
Ask HN: You've got one month, what's your challenge? - mezod
As simple as that, you have a month, what challenge do you tackle?<p>Typical examples:
- write a book
- code a game
- train to run a marathon by the end of the month
======
adimitrov
After 10 years of depression, carry over my good streak from last month and
finally finish my studies so I can have a better job.

Whish me luck.

~~~
movedx
All the best mate. Keep up the great work and good luck!

------
tjw
Come home from work and do one productive thing, every day. I'm tired of
feeling lazy but not feeling motivated to do anything but play video games and
generally be a slob.

~~~
mezod
I think being more precise on what that one productive thing should be would
help!

------
dyim
* Get 100 active customer support agents on Panel Ninja [www.panelninja.com]

* Send cold emails to 1,000 potential customers

* Cut 15 seconds off my mile time

* Run 4 experiments to iterate on the cold email process

* Watch the Eagles beat the Giants, Falcons, Seahawks, and Packers :)

------
egypturnash
Get back to working on the comics pretty much every weekday. I've been bogged
down in printing stuff and writing pitches and I just wanna get back to
_drawing some fucking comics_.

~~~
smnscu
Wow – your art (and website, by the way) looks amazing!

~~~
egypturnash
Thanks!

------
rayalez
\- Learn React(complete the video courses I've started), and use it to build
the project I have in mind(discovery platform for webdev learning resources).

\- Keep making progress at my fiction/comedy writing. I've been struggling
with it for a long time, but I've had a few epiphanies recently, and I want to
finally make it work. The goal is as always - learn to competently craft my
short funny science fiction stories.

But before any of that happens, I have to take a break, cut out the caffeine,
and go through several days of withdrawal. It will be miserable, but I really
have to make my body rest, sleep, and recharge. I can't keep taking more and
more stimulants, it's not working anymore.

------
foobarbax123
Find a better place to work. Just started as a software engineer, fresh out of
college. I come home and I am constantly learning, which I enjoy, go to work
and introduce new ideas and am shot idea not because of my ideas but beucasue
im a newbie. Over the past couple of month has eatten away at my confidence
and starting to just blow it off. :(

~~~
votr
Read The Originals; in particular, the chapter on the CIA agent.

Yeah it sucks, but if you insist on the security of a larger company (my
assumption), that's how it works.

~~~
dominotw
what CIA?

------
EdSharkey
I'm writing a little block-based file system for a virtual computer for kids,
I hope to have it done this month!

~~~
cookrn
This sounds awesome! Is there a link to your project or source code you could
share?

~~~
EdSharkey
The story of my KidCompy project is a little complicated. The codebase I'm
working on is closed source because of ownership/partnership issues. I started
work on it as a hobby in 2008, and it is distinctly a JQuery-era architecture,
and it's spaghetti code.

Around two years ago, the codebase was out of control and it was getting
impossible to maintain or add features. I had gone crazy with features on my
server side.

I started an open source rewrite with my dream build system and good design
and testing methodologies. That codebase is here:

[https://github.com/clubcompy/kidcompy/tree/develop](https://github.com/clubcompy/kidcompy/tree/develop)

Then, I came to my senses a little bit. The crufty JQuery codebase can be
refactored, buttoned up, and turned into a MVP! I could sell subscriptions to
the thing as-is, it seemed to me. It's not everything I hoped it could be, and
I'm very embarrassed by the poor code quality, but there is value there. I
just need to complete something and focus on selling.

So, I paused on the new open source codebase, and set about preparing my
original closed source code for a commercial release. Part of that prep is
removing the cloud storage for the user's virtual file system. The new MVP
plan is to use the user's HTML5 Local Storage or IE6-8 UserData as their
persistent storage for programs and data. That is what I'm working on right
now. I just got folders working, so only files, extents, attributes, and a
syscall interface remains!

I realize that the open source codebase is the only long term way to go. When
my main competition is open source, I need to be as well. And, since I'll be
marketing a service for kids, it will help with gaining parents' trust for me
to be open with the code and the data I collect. Assuming that the MVP shows
some life and gets some interest, the plan is to put the old codebase into
maintenance mode and move all development to the github codebase, migrating
users over to the new compy once I have everything reimplemented there.

------
n2dasun
Trying to participate in NaNoWriMo right now.

~~~
mezod
cool! Great to find that at least one person understood the question :D

------
andars
Make one cool demo or write a post about something fascinating each week.
Bonus level: twice a week.

This week's: [https://andars.github.io/dynamic-
system/](https://andars.github.io/dynamic-system/)

Unsure if I can do it, but I am going to try.

~~~
mdcox
Just a heads up, your javascript doesn't work for me in Chrome because it's
assigning to a global `history` variable. `window.history` is read-only so the
js errors out. If you scope your function or rename the variable it should
work. Nice challenge! Good luck!

~~~
andars
Thank you. Should be fixed now.

------
kwikiel
Build Flask app for tracking using wifi beacons (backend)

~~~
abstractbeliefs
Fascinating, I've done exactly this!

