30 Day Challenges - The Ultimate List

Now that things look bleak, we may end up in lock down or partial lock down till end of this month. A week of home confinement feels like a leisure where we can allow ourselves to get a break from busy life - binge watching series or taking naps all day. I have been home since three weeks and after wasting loads of time, I have hit that stage, where even my inert brain can't take this inactivity anymore. It's like Rajnikanth getting an aversion of cigarettes after smoking hell lot of them in the movie Muthu - hitting rock bottom actually helps!

Here are a few 30 day challenges to use all this time(or the time left out after Netflix) a tad productively. The best way to keep going would be to publish your progress on a public platform - be it whatsapp status, instagram, facebook, twitter etc.

30 Day Challenges

Art & Crafts, DIYs:

• Learn to Draw/Sketch/Paint/Doodle/Calligraphy : Andrew Loomis books for drawing and Bob Ross videos for painting are a good start.
• Finish and post one drawing every day on Instagram, be it even a silly doodle.
• Sketch a small comic book with a story and characters.
• Revamp your old or boring clothes - 30 pieces for 30 days.
• Learn a new stitch everyday on a piece of cloth and patch all the pieces together.

Reading:

• Read 30 pages for 30 days.
• Visit a library that's nearby and read in peace(when Corona is gone).
• Read a poem everyday. 
• Try a genre which you don't read usually - even comics.

Writing:

• You can find a zillion writing prompts almost everywhere - from reddit to pinterest. Pick a prompt everyday and write with it.
• NaNoWriMo happens in November, but you can still write that novel you always wanted to write anytime.
• Write a poem everyday.
• Write a short story everyday.
• Write an answer on Quora everyday.

Photography:

• Learn one new photography tip/trick and use it to shoot something - Post it on instagram.
• Learn to take your own fab photos without depending on anyone.
• Learn photo and video editing - explore apps like Lightroom or snapseed and different features.
• Try new poses and click your own photo - when the corona is gone, you will rock at posing in Europe.
• Become an expert in one niche like macro, night or product photography.

Social/network:

• Call one person every day.
• Message one person every day.
• Video call your family.
• When Corona is gone:
• Meet someone for coffee/lunch or just like that everyday.
• Talk to a stranger.

Family:

• Have breakfast/lunch/dinner together at the dining table.
• Teach tech to your not-so-tech-savvy parents.
• Spend time with spouse and do things together.

Cooking: 

• Learn cooking your favorite food which you get to eat only at restaurants. This is gonna benefit you a lot, if you are someone like me who has been craving junk food, but can't order food in this lock down period. 
• Try a new recipe every day. 
• Try 30 baking recipes everyday - as simple as microwave mug recipes to a full fledged pizza from scratch.
• Become a pro in a new cuisine.

Reset/Unwind:

• Practice mindfulness everyday. Live slow. Be here. Now.
• Meditate for 5-10 minutes - curefit or any other guided relaxation app can help.
• Maintain a gratitude journal - write at least one thing you are grateful for.
• Light up all those candles you have been hoarding.
• Listen to calming/relaxing sounds or classical music to fall asleep or to just slow down your racing mind.
• Coloring is a great way to detach from all the things that are troubling you - there are many coloring books for adults including mandala books. If you don't have any right now, check the kid's section in newspaper. If you can't find that too, just paint some rock.
• Get over your phone addiction by limiting your screentime to an hour.
• Quit TV for 30 days.
• Do nothing for 10-15 mins everyday.
• Live off the grid for a month - take the no internet challenge.
• Leave your phone/tab outside the bedroom.

Health:

• Drink 2-3 litres of water everyday depending on your body weight.
• Eat a fruit everyday.
• Eat two or more veggies every day.
• Eat an egg everyday.
• Go vegetarian for a month.
• Quit white rice/white bread for 30 days.
• Quit sugar.
• Quit alcohol/cigarettes for 30 days - I know that this isn't that easy for many.
• Drink green tea every day.
• Try a green smoothie.
• No caffeine or cut down on caffeine with a hard stop at noon.
• Maintain a food log.
• Quit soda.
• When Corona is gone:
• Hit the gym every day.
• Go for a run.
• Walk 10K steps(can be done at home too)
• Take stairs and ditch the escalator.

