This jam is now over. It ran from 2021-05-01 05:00:00 to 2021-05-31 05:00:00.


How does this jam work?

1. Spend some time working on your creative project or skill daily.

Just give it what you have for the day. If that's five minutes, work five minutes. This is about facing the fear of creation, not about short-term productivity. You can work on a skill that you've been honing for years, or pick a new skill to explore every month.

2. Track days that you work

I suggest creating a (free) account on Don't Break the Chain: https://dontbreakthechain.com/ This will allow you to track your progress day-to-day, and share your progress. (See "Details" if you're unsure how to share your progress)

You can also create an itch project to submit your work to the jam, if you wish to share your daily work.

3. After a month of work, get your first badge.

We'll design a new badge every month, and you'll get a high-resolution digital badge. Collect and show off.  The badges are sequential (here's your first month badge, second month, etc. building up to fancy badges as you put more months behind you) not exclusive (Hah, you missed two days and now you'll never have a complete set!). The habit is the goal, badges will be there when you've built the habit for a couple of months. To qualify for your next badge, you have to work 6 days out of every week. Repeat month after month, grow your skills and your body of work.

Remember: Sprint when you can, crawl when you must.

When you sit down to work every day, you're facing the fear. You're facing your own demons, your own self-sabotage. This is the most important part of creation. Don't fall for the lie that you'll magically grow self-discipline when you have time. You spend every day giving it what you can, then you'll be ready to sprint when you have time.

Get involved:

Details:

Why do we create every day? Isn't it better to take breaks when I need them?

Try to only takes breaks from creation when it's absolutely necessary. Why? It's long been recognized that people who are creative don't do well when they're not creating. Creative work leads to better health outcomes, it reduces anxiety and depression, and improves metal and physical health generally. It's also been proven to be protective against death anxiety. So, if you're having a bad day mentally or physically, avoiding creative work is the opposite of helpful and healing. It's better to stumble to your computer and type out the worst paragraph of your life, or to doodle aimlessly than it is to avoid creative work. If you feel like you're not up to working today, lower your standards, and try your hardest to keep the chain going.

What do I work on?

Try a new skill, or stick with a familiar one. This is a great way to explore new domains, or to seek more consistency with familiar skills. You can also share progress on a specific project. As long as it's meaningful/hard work, it counts.

What if I don't get anything good done today?

Be comfortable with imperfect work. Try your hardest to do good work, but when it ends up being not what you expected, share it anyway. It's good practice, and you might find someone to help you fix it. This jam is about showing up, and showing your work. We're fighting back against the forces of self-sabotage, procrastination, and fear of rejection.

What work counts towards this jam?

The daily work can be anything, as long as it's work that's meaningful to you (not a meaningless work assignment or obligation) and directly creative work (not "I spent my time learning about quickbooks so I can eventually sell my game"). This means if you're working on a game for another jam, that counts in this jam as well.

Should I set goals?

If goals help you do the work, then yes. If they just become another stick to beat yourself with, then no. Goals can be helpful, but daily work is the important part.

How do I share my "Don't Break the Chain" progress?

Here's my link: http://dontbreakthechain.com/share/andhedrew/

Just replace "andhedrew" with your Don't Break the Chain username and share away.

Who is judging this? How will I earn the badge?

You'll be judging yourself. We're glad to check your submission if you want the accountability, but ultimately this is based on trust. If you deceive yourself or us to get the badge, you're only hurting yourself. Don't do that.

How do I set up the Itch project to work for this jam?

1. Click on the arrow menu next to your account name (upper right-hand corner). Select "Upload new project"

2. Fill out the details how ever you like, reference "Creative Habit Jam Session #" in the title.

3. You'll have to save/preview the project before you set it to be public. Just click "save", and then edit the project (see "How do I add today's work to the project?" if you're unsure how) to make it public.

How do I add today's work to the project?

1. Click on the arrow menu next to your account name (upper right-hand corner). Select "Dashbord"

2. Find your project and click "edit"


3. Scroll down to "Uploads" and click "Upload Files" to add a new file.

4. Save your changes