Blog Challenge: Why is it worthy to start one?

Blog challenge is completed. It took 26 days and brought 24 posts, all letters of alphabet included. On the I've learnt things, which will encourage you to challenge yourself. 

26+ days ago I didn’t know that a challenge I got myself into will show me so many thing, not only related to writing and blogging but also to my personality, a way of expressing myself and topics that matter to me. To my surprise I didn’t even need to wait until I reached letter "Z" as already by "D" I saw how much I could learn from it.

The sheer fact of taking the challenge was already exciting. From the very beginning I was determined not only to begin but also to finish, and to do it well. In the beginning I had doubts (and you will have them too): I couldn't imagine myself writing every single day for next month or so, always having and idea and enough strength to write. I didn’t want to start the challenge and stop half-way. But, as to my surprise, after only few days it became natural. The more I wrote the easier it was to continue. Even though there were days when I felt it would more convenient not to write, I kept doing it. I persevered. My husband all off you, readers were great encouragement with all suggestions and comments. I realised that I can actually write much more often than I used to. For the purpose of the challenge I wrote every day and even though after it finished I may not be able to write so often, I know I can write once or twice a week and not like before - once a month if not less often. That’s also because I realised there are so many things in life to share about that you don't have to wait for the perfect topic. There will be things that will attract the bigger audience but there will be those which will matter only to you but you still need to write about them and have courage to speak up.

The variety of subjects I wrote about, on the other hand, taught me how to express my thoughts and present my opinions. When I was setting up “Mine of Ideas” the main purpose was to write about creative businesses and people. I wanted to continue what I started when I was a full-time journalist. Once I started, I realised I could add more posts about creative thinking and processes behind it but I was thinking I should stick to the original idea. Now I see that it doesn’t have to be the case. I still want to write about all that creative side of business and life but there also other things I can have my say on and which people would like to read about. It helped me to establish a few main areas I want to write about and it may as well turn into another project. 

 

I suddenly realised and I can write about what really matters to me and people will be interested in it and it gave me again a sense of freedom. At the end I felt I want to encourage everyone to take up on a challenge of any kind. If you want to explore a new idea or teach yourself a new habit, start a challenge. Maybe you have a great idea in your mind and you are worrying if it will work, you want to learn to play an instrument, start a group, want to start a new hobby, you want to move to another town or you want to start a new project and you're not sure if that is something for you. Give yourself a trial period by starting a challenge. Just choose a reasonable amount of time not to make it too long.

I encourage you to consider taking on any challenge. It doesn’t have to be writing but can be related to doing acts of kindness, helping others, working out, eating, reading or anything else you want to be better at. It’ll give you a chance to have a look into yourself, review your actions, come up with new ideas and once you complete it, you’ll really have a sense you achieved something.

Design your day - a solution when you have lots to do and you don't know what to do

I grabbed a list of things to do with phone numbers and addresses on it and a map. I purchased a day travel card and embarked on my journey into the city. This is the story how I designed not one day but many days of my life and how you can do it too.

I really like my days off which don't fall on the weekends, because being an achiever I always have lots of things to tick from my to-do lists and the days off are those I use to accomplish all of my plans. People to meet, places to visit and things to buy accumulate throughout the weeks and when I finally get my free day I go on a journey. It makes me feel like a modern city explorer. Even if I visit places others had discovered before me, I still feel the thrill of seeing something new and adding on to the experience of my life. Later, I am even more happy to tell others in writing about the places I had visited. What makes those days exciting is planning stage, picking things I have to do and those I just want to do and doing something amazingly simple but so exciting. So what do I do?

1. I write down a list of all places to visit, things to do, things to buy that I really want to complete on the day. If they're too many I choose those which are urgent and important or I want to do the most. I check how long will take me a journey from point A to B, B to C, C to D etc., so I know how many places I can tick off in one day.

What appear on my lists are usually current exhibitions, shops I want to visit, people I need to talk to to write for blog and Weekendnotes.com. So I visited Coffee 7 at Forest Gate where I found out about the suspended coffee, Look Mum No Hands in Clerkenwell where I went for the very same reason, Victoria station where I wanted to buy tickets for our little trip and couple other places, October Gallery for the exhibition of Ghanaian painter Ablade Glover, Wellcome Collection (for my next post) and Camden Market to buy creative gifts.

