What is the 100 Day Project?
What if you did something creative every day for 100 days? You could spend as little as 10-15 minutes each day on this creative project, or longer if or when you have the time. Ideally, you would finish this project in 100 days, but you can give yourself some grace. The point is to do said creative thing for 100 days – be they consecutive days or not, that is up to you.
That is the simple premise of the 100 day project.
The project was started by Michael Bierut, who teaches a workshop for the graduate graphic design students at the Yale School of Art. You can read his reflections on the project here. Elle Luna and a group of her friends brought it to Instagram in 2014; Lindsay started co-leading it in 2017; and the rest, as they say, is history!
Will you have 100 finished pieces at the end of the 100 day project?
Well, that depends on you. Most people who undertake the project tend to work small, and yes, they do end up with 100 finished pieces at the end of their project.
But you can decide to do a working project, which means you can do something like 100 days of fantasy novella writing, for example. You can decide that you will spend a minimum amount of time every day for 100 days working on your project. At the end of 100 days, you may have one novella or ten, depending on how prolific a writer you are!
Why you should take part in the 100 day project
Simply put: because it will help you to kickstart your creativity! Here’s how.
What working on a particular project for 100 days does, is that it helps you build up the discipline for a daily creative practice. That, in and of itself, is a practice that can change your life, and I say this in all seriousness.
More importantly, if you are serious about building a creative skill, you have to put butt in chair and show up. If you wait for inspiration to strike, well, you could be waiting for a long time indeed.
Doing the same thing over a prolonged period of time can also help you enhance your skills. If you do something like 100 days of doodling, for example, you will be able to see a noticeable improvement in your skills, in the flow of your lines, and even in your ideas and images that you doodle.
By showing up consistently, you also build up and feed your creative muscle, and that can translate into a more creative approach to life in general. I’ve found that creative problem solving, outside the box thinking, and bursting through barriers all require a creative bent of mind, which you can build with regular, consistent practice.
Also read: 9 no-fail tips to help you succeed at The 100 Day Project
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100 day project ideas
If you’re still feeling a little bit lost about what you’d like to do for 100 days, here’s a short list of ideas to help you get your wheels turning
100 days of:
doodling
lettering
tarot pulls
macro photography
digital collage
short stories
poetry
haiku
You get the drift, right?
Once you choose a project, choose a specific hashtag that you will use for your project. This makes it easy for others to follow your project, and for you to find all your project posts. For more information on the project and how to choose a hashtag, check out the official 100 day project website here.
So, are you doing the 100 day project? And if you are, do share your project idea {and your hashtag, if you’ve chosen it} with me in the comments!
As for me, I will be doing 100 days of painting intuitively {a working project}, and I couldn’t be more excited to start.
P.S.: This year, the 100 day project starts on 22 February 2023!
I have always wanted to do 100 days of poetry or prose. But never got around to start it. 100 days of art sounds so awesome. Imagine all the wonderful artwork you would have in the end. It’s an excellent challenge, makes you consistent and learn something new as well.
Oh, maybe you can start it this year. It would be awesome to have a collection of poems or prose!
I will take up this 100 day challenge with One Tarot Card A Day from 2nd April. I tried doing it in January, but missed it after 15 days. This is a good opportunity to revive the habit. Thanks for coming up with this challenge. my hashtag will be #DailyTarotReading
That’s a good idea! Simple and quick, too. But I didn’t come up with this challenge – I’m just taking part in it!
It does sound like a good idea – in the end, it’s about forming a habit, isn’t it? I might consider it because as you said, it’s only 10-15 minutes of doing something worthwhile. Thanks!
Yes, it’s a great way to form a habit and also improve at whatever project you choose. 100 days of doing something will bring about quite an improvement for sure! I’d love to hear more about your project 🙂
Ooh, it’s so tempting to pick a project for 100 days. Spending 15 minutes on it seems to be doable though I am not sure as I feel I’m already so busy. But, artwork would help me, right? Thanks for the idea, Shinjini. ❤️
I’m crazy busy too; I’ve got so many projects that I am juggling right now it isn’t even funny! But carving out 15-30 minutes everyday to focus on something I really want to build up and improve felt like a big yes for me. And yes, artwork would be very helpful! Go for it! <3
I like the idea and then creativity could be in photography, art or writing. Thanks for sharing about this 🙂
Yes, they’re all creative pursuits! And creativity isn’t limited to these three areas, either!
Thank you for sharing this idea. May just take it up!
I’d love to hear what project you decide to take up!
100 day project taught me so much about my creative resistance.I loved the creativity that blossomed after..I am still amazed we stayed committed to it,wow.seeing your art was like a cheerleader on days I did not feel like creating…
Oh really? I’m so happy to hear that! And yes, the 100 day project taught me not only about creative resilience, but I think it helped me find a style of painting that I really enjoy.
I want to do 100 days of doodling or lettering in my journal. Just simple drawing and a motivational sentence. Might not have time to do everyday, but I love this idea. Thanks for suggesting
That sounds like the perfect 100 day project! Simple and do-able. And even if you can’t do it every single day, that’s fine. Your 100 day project can totally take longer than 100 days to do. Or you can make it a 100 day-ish project. Make it suit you!!