New Year's Intentions and the 100 day challenge

While trying to come up with my New Year's Resolutions or "Intentions" this year, I came to realize something about myself:  I do much better with a shorter deadline.  There is something about having the WHOLE year to get something done that is practically a green light for procrastination.  So instead of year long intentions, this year I am challenging myself to do 3 things in 100 days.  100 days is short enough to hold my attention and long enough to actually accomplish something bigger.   AND....I want to invite you to do the same in the 100 day challenge.

Think about it.  Let me use a non-quilty example from my list last year: train for a 5K.  Yeah, OK.  January starts off great, I am usually really proud of myself at the end of the month and feeling good having done my training runs 3 times a week on schedule.  Somewhere in the middle of February, I falter.  Perhaps, take a week off, followed by only 1 training run a week for the rest of the month.  By the middle of March, I am off the wagon and usually telling myself that I have all year to do this silly 5K and I will resume training when: it's nicer weather, not too hot, not too cold, not birthday season (too much cake to run), the kids are back in school, the kids are out of school.....you get the idea.

If I had set my goal to only be 100 days, by the middle of February, I am almost half way there.  It is too late to go back; my stubbornness kicks in.  With a year long goal, I can usually talk myself out of it at this stage, but if I've made it half way, I am more likely to talk myself into NOT QUITTING!  Ready to put it to the test?

How does the 100 Day Challenge work?

1) Pick 3 specific Quilty/Craft goals - finish something old?  try something new?  declutter/destash?  easy/hard?  Doesn't matter, just be specific.
2) On Wednesday, January 6th, either leave your 3 goals in a comment in that day's Kick Off post, or write your own blog post with your intentions and link them up to the linky posted that day.
3) Get to work
4) Check in linky's will be posted at Day 30, Day 60, and Day 85.  (You can also tell us your progress in the comments section of the post that day if you don't want to link up).
5) Finale will be April 15th (easy to remember as it is tax day in the US), when you will tell us how you did on your goals.

What to you think?  Want to join in?

I am picking three specific things to accomplish in 100 days.  Why so specific?  That's another thing I've learned about myself: if I let myself generalize too much, I often can rationalize that I accomplished something when I have not.  Like the time I wanted to "smile more".  Yeah, well I got it up to a couple times a year which IS more!

My specific goals:

1) Finish my Lazy Bum Flying Geese bee blocks.  This might not seem like a big deal, but I have several (or 14) left and they are mostly paper pieced (easy but time consuming).  Unfortunately for the Lazy Bums, having an 11 month deadline to finish everyone's blocks was just too easy to ignore.  I started off well and finished several blocks in the first month, but then took 10 months off before I even thought about doing another.  It's high time I wrap this obligation up!

2) Get back to blogging!  I mentioned this one in a previous post.  I wish I could say that I was just Instagramming everything, but that isn't really true.  I got majorly burnt out on quilting right before we moved.  Unfortunate timing!  True, the move caused a huge disruption in routine, and my physical sewing space; but, when you are already trying to muster the motivation to get out of a rut AND you have to overcome the chaos of a move, it just doesn't happen.  It was depressing.  I could barely summon the energy to complete the blocks from the two monthly bees I was obligated to.  But, I think I am out of my funk and I'm ready to get back to quilting and communicating with others who share my passion.  So, please look for TWO posts a week from me.  I am continuing Building Blocks Tuesday, and I want to post at least one other time during the week.  It might be a finish (please Lord, please be a finish), or it might be a WIP Wednesday post, or perhaps I will be linking up to Fiona's (at Celtic Thistle Stitches) monthly "New to Me" linky for when I try something new.  Who knows?   But, I will have something to say twice a week for 100 days.

3) Finish Technicolor Galaxy - this goal is HUGE!  I mean, not only is it a complicated quilt, but I haven't really even started it.  This QAL class started last January and finished up recently and I have barely cut the pieces for the first section.   I paid for this class, I like this quilt, I just need to do it!  I don't want to chalk this up as another instance of me wasting money.   This is not a goal I take lightly.  Essentially, I am turning a year long QAL into 3 months.  Time to put on my big girl pants and get to work!



So?  Who's In?  Great!  See you Wednesday!

Jen