Post your December Challenge here.

I was really lax with my ZTD goals, but this month's going to be different.

First off, the next two weeks are going to be focused on finishing this semester relatively well, so lots of studying this week for the finals next week.

After my last final, I'M FREE. I'm going to celebrate by having a barbecue and using my probability textbook for fuel. ^_^

Then I'm going to work on a MASSIVE clean-up of my apartment. I'm finally going to get a new desk, some shelves...I hope to have everything set up by 2008, and have a place for everything by spring semester.

So my goals:


Get through finals without breaking down.
Get the apartment cleaned up.

This is a habit I've been meaning to establish for a month. I did pretty well in November with both my goals, so I'm confident.

This goal is extremely important to me, because it may become a half-cure for my depression.

It all started when I was having a talk with a lady from church. She's sort of a second mother to me. I accidentally gave away that I've been depressed near-constantly for the last seven years or so (something I keep secret IRL), and was surprised when she commiserated, saying she'd gone through months-long periods of depression, herself.

Her big suggestion, based on years of experience, was shockingly simple: If productivity makes you happy (as it does for both her and myself), don't think you're shallow or worry about it at all. Instead, focus on being productive. Her concrete idea was to pick six things to do each day, and try to do as many of them as possible (things such as crafts, cleaning part of her house, reading part of a book, etc.).

For the past month, every other day, I've managed to write down six goals in the morning. Then, on half of those days, I've managed to do three or four at most (almost never all six). But I've noticed that I'm very happy on both those days and the day after, because I have an enhanced feeling of productivity, rather than being bogged-down in the vicious cycle of getting nothing done/knowing I get nothing done/getting nothing done because I know I get nothing done/repeat ad nauseam.

So my goal is two-fold:

1. Name six goals to meet each day.
House rule: Each goal must take less than an hour to complete.
Possible categories include writing (I can write about 1200-1500 words an hour), translation (five or six pages of translation/editing, twelve pages of translation), cleaning (two inboxes), and revision (twenty pages an hour).
2. Complete at least three of said goals before bedtime (ten o'clock).

I think that if I can create this all-encompassing habit, it'll transform my life. So here's hoping...

I've taken the last couple months off from the 30-day challenges due to being completely overwhelmed with school and other extra-curricular responsibilities. However, I'm going to give December a shot. Seeing as I'll be finishing up the semester shortly, I'm going to be very busy for the next two weeks. So, I'm going to pick something that should be relatively simple to do and keep track of. This month I'm going to stop biting my fingernails. Not only does it make my hands look nasty, but due to some old hockey injuries (broken front teeth that are now bonded), it messes up my teeth. So, I'm going to try to take a picture of my hands every other day or so and post them here to keep me accountable.

We'll see how it goes...

I have finals in two weeks, so this will definitely give me motivation to keep studying.

Habit for December:
> Finish everything on my to-do list, everyday.

Of course, this requires great discretion from me not to overload myself each day, which I won't, but will make sure I finish what I need to do instead of putting it off the next morning and doing sub-par work.

So for today, my to-dos are:
- Read & take notes on excerpt of Communist Manifesto
- Read & take notes on Clash of Globalizations
- Write abstract paper
- Brainstorm personal sociology paper
- Read & take notes on 1/2 of Jihad vs. McWorld
- Read 20pgs of L'Amant
- Vacuum room

Will update on status. This is a really good motivator, Leo.

Everyone, good luck. You all seem to have very reachable goals.

I guess this is a common one but now that I have a car, I have less excuses for not going to the gym 5 days a week. Before, I would have to get up very early to be able to work out, and still get to work on time. So, my goal for December is to take advantage of the fact that I usually get up earlier than I need to anyway, and use that time to go to the gym. I'll do a 30 minute express workout on the circuit machines, and cardio on the treadmill/elliptical if I have time.

My disclaimer: I'm also two months pregnant, so if I have morning sickness, I reserve the right to skip out on the gym. :roll:

Exercise! At least 10 minutes of real exercise or 2 miles of walking each day.

It's no good undergoing Jungian analysis if I can't get my rear out of bed sufficiently early every morning so that i can consistently update my dream diary...

So, i shall get up everyday when my alarm goes off at 6am. That'll give me plenty of time to have an organic breakfast at home and perhaps even perform Tai Chi too!

