you. 

My 100 Day Project 2023 

1. Reason Why – I will be doing two 100 Day Projects this year. One for creativity and the other for fitness. I want to learn to be consistently creative and I want to become more flexible.  

2. Self-reflection – My ADHD won’t “allow” me to focus on one project for 100 days. I would become bored. I need projects I can switch up periodically or have the ability for me to switch it up. I also will have to decide how much time a day I will devote to my project and make sure I keep to that time. If I don’t, I’ll throw myself into the project and get burnt out quick.  

3. My Project – this year I’m approaching The 100 Day Project differently. I’m committing myself to practice Consistent Creativity for 100 Days. I’m also going to create a daily habit of stretching. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to make a list of the projects I want to work on the most. Some will be ones that are unfinished, and others will be new. I have a flexibility plan I will follow to keep me on track.  

4. Time Commitment – realistically my schedule will allow me to up to an hour a day towards creating and 15 minutes for stretching. I can adjust these times if I find a need to. The smallest amount of time for each project would be 15 minutes.  

5. Goals –  
   • Consistent Creativity – to instill the habit of being creative every day, to complete as many unfinished projects as possible and to complete as many projects on my list as possible. 
   • Flexibility – to be able to bend at my waist and touch the ground with the palms of my hands with my knees straight. I know that sounds SO easy, but I have never been able to touch my toes much less the floor.  

6. Tracking – This year I’m going to do something different than I’ve done before. I’m going to create photo journal of my projects. I haven’t decided if my journal will be just digital or if I will create a travel notebook journal. I also have a cute color in the circles tracking jar I’m going to use. This I’ll print out and hang up. Click here to download your copy of The 100 Day Project Tracking Jar. 

7. Share My Progress – I joined the Facebook group #The100DayProject to share my daily creative progress, I’ll be posting my progress on Down_Home_at_Dees Instagram page using the following hashtags – 
   • Consistent Creativity –
     #the100dayprojectofcreativity2023
     #dhad_the100dayprojectofcreativity2023
     #the100dayprojectofconsistentcreativity2023
     #dhad_the100dayprojectofconsistentcreativity2023 
   • Flexibility –
     #the100dayprojectofstretching2023
     #dhad_the100dayprojectofstretching2023 

8. Have Fun – This year I’m NOT going to be hard on myself for missing a day and I’m NOT going to let myself be rigid. AND I’m going to let myself shift gears and do something completely different than planned when I start to lose interest or get bored. By being rigid I squished out all the fun of the project. Not gonna happen this year!!  

Just remember The 100 Day Project can be whatever you want it to be. You can create whatever you want – a new skill or a new habit. You can dig deeper into a technique, learn something new or just practice what you want. The main goal for The 100 Day Project is to encourage you to “Show UP!”. 

What will you Show Up with this year for The 100 Day Project! Let’s do this together!

Thank you for visiting with me at
Down Home at Dee’s