Welcome to One Hour August!
A personal challenge and a month-long journey of self improvement
Recently, I’ve been quite focused on bettering myself. Be it through learning, trying out new things, listening to podcasts or picking up magazines I’ve never read before, I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons and explore new areas of knowledge.
So far so good.
My only problem is that being someone who’s easily bored means I never actually manage to stick with a subject and follow it through. I admit that I’m prone to getting distracted and generally have an overactive mind, which makes it extremely difficult for me to focus on any single thing for long periods of time. I could be reading an article about quantum computing in the New Scientist one minute and listening to a podcast on Women’s March the next, and frankly, that isn’t getting me anywhere.
So my issue is, I’m jumping from one topic to the next too quickly. Need to say why that’s an issue I think. Using so too many times? So I sat and I thought how to tackle this. How do I force myself to concentrate?
I thought hard and I decided that instead of going against my nature, I should let myself be and explore topics at my own pace, or in this case, at my own supersonic speed.
This is how the idea of One Hour August was born.
I am challenging myself to spend an hour a day, every single day, on learning something new. Whether that is improving an existing skill or learning about something I’ve always been interested in, I am challenging myself to devote one hour to exploring a single topic, but picking a different subject every day.
Here is how this is going to work:
I will put together a list on 31 things I want to know more about. Things that are going to broaden my mind, help move me closer towards bigger goals I am working towards or just things I’ve always wondered about. Every day I will pick a topic from the list and spend one full hour learning about it. If I get carried away, I’ll carry on, but even if it turns out that the subject is not as exciting as I thought it was, I will still have to spend 60 minutes exploring it. I will then write a short paragraph on what I’ve learned and post it here and that’s it! Learn it, write about it, rinse and repeat 31 times.
Of course, this is nothing new or groundbreaking. Many have already spoken about the importance of spending an hour or so a day on improving yourself. Just pick a topic and stick to it, they say. Only, my brain isn’t wired that way. But the way I know it works is that it loves a challenge hence the 1 Hour August challenge.
I think it will be an exciting journey!
Then again…
I have to be honest and admit this may not quite go the way I want it to. There is a slim (okay not so slim) chance that I drop this idea quicker than I dropped this year’s New Year’s Resolutions. But me sharing this here, with the whole world (or the small number of people who read this) is my way of making a commitment.
This is also my way of inviting you to join me on this journey! Follow me on Twitter and use the hashtag #OneHourAugust and tell me what you’re spending your 60 minutes on and what you’re learning. Share your topics and resources. If you’ve found an interesting podcast, a tutorial or an article on a subject you’re learning on, make sure to share it!
Let’s do this together! Bring it on August!
