75 day create challenge.
Backstory
Ever since starting my 9-5 job, I've noticed a huge dip in my ability to create things or think creatively. And if I'm being totally honest, I started noticing it back in my last two years of college as well. It's almost as if the constant stress and work (and the small mini-depressions & burnout) really kills creativity.
Back in my childhood, I was an avid creator. I was drawing non-stop and writing non-stop, I've wrote many fan fictions as well as just random original stories that's no one has ever read, all just for fun. Of course, when it came to college and getting a job, I got busy and my energy was drained and depleted by the end of every day and it just got harder and harder to make time for drawing and writing like I use to.
But I've come to realize that it really isn't that I don't have the time, it's just that I don't make the time. Creativity is a muscle that needs to be strengthen and can grow weak when it's not in use. I've been on a fitness journey and have learned the joys of exercise and making those things into habits and I wondered if I could try doing something similar with creativity.
75 days of creativity
Depending on where you hang out on the internet, if you're anywhere in the "fitness" area of YouTube, you've probably heard of the 75 Hard Challenge. It's a 75 day challenge to learn "mental toughness" and if you fail to complete everything each day, you have to start back to Day 1.
Personally, I've never done 75 Hard and honestly have no desire to do so. But I do believe the general outcome of these kinds of challenges is to ultimately just build habits. Doing something every single day will make it become a habit (in theory).
Before going to college or starting my job, writing and drawing were just habits of mine and at some point I just fell off those habits. So, how do you build back habits? By doing them. I just wanted to make it a tiny bit fun and put a little challenge spin on it and steal the idea of doing something for 75 days every day.
Rules
Here are the rules I'm playing by for the next 75 days (and as of writing, I'm already started!) and if you happen to stumble upon this, please by all means, change the rules and put your own spin on it!
Daily tasks
- Focused creative activity for 30 minutes to an hour (this can include writing, drawing/painting/coloring, photography, basically anything that requires any ounce of creativity)
- Journal and/or write a diary entry every day
- Read! (Can be anything and audiobooks do count!)
- Crochet (work on a project or just practice crocheting)
Bonus
- Physical activity for 30 minutes+
- Meditate
- Power nap (when needed)
To clarify a few things: I don't count crocheting as creative work anymore because since I've learned the basics, now it's a bit of a mindless analogue activity that I can mostly practice with muscle memory (and if crocheting counted as a creative activity, I might as well just do a 75 day crochet challenge instead) and the physical activity is meant to serve for my continual fitness journey and I want to be able to prioritize both things and I truly believe fitness and wellbeing feed creativity.
If you end up missing anything on one of the days, it's okay and just keep going and create something the next day.
I've already completed my first successful week and I've been really enjoying it. It has made every day so far feel very meaningful because each day I'm creating something or working on a creative project that I wasn't doing before. I'll be checking in every so often, giving little updates about my progress and see how things go!