Offload Complete?
On January 1 of this year (2022), I decided to take up the 100 Days To Offload challenge. The premise is simple: publish one hundred posts to your blog within one year. I publish this, my one hundredth post, with one day to spare.
For a good part of the year, I had all but given up on it. I started out pretty strong, then lost steam and didn't post for months. I was ready to throw this endeavor in the metaphorical (and massive) “Things Dallin started but never finished” bin in my mind.
But for some reason, I decided to push through. There were many times when I was drawing a complete blank and couldn't think of anything to write – interesting or not. But I somehow I got it done.
One thing that helped me is my decision earlier in the year to keep a journal again. Thanks to the magic of IFTTT, I capture my blog posts as journal entries via the Day One mobile app. So I had some addition incentive to write something every day to ensure I continue my daily journal entry streak (148 days and counting).
Another thing that has helped me in the final stretch these past two weeks has been my news and social media fast. The more distracted and riled up I am, the less focus I am able to maintain on writing. News and social media are huge sources of distraction and anxiety for me. I won't say writing has been effortless during this fast, but the ideas and motivation to write have been much more attainable.
One thing I wish I had done differently is to post consistently throughout the year instead of procrastinate and have to post once or more per day just to squeak by. I'd like to be able to put more time and thought into some of the things I write about rather than just brain dump each day and not really have a chance to dive deeper into things that really interest me. It should have been two to three posts per week rather than one or more posts per day.
Regardless, the most rewarding thing about this experience is the satisfaction and self-confidence that come from finishing a task that has been long and at times difficult.
This has been an amazing experience for me, and I hope to continue to build on this momentum and keep writing. That's why the title of this post is a question. Perhaps I'll repeat in 2023?
If you've ever thought about taking this challenge, I highly recommend it.
#100DaysToOffload (No. 100) #writing