I based mine on a collection of ESP8266 modules talking to again, a Flask app.
They'd watch for both DHCP broadcast packets and also the visibility of the
device on it's own radio. It also would regularly try to ping known devices to
track "sessions".

What plans do you have, what tech are you using, and where can I follow along?

------
40acres
Well, I have an interview with Google on November 29, so for the past few days
it's been that.

------
mtw
You can't do any of these examples in one month. Impossible to train a
marathon without injuries in one month. Can't write a good book in one month
(unless you've been preparing for it in the past year). Code a game yes. But
that's assuming you have a fair amount of experience

My challenge would be to clean up diet. That's doable.

~~~
zimpenfish
> Impossible to train a marathon without injuries in one month.

I disagree - I think a lot of people could manage a slow marathon (~6-8h,
basically walking pace) without more than a month of training.

~~~
mtw
It is not impossible. Yes, you can find people who can do it. By luck, you
could have someone with very high determination and who has a good athletic
base, even though they haven't trained recently.

Is it a challenge anyone can take? No. I don't know of any training plan made
to make you run a marathon in one month. The most aggressive training plans
are 12 weeks minimum (3 months), and that's for people who are already fit.
For those who are not used to running, the most realistic is 26 weeks

~~~
zimpenfish
Again, you'd have to define "run". Do you mean sub-4h? Sure, I'd agree it was
wildly unlikely a normal person[1] could manage that in a month.

Personally I ran a 5h30 marathon (solo, carrying water+food, half-trail)
without following a training plan at all - went from 1k to 13k to 21k to 42k
in 15 weeks. By no stretch of any loose definition was I "already fit".

[1] people who don't already have a certain level of fitness.

[Edit: corrected 14 to 15 weeks after checking calendar]

------
sixdimensional
Stand a project up, running on autopilot, which will make a minimum of
$5k/month profit, 100% on my own without the need for any major expense other
than time/effort plus simple and cost effective infrastructure.

~~~
mezod
are you already working on it? or just an idea?

------
boyter
Id like to get searchcode.com into the top 20,000 Alexa website ranking's. To
do so id like to refresh the code results on it more quickly and add project
pages.

------
atmosx
Hm, let me think:

    
    
        * Get the AWS sysops associate certificate
        * Run at least 60km (I know it's not much - but it's okay for me)

------
pieterhg
Launch my chat app for communities [http://chatbox.chat](http://chatbox.chat)

Launch my coliving platform [http://colive.co](http://colive.co)

Make my VR game where you can catch street cats and eat ramen
[http://bar254.tokyo](http://bar254.tokyo)

------
DrNuke
Can't work on my own apps recommender system atm, so taking part in the latest
Kaggle competition from Santander instead.

------
random_coder
I've been making a Django app for over a week because I wanted to learn doing
web dev. I hope to finish it another 2-3 weeks. So far, it's been a
intimidating and yet fantastic experience learning about django, http, html
dom, js, jquery, css, bootstrap, sqlite, orm, templates and such.

------
code_champ1
I would compete on some crazy competition like MIT's battlecode (which usually
is a month long event) ! I have worked several years, but none has given me
the challenge/satisfaction of programming an AI Bot and compete with similar
folks

~~~
mezod
this sounds like a cool challenge. How does it work, like your code competes
against others code I understand, but how?

~~~
code_champ1
Yeah. You build bots and it competes with other bots (software bots - just
code). Check this out
[https://www.battlecode.org/](https://www.battlecode.org/)

------
gina650
Meet more cool futuristic founders, upload my 50th episode of Tomorrow's Tech
podcast...and land my first sponsor!

[https://soundcloud.com/user-925097294](https://soundcloud.com/user-925097294)

~~~
mezod
futuristic founders?

------
fgandiya
Finish this Flask web app I've been putting off. And applying for internships.

------
pvsukale3
I would work on the job board site that I have been dreaming about for months.
As soon as I'm done with the exams I will go to work on that site. Target :
launching MVP by the end of first week of December.

~~~
mezod
what will be special about your job board site? :)

~~~
pvsukale3
I want it to be very simple to search jobs. and You should be able to find
EXACTLY what you are looking for. I know ton of others exists but it would not
be a problem to implement one as a side project and see if people like it :)

------
quantumhobbit
Figure out how to get a job doing data science or something else interesting
instead of working on CRUD apps. I have the skills, but I need to figure out
how to get my foot in the door.

------
sn9
You could take a self-paced MOOC and master its contents in a month.

