The journal part of this book is yours to do with as you please. I’ve written 365 project suggestions, but they are just that: suggestions. Feel free to ignore, rearrange, edit, and/or repeat as you see fit. Perhaps you’ll even design an entire year’s project around just one of them. While some are simpler than others, all of them are meant to be doable by anyone, with any level of previous creative experience.

Since my own daily project was visual, I’ve made suggestions from a visual standpoint. However, most of the suggested ideas can be interpreted for written or audio projects, and in some cases they are specifically designed for them. The blank spaces are for you to jot ideas, sketch plans, note experiences, scrapbook images, document your project, or just doodle in—it’s all up to you.

Most important: Don’t stress out. Remember, this is about taking little steps. When doing your daily project, focus on the current day and don’t think about tomorrow, next week, or next month. Big projects can be incredibly daunting, but you’ll be amazed at what you can do when you break them down into a series of tiny, manageable pieces.

And don’t forget to share what you’re doing! I want to help you do that, so please send an e-mail about what you’re doing to [email protected], and I will post about your project on the 365 blog: www.MakeSomething365.com.

Now get started already!

ABOUT DAILY PROJECTS

A yearlong daily project can be overwhelming—that’s a good and a bad thing. The sheer scale of the task can make it seem impossible to accomplish, but it’s that daunting quality that actually creates so many opportunities for incredible and unexpected results. Pushing yourself beyond your assumed limits is what it’s all about.

For some people, just starting at all will be a giant hurdle. Others will dive right in only to discover that they’re in over their heads halfway through. The problem (and also the exciting part) is that you don’t know what you’re getting into when you start a long-term project.

The concept of a daily practice isn’t new. However, with the rise of easy-to-use Internet technology and inexpensive digital cameras, the concept has exploded. Suddenly anyone can easily share a project, gain an audience, and in turn inspire others to try it out as well. So what’s the big deal? Doing something every day can change your life for the better, whether it’s gaining a new level of skill, nurturing latent abilities, or just seeing what dedication and commitment can produce. And no matter what the outcome, you will learn more about yourself and feel a sense of accomplishment that’s rare to find in our normal daily lives.

A daily project is a personal journey that can offer you a rare opportunity for self-discovery and personal growth with tangible results. And who knows? Maybe even a new career, a book deal, an exhibition, an extra source of income, or even fame and fortune.

CHOOSING A SUBJECT OR MEDIUM

The key to a successful daily project is deciding on a subject or medium that you will enjoy exploring for a year. Your ideas may come as a flash of inspiration, or it may be something you experiment with and research before settling on. Keep in mind that a simpler idea will go a lot farther than a complicated one, which can bog you down as it becomes increasingly difficult to produce.

If you choose a consistent subject matter (skulls, stars, smiley faces, Chihuahuas, etc.), pick something you already like. You probably have plenty examples of it in your environment to inspire you, and you’ll be less likely to get tired of it before a year is over.

If you pick a consistent medium or technique (oil painting, photography, collage, etc.), this is your chance to take your skill to another level. They say practice makes perfect, and you’ll be getting a lot of practice in the course of your project. Choose something you really want to master.

I enjoyed picking my subject and diving into the project but feel free to test out a few ideas before you commit yourself to an idea. Once you get going, don’t be afraid to allow your subject or medium to morph. Perhaps you start with oil painting, but allow yourself to try other types of painting, or maybe you start with Chihuahuas, but move to other breeds of dogs as well. Let your interests guide you.

Once you settle on your subject or medium, you may find that you’ll want lots of inspiration to help keep you going (especially after you work through all of the obvious solutions), so I’ve provided a short list of places to start on the following page…

SHARING YOUR WORK

It may be tempting to keep your daily project a secret, but having an audience can be an incredibly helpful and rewarding part of the experience. Why should you open your project up to public scrutiny? It may feel easier and safer to do it on your own, like a personal journal. Then there’s no fear of judgment if you give up or something doesn’t work out as you’d hoped.

So what do you gain from having an audience?

ENCOURAGEMENT A daily project is a hard task, and it really helps to have people encouraging you along the way (think of the people who cheer on marathon runners).

INSPIRATION People who followed my project gave me lots of good suggestions for things I could make and materials I could work with (sometimes they even mailed me those items, from as far away as Australia!).

ACCOUNTABILITY It’s much harder to give up on a project when you feel like people actually care that you’re doing it. I knew my readers were excited to see what I would come up with next, and in turn, that kept me excited to keep making new things for them to see.

SURPRISES A daily project can turn into a daily grind if there’s no element of surprise, and an audience can bring things to it that you never imagined. Not only did my audience help shape the direction of my project, making it something much bigger than I ever imagined, they’ve kept it going long after I finished my year. Who knows what an audience will be able to do for you?

So what’s the best way to get your daily project out there?

374. Snow (Day) Skull (with DudeCraft)

Even though my year of skull-making has ended, I continue to make skulls when the opportunity arises. This skull was created with my friend Paul; I even documented it as it melted away.

Technology is ever-changing, but the Internet is one of the easiest, most inexpensive ways to reach a potentially very large audience. You could choose to go analog and use the bulletin board at a community center or send things to a select group through the mail, but for practical purposes, a web-based project is going to be the best option for most people.

There are plenty of online tools you can use (see “Online Sharing Tools” for a list of resources); the key is not letting technology derail your project. If you’re comfortable with a certain service, don’t add learning new software to your to-do list. If blogging and social media are completely new to you, I recommend one of the free blogging options available, such as Blogger or WordPress. Both are easy to set up and use—just follow the directions on their sites. I created Skull-A-Day in 2007 in Blogger in less than five minutes and have never paid a cent to run the site since.

The nice thing about blogs is that you can always tinker with them later (Skull-A-Day went through three redesigns in its first year alone), so don’t stress about what it looks like at the beginning. Make something simple so that you have a place to point people the moment your project begins. Just as you will acquire new tools and skills to complete your daily projects, you’ll acquire new web tools and skills, too—as you need them.

MOVING THE FINISH LINE

Not everyone finishes a yearlong daily project. Don’t feel guilty if you want to give up—and don’t be afraid to change the rules! So what do you do if you’ve started your project and find that it is getting too big for you to handle? First, you should congratulate yourself on getting started at all. Next, you have to make a choice about moving the finish line, whether by changing the rules, adjusting the time frame, or doing a combination of both.

If you find that the rules you set up at the start of your project are getting in the way or stressing you out, change them. Really, it’s that simple. It’s your project, and you set the parameters. Maybe you do something every other day instead of every day, scale back the size of what you’re making, or even switch to a new subject matter or medium. See what elements are making it hard for you and adjust them to a comfortable fit.

If it’s not a matter of the details, but a problem with the time commitment, then why not scale back to a shorter time frame? Perhaps six months, or one month, or even one week will make it more feasible for you. You may end up doing a series of shorter projects that add up to a year. Some people choose to make 365 pieces total, but at a pace that is more comfortable for them, with any number of days between pieces.

Regardless of how you adjust, you’ll still be learning and growing along the way. Even if you just decide to stop altogether, don’t discount the work you’ve done so far. You may be surprised when you look back and see how much you’ve already gained.

One final note on the subject: If you haven’t begun your daily project yet, don’t let the prospect of not finishing stop you from starting at all. Too often, people think and talk about all the things they could be doing, but never take action. Just trying something new can do wonders for your perspective on the world and on yourself.