I Created A Design A Day For 100 Days. Here’s How I Did It.

Prioritization and time management are your best friends.

I started the 100 Days of Graphic Design challenge as a way to, well, challenge myself.

Towards the end of 2024, I decided to take my creative pursuits seriously. One of those pursuits is graphic design, and I needed to do something to keep me accountable. I needed to put pressure on myself so I could develop a habit of creating designs.

Taking on the 100 Days challenge for graphic design became a no-brainer.

It was daunting, at first. Some days, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to meet the challenge. By the end of the challenge, I developed a habit that made opening Affinity Photo 2 effortless.

What kept me on track was prioritization and time management.

1. Prioritization

Prioritization is the initial plan you set for yourself so that you aren’t neglecting the most urgent tasks on your agenda.

Before I took on the challenge, I really struggled with prioritization. I worked on tasks based on feeling rather than need when I felt “inspired.” This was detrimental to both my creative endeavors AND my career/education.

I never showed any real progress because I didn’t show up consistently.

But when I took on the 100 Days challenge, I realized that something needed to change if I wanted to be successful. I had to get real and honest with myself. I needed to figure out what I had to work on, when, and for how long.

There was no particular framework I used.

I wrote down on a sticky note areas in my life I have to focus on and improve on (career, education, creativity, health, etc.) and numbered each one (starting at one) from most important to least important.

My list looked something like this:

1. Health
2. Career
3. Education
4. Creativity

Then, I wrote down why I numbered each area accordingly.

1. Health—Allows me to be at my best and to accomplish my goals.
2. Career—Keeps the lights on and my belly full.
3. Education—Expands my skill set and career opportunities.
4. Creativity—Makes life worth living.

I placed the note on the base of my monitor so I could always be reminded of what I need to focus on first.

2. Time Management

Prioritization was half of the fight.

To make sure I had time every day to prioritize and work on the 100 Days of Graphic Design challenge, I had to learn to manage my time. I needed to increase my awareness of how I was spending my time so I could spend it more efficiently.

Time blocking made completing the 100 Days of Graphic Design challenge possible.

If you haven’t heard of time blocking before, it’s when you block out time on your calendar for specific tasks or activities. It serves as a visual aid of when you have to do something and how much time you are giving to a task.

But the key is to only time block your most urgent tasks.

My strategy for time blocking is to time block only the non-negotiables. Career, education, and health are non-negotiable for me, so I block out time for these tasks no matter what. This gives me a bird’s-eye view of the time I have left to work on my creative endeavors.

With the time, I have left over after accounting for sleep, eating, exercise, working, and studying, I then time block for my various creative tasks (never more than two hours at a time).

This is how I was able to complete the challenge and create a design every day for 100 days.

Without prioritizing or time management, I wouldn’t have completed this challenge. It’s that simple. Beyond expanding my skills as a graphic designer, the challenge also helped me to be more efficient with my time.

And time is the most valuable thing you have.