I'm curious what are results, your experiences with daily blogging, taking photos, drawing etc. challanges. How long have you tried it, any suprising results, did the end results of this process met your expectations?
Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
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Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#2The most positively life changing one for me was the Whole 30: http://whole30.com/
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#3The most positively life changing one for me was the Whole 30: http://whole30.com/
This sounds pretty good. But I do love my grains and legumes.
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#4I was doing the 750 words writing challenge for several months. (http://750words.com/ for example.) It was pleasant, and I used it as a good time to write explicitly about things I was thinking about. I used it to make a lot of self-evaluations (eg: which purchases have I made recently were worthwhile and which were not? What does that tell me about what I should buy in the future? The answer for me was that upgrades weren't worth it unless there was significant frustration caused by the item it was upgraded. Going from an OK mouse to a nice one doesn't change anything even though it feels like it will. But going from a mouse where the right button doesn't register half the time to an OK mouse is worth it.)
I worry that it might have reinforced some thoughts I was having at the time that were counter-productive, and in the end opening up to a friend was more beneficial than writing about it. YMMV
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#5I've been having a good experience with duolingo so far. The lessons are short enough to not impose, and the difficulty curve is very low, so I don't dread getting everything wrong. I've been at it for two months, and have never missed more than one day at a time. I doubt I'll ever achieve fluency with the app alone, but I'd feel comfortable as a tourist.
This is somewhat surprising to me, as I've tried (and failed) to build a daily habit of journaling and mindful meditation, but they never stuck for more than a couple weeks, despite only being 10 minutes a day.
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#6Im vlogging everyday. Every. Day. Its hard. Not all content is great. But Im learning a lot and making progress. Results so far have been better than I thought. People are starting to engage my content. Ive also motivated others to vlog as well. You should try it.
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#7The most positively life changing one for me was the Whole 30: http://whole30.com/
This sounds pretty good. But I do love my grains and legumes.
Some of the restrictions in Whole 30 are silly, but for most programs like this, the main point is that the restrictions force you to change your habits. The details of the allowed and forbidden foods are almost irrelevant as long as the resulting diet is complete and balanced. I bet you could run this program with whole wheat (actually eating the wheat berries, not bread/pasta) and lower-starch legumes (again, eaten whole and not as stuff like refried beans) and get similar benefits.
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#8I wrote 1000 words a day for three months and had the rough draft of a novel to show for it. Felt pretty good, it was the combo of "get 1000 on the paper" and "it's ok if it's dog shit" that really helped me get it
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#9For the last two years I have been doing well formed pull-ups almost everyday. I could not do a single pull-up on Dec 31, 2014. Today I can do 5 perfect formed pull-ups.
Re: Ask HN: What is your experience with 'doing something' daily challenges?
#10I make it a habit to program everyday. At least one git commit. Jerry Seinfeld was famous for using his Calendaring system of marking an X for everyday he committed to his challenge. "Don't break the chain!"