30 Days Challenges

Current challenge

Goal: Write in a journal for about 10 minutes each day.
Start with the mood of the day, then a prompt in a life category, and let the mind flow.
Write a weekly summary every Sunday.
Why:
- As an overthinker, I tend to go around in circles on certain issues, often making them more complicated than they are and procrastinating in a way. I’ve done a weekly journal several times and it has helped, but I think I could try doing it daily if prompted with good questions.
- It’s also a good time of year to reflect on what’s going well, what could be improved, and to set new goals for 2025.
Completed on December 30th, 2024
Experience summary:
- It was especially useful at this time of year to reflect on the past months and think about goals for the next year. I’m not sure it would be useful to do it every day forever, but maybe I could try to do it more often, or just increase my Sunday checks to include more thinking.
- I’m pretty bad at analyzing and summarizing my “mood of the day”, so that part of the exeperiment wasn’t a success
- But with good prompts, I can come up with new ideas pretty quickly and find a way out of a lot of things that would go around in my head if I didn’t sit down and think about them for a few minutes.

Goal (do at least one of the following each day):
- Option 1: Add 2 new words per day and review the previous ones on Mosalingua
- Option 2: Create or review a vocabulary sheet
Why:I’m planning a trip to Japan in 2025, so I’ve installed an app to learn a few words. But it’s hard and I’m not regular, so I’m not making much progress. Maybe I need some extra motivation to do it, this challenge might help.
Completed on November 30th, 2024
Experience summary: I didn’t manage to add 2 new words a day because I couldn’t find the right app. It suggested too complicated words that I couldn’t even understand or pronounce once, so it was impossible to remember them. But I used the Mosalingua app every day to try to remember the words I already had in my list. I also made some cheat sheets and started listening to Paul Noble’s book to learn Japanese, so overall I still made some progress. It was a good challenge to push me a bit further, but it’s still hard :-).

Goal: Watch a 15-minute video on a new topic every day.
Why: Gain a broader knowledge of more things and discover potential new interests.
Topics done:
- Science: Internet history, Prehistory, History of electricity, 3D printing, vaccines, life evolution, Life in 2050, Decentralized finance (DeFi), Car Engines, Quantum Computers, How animals see the world, GPUs, Neuroplasticity
- History: Timeline of world history, Roman Empire, Industrial Revolution, vikings, Grenoble
- Culture: Art movements, Brazil (history, economy & culture), Seasonal time change, Japan History, Introduction to the major religions, Japan Culture, political systems, India
- Nature: Volcanoes, Climate change
- Health: Immune system
- Economic: Inflation
Completed on October 30th, 2024
Experience summary: I discovered a lot of excellent YouTube channels (and clearly messed with the YouTube algorithm, which no longer knows what to recommend to me ^^). I won’t keep this as a daily habit, but I now know that I can easily find videos that summarize something I know nothing about.

Goal: Add a reading session every afternoon (at least 15 minutes).
Why: I think I could read more, and it fits well with my goals of reducing screen time and having more peaceful moments in my days. I’m also going to use this challenge as an opportunity to go back to physical books (instead of Kindle) to see how it feels.

Goal: Meditate for at least 5 minutes every day.
Why: I’ve never been very successful with my previous attempts, but I’m interested in trying it again consistently for a month. I may use some rest time each day to stop overthinking and focus on the present.

Goal: Write 3 things I’m grateful for each day, or use gratitude prompts if ideas are hard to come by.
Why: I tend to focus a lot on the future, what might happen, what I should do to avoid or prepare for it, overthinking. This challenge could help me to be more present, positive, realize how lucky I am and improve my overall happiness.

Goal: Listen to an audiobook for 30 minutes each day.
Why: I’m a slow reader and listen to many podcasts. I like books, but I’m not making as much progress as I’d like. I feel Audible could be a solution to “read” more.

Goal: Practice piano for 15 minutes each day.
Why: I’ve had a piano for years, playing with one hand (or even one finger) for fun. I have tried different approaches to get better, but never really found the right method for me. I want to try again and be more consistent, see if I can make progress, or at least have fun doing it.

Goal: Try to draw something every day, regardless of the result.
Why: I draw very badly, but I’ve never really tried to improve. This challenge could help me to switch off, concentrate on something else, and who knows, maybe make some progress.