15 Jan 6000 Minutes
2020 100 Day Project
I have loved finishing a project every day during the past three years of 100 Day Projects. It is immensely satisfying to finish something – to, metaphorically at least, cross it off the list and share it with people who care about fabric and art as I do.
However, as I’ve been doing this kind of work for ten years now and often been working on a deadline, whether self-imposed as the 100 Day Projects or external, I have acquired a tendency to work too quickly. I feel the time pressure. I hesitate to stop and re-evaluate a project – does that line need to move a bit? Are those lines making a shape I like? Is that stitching too uneven or messy? It isn’t that I am necessarily unhappy with the results, but with how I feel during the process. I want to be more relaxed and process-focused and less product-focused.
So, this year, instead of rules about WHAT I am making, I am setting rules about HOW I am making. There is one rule and it is very simple: work for 60 minutes a day. If I finish something-great, if not, also great. I called the project 6000 Minutes to emphasize the greater quantity of time (as opposed to 100 Days or 100 Hours). There are a lot of minutes – no need to rush.
I will continue to post my results every day of the project. I plan to post a before and after picture. Where I was on the project at the start of my 60 minutes and where I finished. I’m interested in how this will show both how long this work takes and how nicely 60 minutes a day can add up to something good.
I’m making one other change to the structure of this project. I will be working Monday thru Friday and taking the weekends off. Doing 100 days in a row is very intense. I have loved doing it for three years, but this year, as with the above, I feel a need to move at a slower pace. I’ve proven to myself that I can do 100 days in a row. I want to try 20 weeks of 5 days. This extends the project into the early summer, but I am interested to see if this is a more sustainable way of working. I am still exploring the best ways for me to accomplish all the administrative work I need to do and to do as much creative work as possible as well.
I hope you’ll follow along and see what I create during 6000 Minutes! My project will begin on January 20, 2020 and finish on June 5, 2020.
Follow me on Instagram @debbiegrifka, #6000minutes or on Facebook: Debbie Dunn Grifka
No Comments