MY REASONS FOR DOING THIS
I'm not alone in having a 'busy' life but the busier we are the more unproductive we can become. Being busy isn't an accolade, it's a pain in the ass. We should work hard (especially on stuff that we love) in order to make a difference and play a part in adding positive impact to our world, and the less we do this (regardless of how busy we become) priorities begin to blur, stress inefficiency become frustratingly frequent.
I pride myself on getting things done fast and well, but I've slipped recently. Too much laptop time, too much stress, not enough sleep, not enough balance. So, on 23rd September (the beginning of the 100 countdown to the end of the year) I'm going to change the way I work and spend my days.
#Yes100 is about more than intention and dedication, it's about action. I want to improve my habits so I get more from each day: produce more, learn more, create more, rest more, exercise more. Itemising a day incrementally so in the long term I can see huge benefits, all the while building up so many usually inactive muscles.
I'll be abroad and travelling for at least 40 of the last 100 days of 2016, so whether I'm on the move, at my desk, leading group trips, paddling a river, running a festival or speaking at a business or school I'm going to commit to seeing this project through. I imagine it will be hard some days and the temptation to let some items slip will be natural, but many of these daily goals are things I recognise that I need more of and by integrating my existing tasks into this new system I'll do my usual stuff faster and better.
I've challenged my friends (and stranger friends) in the SayYesMore community to take on this challenge, perhaps setting themselves one or two 15 minute tasks a day for the next hundred days, but I'm going for this in a big way by choosing over 10 new daily objectives to take on. Maybe my eagerness is too big for my diary (and I'm prepared to drop a few if this is the case) but ultimately this is for my own benefit and progress: By the end of 2016, despite the tiny nature of each task, I'll have something big and noticeable, incremental, daily satisfaction with obvious reward. Isn't that what being in charge should be about?
Here are the things I'm going to do, and why
- Dedication: 10 mins. One gorgeous black and white photo of life, both as documentation and a way to add a more focused theme to my Instagram account.
- Sleep: 30 mins. power/cat nap each afternoon. I reach most evenings exausted and tend to work through the blur and eventually sleep way too late. These catnaps are designed to reign in a sleep debt and re-energise for the end of the day.
- Tell a story: 10 mins. Recall a memory from a past adventure and post on Facebook. Both a consistent posting system for my Facebook, as well as good memories to help point 7 below
- Fitness: 10 mins. 50 press ups + 50 sit-ups each day. Well, now I gotta do it, don't I?!
- Health: 20 mins minimum outside moving. Movement and the outdoors, two key elements to a healthy, happy life.
- Skill: 10 mins. Take a portrait of someone's face each day and share a quote about life from them (learn about portrait photography). Aren't faces incredible?! I like the idea of having 100 good portraits and stories to attach to them after 100 days.
- Write: 10 minutes a day working towards next book. Soak up and recall moments and memories. Slow progress towards the next book despite a busy day.
- Productivity: 10 minutes per day adding something new to my website. Keeps things fresh, and ensures I don't neglect my site in place of social media.
- Film: 10 minutes per day creating a short film about something important to me. One per week on average (14 in the 100 days). Keeping the hand and eye in.
- Read: 15 minutes per day. It's good to pause, and reading helps me write.
- Pause and Listen: 15 minutes listening to educational audio book each day
- Finance: Save £1 per day towards a microadventure
- Learn a language: 10 minutes a day learning Japanese. Because I'm going to Japan.
- Learn: a new handy trick about my computer/ device each day (we become so familiar with the way we use things often we don't use them to their best ability (that includes ourselves).
2 hours 40 every single day
