5 Tips for Doing a Daily Creative Challenge
Undertaking a daily creativity challenge has proven to be one of the most beneficial growth tools for me as an artist. But, as the name implies, it's also one of the most challenging!
The benefits of doing a daily art challenge have been so great for me, personally, that I've tried to make time to do some kind of ongoing daily creative project at least once a year since about 2007.
Through all those years, I've learned a thing or two on how to keep going and not only finish most of them, but also embrace the process itself. So today I'm sharing some of my best tips for starting, finishing and enjoying a daily creative challenge.
5 Tips For Undertaking A Daily Creativity Challenge
I've done a lot of daily challenges over the last 18 years years including two 365 photo challenges, one NaNoWriMo, several 100 Day Projects, a 365 illustration challenge and several 30 day challenges. I didn't finish all of them but, I did finish a lot of them! So, I feel like I might be able to offer some tips for those who want to undertake their own daily creativity challenge!
1. You Can Start Your Daily Challenge Anytime
You don't need to start your challenge on January 1st or wait for a long standing group challenge like NaNoWriMo or The 100 Day Project to start. You can start any time you're ready or need a creative boost. 100 days in a row is 100 days in row no matter when you begin. So just begin.
2. You Don't Need to Do 100 Days
There's no set number of days in a row that you have to complete to make it a daily challenge. (well ok.. you have to do more than one day - otherwise it's just a "day" challenge!). Start with 7 or 10 if that seems more manageable.
Personally, I would try to do at least 30 days just because I find that's how long it takes for me to really start to see results in terms of growth, skill and tool mastery and finding my groove/style. My first project was a 365 photography project and surprisingly, I really enjoyed it despite the length.
3. Don't Be Too Ambitious With Your Time Or Level of Complexity
The worst thing you can do to derail yourself is pick something too ambitious. Be realistic about how much time you can give to this each day.
My first 100 Day Project was a 10 minute doodle challenge. I had to complete a new doodle each day in 10 minutes. I figured anyone can find a 10 minute window in their day, and I was right.
Two of my subsequent 100 Day Projects had 10 minute time limits on them as well. Some days that meant I had a finished product that I was not at all proud of... but that's part of the process. Accept it. Daily challenges really help you break through perfectionism blocks!
You also don't want to pick something that's very complex or 10 grades above your current skill level. You'll struggle to finish, you'll be frustrated with yourself and you likely won't complete many finished pieces of art. Doing this is meant to be a challenge for sure - you want to pick something that will push you to better your skills but at the same time, if it's so difficult or time consuming that you can't finish, you'll abandon the project and you won't experience any growth (and you'll likely feel lousy about yourself).
Bonus Tip: Consider coming up with a theme - it can make it easier to come up with something to do each day. My drawing projects all have themes. My photography ones didn't but I would give myself weekly themes - like all my photos for that week had to include red in them. It helps keep it interesting and makes it easier to zero in on something to create. Sometimes limitations are the biggest inspirations!
4. Don't Freak Out If You Miss A Day!
Sometimes, stuff happens. If you miss a day, don't panic. It's not a big deal. Just pick up again the next day.
I don't think I've done a single daily creativity challenge where I haven't missed at least one day. Yes, it makes me irritated with myself but, quitting because I missed one day would irritate me even more and would, frankly, be a big mistake. I'd miss out on so much if I quit because of a couple of random bad days.
5. Put Your Work Out There (or not)
Almost all of my daily creative challenges have been public - in fact it's one of the key components of the official 100 Day Project. My first 365 challenge was on flickr. Another was done on Live Journal (see? That's how long I've been doing this - bonus points if you even remember flickr and Live Journal!). All of my 100 Day Projects have been on Instagram.
NaNoWriMo was not shared (except with a couple of very close friends who got to read the completed manuscript) but I did do it with a group of others - which also has benefits. For me, putting my project on line does a few things that are really beneficial for me:
- it keeps me accountable - once I got going on each project, people liked seeing them and I didn't want to disappoint them
- it forces me to be ok with something that I'm less than happy with. I've posted a lot of photos and finished pieces that were less than stellar and some that were down right awful. But you know what? Nobody cared but me. In fact some of the things I was really unhappy with were things others really liked. Art is subjective. Remember that.
- it helps me build a community around my art and it helps me participate in other art communities. And I find art communities to be some of the most inclusive and encouraging on the internet and that's been very helpful to me.
If putting your art on-line really stresses you out, then don't. Or you can simply choose to share a collection of content every few days or weeks - either on social media or your own blog. The important thing is the project itself so if your biggest roadblock is sharing publicly, then don't do it.
Bonus Tip: Never Underestimate the Power Of Community
One of the benefits of doing a 365 challenge that starts on January 1st or doing the 100 Day Project with its set start date is that a built in community comes with it. But even if you start on a random Tuesday in May, you can still find on-line communities where you can connect with other artists and the support can be wonderful.
Instagram, Threads, TikTok and BlueSky are all great platforms for sharing your work and it's easy to find other artists by using hashtags. #the100dayproject hashtag gets used all year round so that's an easy one but there are loads more - just do some quick searching with words like:
- photography
- daily practice
- daily art challenge
- illustration
- watercolour painting
- knitting
- writing
- sketching
When you find people whose work you like, see what hashtags they're using and then check them out and see if the work there appeals to you.
Remember, the point of the project is to do it for yourself, first and foremost. Use it to build skills or to make time for yourself and your creativity or to find a community or all of the above. It will be hard, there will be days where you're just "meh" about the whole thing and don't want to do it anymore. But unless you're truly burning out (and it happens!) try to push forward because the rewards are so very worth it!
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