The Day Zero Challenge is the backbone of this blog, but I'm conscious that as I'd started the challenge before I started the blog, I've never actually written an entry about what it is or why I'm doing it.
I am a serial maker of New Year Resolutions. I usually have between five and ten, and when I look back at the end of the year I've usually achieved maybe 50% of them...which is pretty crap. So I decided to take a different approach this year, and have a(nother*) stab at the 101 things in 1001 days challenge from The Day Zero Project. You can find my list in this post - though my achievements need updated.If you haven't heard of it, it's basically what it sounds like - setting myself 101 tasks to complete in 1001 days. Not surprisingly, it's kind of hard to think of 101 things you want to achieve. 20 was easy, 40 was fine, 60 was a bit of a stretch, 80+ took work! So although I started the list in place of setting resolutions, I didn't actually begin until March. There was another reason for the delay too - one of my tasks can only be done in November, and I wanted it to be the November after my wedding so that I have more of a chance of being able to focus on it. With that in mind, my 1001 days actually started on March 4th.
Why am I doing it, particularly given my less than impressive track record with new year resolutions? I'm not entirely sure. But I do know one thing - life is more than work. That's something I'd lost sight of in the past couple of years, with a stressful job which zapped my energy and left me living for the weekends...which I was then too tired to enjoy or which I wasted by dreading the thought of going back to work on Monday. My maternity leave granted me some perspective, and so I wanted to set some tasks which meant my life would become more than simply the gaps between days spent sitting at a desk.
I think it's important to always have something to aim towards. I spent seven years at university, and the way the uni year is structured meant that I always had something to work towards (whether that was making it through a placement, meeting an essay deadline, passing an exam or just getting to the holidays without cracking up). When I left and got into the working world, I found that the sense of having goals was dulled a little. Sure you have work deadlines, and if you're career orientated you probably have a five year plan. But I often find that the sense of achievement isn't always as great, that the holidays are far less generous and in the day-to-day you can get lost in the mundane. I think this made me a little depressed, because I am someone who thrives on having things to look forward to. At first I had buying a house and trying for a baby as my big goals, and of course I still have my wedding. But big goals are few and far between, so what better way to fill life with colour than to have 101 smaller goals to enjoy and achieve?
I think we can all admit to having those things that lurk in the back of our minds, destined for a "one day" that never seems to come. Maybe it's cleaning out a junk cupboard, maybe it's doing a bungee jump...whatever it is, putting it on a list and setting a deadline is a way to make "one day" a reality. And surely that is what life should be about, peppering it with those "one days" that make you feel as if you've achieved something, whether that's making your house a home or staring death in the face! Time passes all too quickly, but putting those things on a list makes it far more likely that you'll grab the time for the little (or big) things in life before you have no more time left to spend.
If you've never tried a Day Zero challenge, I hope I've convinced you to give it a try. But if 101 things seems a little too much to grapple with, keep in mind that although it was the original Day Zero challenge it isn't the only one - over the years the project has evolved and there are others such as 52 things in 52 weeks, or things to do by 30. You can even think up your own! Check out the site if this has sparked your imagination.
This post has come over all motivational-speaker-ish...it's made me think of this incredible song by Baz Lurhman...
Has anyone else ever attempted a Day Zero challenge? Let me know about your experiences, I love reading about what other people have achieved. Or if you have any "one days" you've not yet got round too, I'd love to hear about those too.
* I suppose I should confess that 101/1001 isn't a new concept for me. I've been here before. And I didn't succeed. I kept up some sort of momentum on it for fifteen months before totally dropping the ball. I've reflected on that, and there were probably a bunch of reasons why I never finished what I had started. A main flaw was probably that a majority of the tasks were things I felt I had to do, rather than tasks I wanted to do. There were also tasks I probably hadn't put a lot of thought into, or that were too ambiguous or indeed too set in stone. I kept those flaws in mind whilst making my new list, to make sure I wouldn't fall into those traps again. Having said that, looking back on it there were things I did achieve. And a lot of those achievements have improved my life and are possibly things I wouldn't have done had I not given myself that push. That's the beauty of a Day Zero challenge - even if you don't cross off everything, you can't fail to at least achieve something.
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