2. Pin them on the map – you can use Google maps like I do or a paper map.

The map I used for planning my great big day off

This way you'll be able to design the best possible route. Even on the days off we have limited time and travelling for too long will eventually make us tired and will prevent us from enjoying the trip. I have some sort of love for logistics and creating routes, so I really enjoy that part of designing my day. I can see which route is quicker or more effective than the other, which place is better to visit in what time of the day etc.

3. Begin the journey
Feel like an explorer! Be a tourist in your own city, town or area. Enjoy every minute of your exploration, soak the atmosphere of places you visit, put your head out of bus's window and feel the breeze on your face. There is nothing better (maybe there is but let's say this gives you freedom)!

At the end of the day I arrive home feeling that I did something. And they weren’t only useful things but things I wanted to do for a long time. So next time you feel you have nothing to do, design your day.

Adventure of a lunch hour

What can you do within an hour? Let's see - go from South East to North West London by tube, run few kilometres, walk probably half of that distance, and cook a casserole. You can also waste it in the queue in the bank or at the post office. But you can choose to do something what will enrich you and make your daily routine more exciting, like take part in a discussion, attend church service or learn how to sing. During lunch break most people rush in the direction they only know, others sit in the restaurants enjoying their meal with business partners, colleagues or friends but you can try to spend it differently  I attended different lunchtime events within an hour and here are is the result.

I work in the part of London where there is nothing interesting to do and nowhere interesting to go, maybe apart from one big field. So on one of my days off I wanted to see how is it to take a 'real' lunch break in Central London. Before I arrived to Oxford Circus at 1pm I had to prepare good logistic plan and get to know what's available out there.

 

I started with lunch time service at All Souls Church at 1.05pm I was greeted by the church staff and took a seat at the back of the room as I didn’t want to disturb anyone later on when I would be leaving before the end of the service. The service lasts approximately 30 minutes and is followed by sandwich lunch, so you don't even need to eat later at your desk or spend extra money on your way back to the office. The service I attended gathered about 50-60 people. It started with a song followed by teaching. The theme was based on first two chapters of the book of Nehemiah and was part of the series – “In the workplace with… (fill in the gap with any Biblical character).” I had to rush off to another event, so I left All Souls Church before the service finished but it was a time well-spent and if I was working in the area I would be their guest more often.  

I quickly walked to the tube station and took Bakerloo line to Trafalgar Square to attend the next event - a lunchtime talk in the National Gallery. I had problems with finding the room it was taking place, so I strongly advise you to find out the exact location before attending any lunchtime event. After all, you don't want to waste your precious time on running around a gallery or a church only to listen to the message for last few minutes and miss on the whole experience.

The room in Sainsbury Wing was packed when I arrived, mostly with middle age and elderly people listening to the lecture about “Post-impressionism and Roger Fry". The lecture was planned to last 45 minutes and even though I got there for only last ten minutes it still was a pleasure to get a bit of cultural knowledge and watch some interesting paintings with a commentary.

I managed to fit these two events within an hour and that included travelling from one place to another. Pretty good, isn't it? There are many more events available during lunch hour and you can enjoy them on different days of the week. One day you can attend a lecture, another a church service, a workshop or just walk around you workplace. Whatever you choose it will be time well-spent. Just don't plan too much for one hour as instead of enjoying one thing to the fullest you will get back to the office even more tired. The following day after church/gallery experience I went for a talk in Photographers' Gallery, also at Oxford Circus, and spent there most of my 'lunch break'. Meeting with people with similar interest in the middle of the day is refreshing and gives you inspiration to take back to the office for the rest of the day.

Spending lunchtime in a different way is a unique and positive experience. It showed me something new, it enriched me with knowledge and… logistic skills.

I appreciate all of those who organise lunchtime activities. They are creative in offering the public the best they can in a very short time. So instead of having your lunch 'al desko' go out there and check all those singing classes, scientific lectures, gym exercises, volunteering opportunities and many more…