~~~
mezod
that could be a nice idea. Because you seem to have understood the goal of my
question, I'll dig deeper. I need ideas on the WHAT. Like what would you take
a MOOC on? The idea is that there's so many things I might not have even
thought of that you might consider...!

~~~
sn9
Well the two general things to look for would be things which you've studied
in the past and wish to review or things which you've never studied.

In general, it's probably a better idea to strengthen one's foundation as they
serve as the prerequisites for more advanced subjects. Google's guide to
technical development [0] is a good place to start.

As far as just finding courses to take, you could just search the course
catalogs of sites like Coursera, edx, Udacity, and Stanford's online offerings
[1].

[0] [https://www.google.com/about/careers/students/guide-to-
techn...](https://www.google.com/about/careers/students/guide-to-technical-
development.html)

[1]
[https://lagunita.stanford.edu/courses](https://lagunita.stanford.edu/courses)

------
elnado
Ugh, regardless of what we say we wish to do on this post, what I'm sure many
of us lack is external motivation to do it. One app to help solve that is
called Spar, developed by a friend of a friend
([https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spar!-get-better-at-
stuff/id...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spar!-get-better-at-
stuff/id1109640290)). You set a goal with your friends, e.g. read a chapter
every day, and put 20$ or so in the "pot". Whoever does the best at meeting
the goal, gets the pot, and if you slack on your goal you lose the money.

~~~
brendoncrawford
When the incentive to finish a goal shifts from the innate satisfaction of
completion to a fear of financial penalty, is it possible that the goal itself
will unintentionally change in subtle ways?

~~~
Akarnani
its called the Token Economy Problem. tl:dr; using tokens as an external
motivation mechanism transfers away from buidling internal motivation.
(e.g.,$5 for each book a kid reads gets a kid to read books for $5 bills and
not for love of reading/imagination/thinking. $5 tokens run out? Kid stops
reading.)

------
mdevere
play playstation all day for 30 days

~~~
mezod
that sounds like the easiest suggested challenge so far :P

------
tylerpachal
I'd like to enrol in a culinary arts class to learn more about cooking! I
think a month would be enough time to complete some courses at one of my local
colleges.

~~~
mezod
that looks like a good idea! I bet your stomach agrees :P Yeah a month should
cover you on at least 5 or 10 recipes!

------
guptabot
Grow my weekly newsletter to atleast 1000 subs from the current 100:
www.tinyletter.com/harshalbot

------
rodolphoarruda
I live in São Paulo, Brazil. I would try to get to Ushuaia by car via Chile
all the way down to the Tierra del Fuego.

~~~
mezod
Oh boy oh boy, you are one of mine! Roadtrippers for the win! Just do it! How
many km do you estimate?

~~~
rodolphoarruda
It's hard to estimate the KMs because you are always making small detours to
visit places as you go. In terms of time/duration, the roundtrip takes a full
month, so very much aligned with OP's question.

------
WorksOfBarry
I'm gonna spend a lot of the month working on my git client for IBM i.

New features, documentation and feedback

------
tdy721
finish [http://videopoker.academy](http://videopoker.academy)

* Get a trainer version playable without sign in

* Add history and stats interface

* Work up a tutorial

* Integrate Stripe

* import style + FX from [https://poker.hyprtxt.com](https://poker.hyprtxt.com)

~~~
mezod
cool idea... would I be able to learn poker decently in one month? :P

~~~
Chos89
Depends on the amount of quality hours you manage to put in

------
adolfoabegg
Start a side project a have in mind, build the MVP, validate it, get feedback.

------
Matachines
Master stoicism and Deep Work.

~~~
ak93
That is really great! I am doing the same thing too. I am reading Bhagvad Gita
which stresses on a similar idea and reading Deep Work by Cal Newport! Any
books you wanna suggest!?

~~~
dominotw
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

That one is pretty good.

I also like Jiddu Krishnamurthi a lot but ppl here seem to be not big fans of
him for some reason.

~~~
ak93
I have read Jiddu Krishnamurthi's work and I find it really interesting ,
rather helpful. I didnt know that ppl dislike his idea!?

------
ak93
Completing my indroduction with ML and doing one small challenge based on ML!

------
votr
Become location independent.

~~~
amyfransz
Hey, I took the leap from my corporate job earlier this year...it can be
genuinely easier than you think! (disclaimer: I run ´The Remote trip´ - see
profile for link), I´m currently putting together a 'remote worker' starter
kit to help people make the transition like I did, it may help you out if
you're interested.

------
fapjacks
Finish my notification and tracking app that I haven't had time for.

------
baccredited
Increase your savings rate by just 5% and retire years earlier

------
allnacho
Launch my habit streak chrome extension

------
nolite
Build a SPA in Vue.js

~~~
mattchamb
I did a 1-day project Vue.js yesterday and I really enjoyed it. A lot of the
ways they approach things make sense to me.

------
bgroat
I'm trying to build my email list to 1,000 people.

------
arvinsim
Make a plan to pivot my career for the next few years.

~~~
mezod
from what to what?

------
wuschel
Finishing a seed 2 fundraising campaign.

------
krapp
Actually finish a project.

------
empressplay
Ship and pay the rent!