It's not exactly hard now, is it... :-)

My goal for this month may sound trivial, but for me it seems important to do it this way:

Drinking 8 glasses of water every day

I few things went by the wayside during NaNoWriMo, so I have to resume them. Like exercise, and going to bed before midnight.

But a new habit I want to try is meditation. I've done some research and will give it a try twice a week to start. Purely for relaxation. I've forgotten how to just chill out without actually doing something, whether it's reading, listening to a podcast, or just mindless surfing. If I'm doing nothing at all I keep thinking about all the things I could be doing. None of which are that urgent! I just need to learn to relax basically.

My habit for December is going to be exercise. At least 15 minutes a day of rigorous walking, or sit-ups ect. When I actually do it, I feel really good, but I keep making excuses. No more excuses!

I will take care of business first during every day and check email and allow myself to become distracted after-hours when I'm already too tired to do productive work anyway.

I've picked up some life-transforming habits from reading Zen Habits, including waking early, exercising regularly, saving money, sleeping well, drinking water, living in the moment. But one habit I'd like to try this month is to learn to do a little bit of gardening every day. I live in the countryside now and have always enjoyed having plants and greenery around me (which was a struggle at first when I lived in Tokyo) and although I've always wanted to learn gardening, especially permaculture and food growing, I've never actively or regularly done gardening. So this month of December, 2007, I will do at least 15 minutes gardening every day. This can include simple weeding, watering or pruning (or picking peaches now that it's that time of year here in the southern hemisphere) or implementing bigger plans such as building a herb garden or picking flowers.

PlatoFunFactory, you and I can be ZTD Newbie buddies.

I also just purchased the Zen To Done e-book (excellent work, Leo...it's nice to have the ZTD ideas consolidated in one doc), so I will be focusing on the Collect and Process habits during December. I'm trying really hard to be patient and not rush to implement all of the ZTD habits...but it's tough. :-)

P.S. Long time Zen Habits reader, first time forum poster.

First time forumer here, I've been following Zen Habits for quite some time, though.


My goal for December is to make healthy food choices, making sure to log them at thedailyplate.com .

I've got a lot of other goals to reach, but this one may take a few months to implement effectively.

What a great idea. If you don't mind, I think I will make use this as my December habit also.
That ....... and making my bed each morning. (I like starting with baby steps)

This is a habit I've been meaning to establish for a month. I did pretty well in November with both my goals, so I'm confident.

This goal is extremely important to me, because it may become a half-cure for my depression.

It all started when I was having a talk with a lady from church. She's sort of a second mother to me. I accidentally gave away that I've been depressed near-constantly for the last seven years or so (something I keep secret IRL), and was surprised when she commiserated, saying she'd gone through months-long periods of depression, herself.

Her big suggestion, based on years of experience, was shockingly simple: If productivity makes you happy (as it does for both her and myself), don't think you're shallow or worry about it at all. Instead, focus on being productive. Her concrete idea was to pick six things to do each day, and try to do as many of them as possible (things such as crafts, cleaning part of her house, reading part of a book, etc.).

For the past month, every other day, I've managed to write down six goals in the morning. Then, on half of those days, I've managed to do three or four at most (almost never all six). But I've noticed that I'm very happy on both those days and the day after, because I have an enhanced feeling of productivity, rather than being bogged-down in the vicious cycle of getting nothing done/knowing I get nothing done/getting nothing done because I know I get nothing done/repeat ad nauseam.

So my goal is two-fold:

1. Name six goals to meet each day.
House rule: Each goal must take less than an hour to complete.
Possible categories include writing (I can write about 1200-1500 words an hour), translation (five or six pages of translation/editing, twelve pages of translation), cleaning (two inboxes), and revision (twenty pages an hour).
2. Complete at least three of said goals before bedtime (ten o'clock).

I think that if I can create this all-encompassing habit, it'll transform my life. So here's hoping...

-"FekketCantenel"

this is my first post here and I know it's December 2nd, so I'm falling a bit behind but I'll catch up quickly :)

My goals for December are the following:

Walk 2 miles per day
Weight lift every day (some days with light work and some days with heavier work)
Ride my exercising bike every day for 5 miles

Mike Smith

My goal is to get back to lifting weights. At least 4 times per week.

My goal is to spend a minimum of half an hour a day cleaning or organizing my house. I will check in daily.

I've participated in the challenges for months now and have accomplished ALOT but i have gotten sloppy with the challenges and checking in daily so this month I am focusing on strengthening a previous goal which fell by the wayside my goal for december is write down my food each day.