Four days into this project and I already recognize that if I’m going to make it to the end of 100 days having written daily, I’m going to need a system.

For starters, staring at a blank page and not having any brilliant ideas can be demoralizing. And that’s the surest way to ensure this doesn’t get done.

So I’ve come up with a system for completing these posts.

I’ll be using the BrainSpark app to provide me with writing prompts, then I’ll set a timer for 10 minutes. During that 10 minute period I will sit and write whatever stream of consciousness comes to mind when I read the prompt.

And that’s my system—my way of making it to day 100 with 100 posts under my belt. The goal here isn’t to write a masterpiece every day. Heck, it isn’t even to write one masterpiece in the 100 days. It’s to show up consistently and write for 10 minutes on a predetermined topic. It’s to affirm to myself that I am a person of my word; that I do what I say I’m going to do, even when it’s not easy. And this simple system is how I’m going to get it done.

Sometimes I will write for more than 10 minutes; sometimes I’ll write something that may be usable in another context. But those will just be bonuses—the cherry on top, if you will—alongside the bigger goal.

In the past, I’ve made attempts to write for 100 days, but there was no real structure to my attempts. Just me, my hopes and baseless optimism. But that’s never enough when we’re trying to do things that go against the natural desires of our brains. Whether that thing is exercising, drinking water, eating properly, lowering our screen time, starting a hobby, we need more than hope and faith. We need a clear easy-to-follow system that eliminates the need (or inclination) to think or resist.