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I think it’s been three or four years now that I’ve attempted a 100 day project, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You pick some kind of creative project or genre that you want to work on for 100 days straight.
This year’s started in early April, and I figured since I was home all the time it wouldn’t be that hard to keep up with. What else did I have to do, after all?
I made it about 23 days.
I say “about,” because even in that time I skipped weekends a couple of times. And then I just gave up.
I was making little drawings and paintings and sometimes doing lettering and maybe the project was too broad but I still couldn’t come up with ideas or time so I let it go.
Quitting is OK
I know that quitting is fine all the time, if you find that something you’re doing isn’t for you or you don’t have time/don’t want to make time (same thing, right?) for something.
But in these days its maybe even more OK to quit than normal.
We’ve never lived through anything like this.
While I’ve worked from home for a decade, it’s different when the rest of your household is also home (and your kid wants to be your officemate, though she has since moved out). And you don’t know when it’s going to change or what the world will look like when it does.
The girl has been stressed and sad about missing all the things that come with the end of fourth grade, which is the last year in the building she’s been in since pre-k. Nervous about what comes next and when and what she’s still going to miss as things continue to be weird for the foreseeable future. We all feel that way.
We all feel more tired even as we might be getting more sleep. Things that should be fun (like a 100 day project) feel more like a burden, another thing on the interminable to-do list.
Not Doing Things Now is Not a Failure
Even though the title of this post declares I failed at the 100 day project, I know it’s not really a failure to learn that something is not for me. Or at least not for me right now.
(Though admittedly I’ve never completed more than 30-40 days of one of these challenges, so maybe it’s never for me. And that’s OK, too.)
It feels like this should be a good time for new things, for starting a hobby you’ve always wanted to try (and I actually do think it’s a good time to start a creative hobby) or finally getting the attic organized.
When staying home started I had all kinds of plans. I was going to write an ebook, finish the never-ending cleanout of my house, do lots of creative projects.
And I may still do those things. But there’s no shame at all in just getting through the day, too.
What I’m Doing Instead of the 100 Day Project
All of life kind of feels like a 100 day project (though we’re going to be home a lot more than 100 days from the looks of things) and just getting through the day is an accomplishment.
But I have been working on some things.
Tiny Bears and Other Knitting Projects
One of the girl’s teachers is pregnant with twin boys and she already has twin girls at home. I decided it would be nice to have a gift for the boys and the girls, so I knit for little teddy bears.
They were supposed to go to the teacher last Friday, but our garage door broke and we couldn’t get out of the house, proving again that sometimes getting through the day is enough. The boys are getting clothes and they’ll get to the kiddos a few days late.
I’ve been working intermittently on some knitting for me, and I made a few ear savers that are still sitting on my desk.
Back when Bluprint opened up all their classes for free, I watched classes on brioche knitting, stacked stitches and mobius knitting, so I’m eager to try some new things now that the bears are off my needles.
Masks Now Social Media
After sewing some masks for family and friends, I hooked up with Masks Now, a national organization working to provide cloth face masks to healthcare workers, first responders and other people who need them.
I haven’t donated a single mask to them yet because I also broke my sewing machine, though that’s better now.
I am doing social media for them, which is a nice way to connect my crafty part with my writing part. And I will get some masks finished. Someday.
Work, Writing and Editing
The company I do most of my work for is remote anyway, so after the initial adjustment to the rest of the world coming home, it’s pretty much as it always was, just with more company in the house all day.
I’ve been doing some writing and editing work as usual, though, again, not as much as you’d think I would be able to do with all the free time I’m supposed to have not leaving the house.
At the beginning of the year I started working on an ebook about using your yarn stash for knitters. It would be such a good resource right now while things are closed and might be for some time, but I can’t get myself to finish it. It will get done in time.
As with everything else, I know I just need to be patient. I can push myself gently, but also give myself understanding that some days only what actually has to get done will get done.
How about you? How is your “100 day project” of staying home going? Have you managed something new or are you just getting through the day? I’d love to hear about it!
