Tips to Thrive During the #365 Project * AC Hoekwater

#365 Project Difficulties

Why is it that every time I start an ambitious project with great excitement and enthusiasm, it doesn’t take long to slow down or even quit? Setting goals and keeping them is one of the most difficult things in my life, even ones that seem small. I’m sure I am not alone.

Normally, this post would be all of the pictures I’ve taken for my #365 Projects in the previous week. However, as you will see, there are fewer photos posted here.

Why?

I want to say ‘because’ and leave it at that. But that isn’t the answer. I don’t necessarily have one, at least not one that is good. I did manage to post a few photos this week but not every day. I’m not even sure this week counts because I took so few.

Do I begin again?

Is there a secret to completing a project like the #365 Project?

What can I do to achieve success?

The following are a few tips that I am going to use to thrive during my #365 Project:

Carry a camera everywhere and take it out of the bag. Although carrying my camera every day is something I’ve done since this project began, as you can see, that doesn’t mean I took it out of the bag. Thriving during this project means the camera has to come out and aimed, focused and the shot taken.

Post the photo as soon as you can after you press the shutter. If you are editing every photo, then this won’t happen, but my goal is to get in the habit of looking for photo opportunities not editing. Editing will come later. But for now, working on my #365 Project means taking the photo and posting it on Instagram is all one task, not two different tasks.

Look for the mundane. There is a little voice inside my head that says that my photos have to be about spectacular moments. If I believed that little voice, I wouldn’t take many pictures. Life is made up of many small moments, most of them quite ordinary, and all of them deserve to be recognized. So if that means pictures of my cat or my writing space, so be it. The magic is in the mundane.

Take pictures early in the day. I have found that if I wait to find an opportunity to shoot, I am more likely to either forget about it or make a choice to not take my camera out of the bag. I find that I am most creative earlier in the day and I am ready to be done by dinner time. Guilt is problematic when I am trying to relax, and I do feel guilty for not accomplishing the things I’ve set out to do. Completing the #365 Project early in the day means I don’t have to worry about it and I can relax.

Find a way to be accountable to someone. For me, I’ve decided to make this post each week which is my accountability. I didn’t think of accountability earlier in the week but, truly, sharing my creativity is important to me, and I will use that from now on.

Hopefully, if you are tackling bigger and longer projects, some of these hints will come in helpful. I know I need all the help I can get when I am looking at more ambitious projects. I am looking forward to sharing these small moments with you in the next week.

Here are the photo’s I managed to shoot and post in the last week: