100 days flies by…..
If you’re an educator, you know all about this. Although our class periods, especially our challenging ones, feel like they go on for days, each school year flies by. If you are a parent and an educator, well 10x that (#GoogleThinking). The last two years following the birth of my son, I started each school year, had lunch, and was celebrating the end of school before I knew it. I’m sure there were lots of accomplishments, binged TV shows, and laughter and joy with my family, but wow, it sure seemed to fly by.
So, back in October, I came across an article by @Inc about a 100 Day Challenge. I fell in love with a quote from the article that said “The point isn’t the goal itself; instead it’s the idea of achieving consistent progress, which in turn helps you achieve the goal.” I loved the idea of incorporating daily, weekly, and monthly steps towards self-improvement and creating a quantifiable goal that I could “chase” for the next 100 days.
That day, I decided to create a plan to increase my web presence through weekly Twitter Chats and bi-weekly blog posts on educational topics. I always wanted to love Twitter and find time to create resources and share ideas with the world. Every 4 weeks, I had a “self check-in” where I could evaluate my progress, make adjustments, and plan for the next 4 weeks. It was a great way to keep me on track, especially during the holidays where, you know, work priorities tend to slip.
After 99 days, I was 2 Twitter Followers away from my goal of 700. I looked at my Google Calendar and realized my day was packed with meetings but I knew I had to find a way to make this happen (side note: ask anyone, I’m super competitive, so failing wasn’t an option). In between each meeting, I responded to posts, chatted with others, and contributed as much as I could to my professional learning network. With just a few hours left in the day, the hard work paid off. 700 followers!
This was a fantastic experience! I really enjoyed the structure of the challenge (4 week checkpoints) and ensuring my goal was quantifiable and specific so I could measure my success. Why wait until the start of the new year, a new week, a new semester? If you have a goal, put it in writing and count out 100 days on your calendar. Set your 4 week check points and find a partner to cheer you on. Feel free to use this template.
So what’s next for me? Here it is (Full plan here).
- Create 1 educational PD resource per check-in to contribute to my PLN and District
- Lose 6 lbs over the 100 days
- Read 2 educational, 2 leisure, and 2 interests books
I’d love to hear what you plan on accomplishing. Let me know by commenting below or reaching out on Twitter @EdfromEdTech.
EdfromEdTech 