Become a Bard Challenge Month 2 Summary
How Was Month 2?
Month 2 of the Become a Bard Challenge spanned from 30 July to 28 August 2024. And this past month was enlightening. I had great success in some categories, moderate success in one category, and no success in two categories. My motivation to complete the easy tasks was seemingly endless, while sometimes it felt like I was pulling out my teeth to do the harder tasks. I did have 9 “perfect days” in the past 30 days, which I define as days where I met the daily goals for each category. This was an incredible increase from the 1 perfect day I had in Month 1! It felt fantastic.
Results of Month 2: 496/600
A 30-day period within the Become a Bard Challenge is considered a success if I earn at least 480 of 600 total possible points, or a grade of 80%. Points were earned every day in Month 2 by meeting goals across 7 categories: (1) 4 points for 7 hours of sleep; (2) 4 points for drinking 20 oz. of water; (3) 4 points for completing 10 minutes of rigorous exercise; (4) 2 points for completing 10 minutes of music practice; (5) 2 points for completing 10 minutes of language study; (6) 2 points for completing 30 minutes of reading; and (7) 2 points for completing 30 minutes of writing. By the end of these last 30 days, I could earn a total of 120 points each for the sleep, water, and exercise categories and a total of 60 points each for the music, language, reading, and writing categories. The points from all categories can tally to 600 points every month.
My final score for the second month of the BAB Challenge was 496 points, or 83%. A breakdown of each category is given below.
Sleep: 120/120 (100%)
I was able to get 7 hours of sleep every night this past month. It felt fantastic! Only the hours I spent sleeping at night counted towards this category. Naps were not taken into consideration.
Drink Water: 120/120 (100%)
I made it a point to drink 20 oz. (or 2.5 cups) of water every day in August. I understand that this is less water than what is recommended for an adult to drink every day. But, considering that I would often go days without drinking water before starting this challenge, this is incredible progress. I chose 20 oz. of water as the daily goal for August simply because that is the volume of my smallest insulated bottle.
Rigorous Exercise: 96/120 (80%)
I completed 10 minutes of rigorous exercise for 24 of the 30 days in Month 2. I only met the minimum goal for rigorous exercise for the month of August. But I still met it!
Music Practice: 20/60 (~33%)
Month 2 was one of poor performance for the music practice category. I practice music for only 10 of the past 30 days.
Language Study: 20/60 (~33%)
Language study was another category of poor performance this past month. I studied language for only 10 of the past 30 days.
Reading: 60/60 (100%)
I was able to read or listen to audiobooks every day in the past 30 days, resulting in me finishing eight titles. In the order I finished them, my August 2024 reading list includes: (1) This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone; (2) The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See; (3) Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein; (4) The Southern Book Club Guide’s to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix; (5) The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; (6) The Secret Life of Fungi by Aliya Whiteley; (7) The Great Gatsby by A. Scott Fitzgerald; and (8) Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
Of these titles, I listed to audiobooks of This is How You Lose the Time War, The Island of Sea Women, Starship Troopers, The Southern Book Club Guide’s to Slaying Vampires, The House on Mango Street, and The Great Gatsby. I both listened to the audiobook and read the paperbacks of Bird by Bird and The Secret Life of Fungi.
Check out my book reviews for This is How You Lose the Time War, The Island of Sea Women, and The Secret Life of Fungi! Reviews for The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and Bird by Bird are coming soon in the Horror and Non-Fiction bookshelves.
Writing: 60/60 (100%)
The Writing category was a complete success this past month due in part to a minor change I made: I decided to include journaling in the category. Going forward, types of writing that will count include creative writing, blog writing, and journaling.
What to do Differently Next Month
I technically passed this month’s goals, but just barely. In reflecting what made this month so challenging, I realized that I overcomplicated things by having too many scored categories. This resulted in me doing only the “easy things” every day and not putting in maximum effort. For next month, I will decrease the number of categories from 7 to 5. Music practice and language study will be consolidated into a single category as will reading and writing. To earn points in these categories, I will have to complete one of the two tasks for the minimum required time to earn full points. Doing both activities will not earn double points. The new daily point values for each category are listed below.
Sleep = 4 points
Music & Language = 4 points
Reading & Writing = 4 points
Rigorous Exercise = 4 points
Drink Water = 4 points
Expectations for Month 3
I did exceed the minimum 480 out of 600 points in the first month of the BAB challenge. Taking into consideration where I succeeded and where I fell short, I will only increase the daily goals for categories where I earned 80% or more of the total monthly goal. The daily sleep goal is the only category that will remain unchanged. The daily goals of each category for Month 3 are listed below.
Sleep: 7 hours
Music & Language: 10 minutes
Reading & Writing: 35 minutes
Rigorous Exercise: 15 minutes
Drink Water: 24 oz
Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading the Month 2 Summary of the BAB Challenge!
Post Date: 4 September 2024