Body/skin care:

• Brush twice everyday.
• Moisturize every single day after shower.

Brain:

• Solve a puzzle/sudoku/crossword everyday.
• Learn algorithms to solve rubix in 30 days.
• Try lumosity app to train your brain.
• Write down 10 ideas everyday.

Self love/care:

• Write one thing you love about yourself every day.
• Write your future self a letter every day for different time periods. I use Futureme for this - it sends the future letter to your mail on the day it's supposed to be delivered.
• Make your bucket list of everything including the books you want to read or the series you wnat to binge on.
• Take some time to dress up nice - keep your outfit and accessories ready the night before, if this is going to take more time in the mornings, when you have things to do.
• Cut down toxic people or at least the amount of time you spend with them.

Cut some slack for yourself:

• Watch that show you have always wanted to watch - try to keep it under 30 mins.
• Get yourself some laughs - stand up comedy, sitcoms, memes - anything that floats your boat.
• Stop checking your weight for 30 days.
• Learn how to take a power nap and wake up refreshed.
• Treat yourself and buy that thing you have always wanted to buy.

Home:

• Discard one useless item every single day.
• Take up the minsgame challenge - where you declutter one thing on Day 1, two on Day 2, so on and 30 on Day 30.
• Clean up and organize one tiny area for 10-15 mins every day.

Coding/Work in general:

• Developing a new application in 30 days.
• Getting better : Take up the challenges in Hacker Rank.
• Start a new tech blog and add it to linkedin. Learn something new everyday and blog about it along with the code.
• Make a note of the challenging things you did and what worked.
• Start and maintain a work journal.

Everyday Routine:

• Wake up early.
• Exercise - Curefit app is good for progressing from basic to advanced levels just with 20-30 minutes of exercise. There are so many workout challenges - pushups, plank, etc.
• Make bed every day first thing after waking up.
• Write the top 5 things you need to focus on for next day before hitting the bed on a post it note.
• Watch a TED talk everyday - you never know what you will stumble upon, I got to know about Tim Urban and Adam Grant from TED talks.
• Watch a TED-ED video everyday.
• List down your ToDos on a note and strike them off through out the day as you complete them.
• Try Bullet Journaling for 30 days.
• Practice Pomodoro in your work schedule.
• Go a month without complaining about anything.
• Take a selfie everyday.
• Take a one second video of your day - could be the highlight of the day.
• Maintain a fixed 8-9 hours sleep schedule.
• Kick start your day with cold shower and wind up your day with a hot shower.
• Check mail only once per day.
• Check news only once per day - do it the old way by sticking to newspapers.
• Check social media only once per day.
• Listen to audio books.
• Listen to new song everyday.
• Watch documentaries.
• Build a visualization board by adding a new piece every day.
• Visiting parks are a great way to be close to nature in a city(when Corona is gone).
• Complement/appreciate someone.
• No gossip.

Finance:

• Track your expenses every single day.
• Learn basic personal finance concepts using Investopedia.
• Go without buying anything apart from the essentials.
• Stop eating out.
• Stop ordering food. Cook at home.
• Stop visiting fancy coffee shops.

Kind:

• Help your family in chores.
• Teach a skill - however small it is, help a person to master something.
• When Corona is gone:
• Spend time volunteering(you can still do any online volunteering even now).
• Donate an item every day - joy of giving month.
• 30 day random acts of kindness.
• Write a Thank You note for someone every day.

New skill:

• Learn knitting/crochet.
• Improve your vocabulary - learn at least one new word everyday.
• Learn a new language - Duolingo app has many languages support.
• Enroll yourself in a 30 day course on Udemy, Coursera etc.
• Gardening.
• Play a new musical instrument.
• Learn some basic dance moves.
• Learn to sing your favorite songs.
• Learn to drive car/bike(when Corona is gone).

Fun/Unusual:

• Practice writing with your non-dominant hand.
• Learn juggling.
• Learn all kinds of card games including memorizing them.
• Say Yes to everything - like Jim Carrey from Yes Man movie.
• Do not lie - you have the right to remain silent though :D
• Learn a new magic trick everyday.
• Do not repeat your wardrobe until you have worn them all.

~

PS: I will update this list when I remember more.