Donesday is an open event format for procrastinators to come together and get shit done. Yes, we just come together, list our long-dreaded tasks and get them done (or at least make some progress), while sitting next to each other. Occasionally we chat and help each other through a particularly difficult block. But mostly we just sit silently and do shit.
>>Watch the video<<
Donesday works as a placebo deadline. And as most placebos it does work, as long as you make-believe that it is real. Other people (who encourage you on progress and boo you on procrastination) help as well. Some peer pressure, you know.
And then there is beer and music at the end (a.k.a. End Of The World Party). Smart people call it gratification, but I just call it beer.
Check this spreadsheet and try to find a place nearby. (Pull request here more than welcome to make this somewhat user-friendly)
You. Seriously. Donesdays are completely open source and are independently organised. Just get one started at your office, co-work or even your home. Invite friends and get shit done together. Don't forget to congratulate each other on successes and share away on social with a #donesday hashtag, so that everyone sees how productive you are being while they are reading Facebook.
Ready to host your own Donesday? Please fill this form in.
And then download a poster template from here and use it to let people know.
Kind of anything you need / want to do but have been putting off for too long. Ideally you should be able to finish it or make progress within 2-3 sprints (25 min each).
For example:
- prepare you tax return forms
- reply to all those emails and clean up your inbox
- install a new wordpress theme into your old blog
- fix a broken vase
- learn how to play your favorite song on a ukulele from a youtube video
- draw a horse from cyberspace that you accidentally promised to your nephew and he keeps asking you about
- call your mom, tell her that you love her, ask her how she is doing and actually listen to what she is saying
- review your credit card history to find and cancel all those useless subscriptions that you are still paying for
- prepare a hand-written letter for your loved one
- fix an appointment with a dentist BEFORE it starts to hurt
- etc.
- A room full of procrastinators, ideally on a rainy Saturday.
- A wall to stick tasks to (with a "TODO" sign on it)
- A bin to throw done tasks into (with a "DONE" sign on it)
- A leader board. Any paper will do, where you have the names of all participants and add points as they finish their tasks.
- Special alarm clock (https://donesday.github.io/donesday-clock/)
- Beer (for the afterparty)
- When you arrive at the location, put at least one task on the donesday wall (using post-it notes). You can also add tasks along the way. In "strict mode" you also need to switch your phone off and hand it over to security people.
- Each round is 25 mins working + 15 mins talking. You can have as many rounds as you wish (normally from 5 to 9 rounds within one Donesday, before you start the party). During collaboration time (15 min) we randomly connect (speed-dating style) and discuss each other's tasks and progress. Simply having to explain what you are trying to do to somebody else usually helps.
Here is the protocol for a 15-min chat:
- Sit down next to each other and say "Hi, I am so and so."
- A game of paper-rock-scissors decides which one (the winner) gets a chance to get help this time. Let's call him the "Doer" and the other one the "Helper".
- The Helper starts the conversation, saying "What do you need a hand with?"
- The Helper's task is to listen carefully and suggest ways to clarify the task, break it down into smaller chunks achievable within 25 mins and make sure that her opponent arrives at some actionable conclusions in the course of the conversation.
- The Doer's task is to articulate clearly what she is trying to do and be open-minded about the perspective provided by her "Helper" partner.
- When you finish a task - take the post-it note and throw it into the donesday bin from the marked point (142cm from the donesday bin). Why? Because a lot of useless meetings end up with people throwing papers into the bins. So there must be something to it. That's why. Also it's some physical activity, exactly the right kind for procrastinators. If you use Social Media, then you can also publish a quick update, for example: "Bike fixed! #donesday". Make sure to include the donesday hashtag, so that we can all calculate how many people finished how many tasks across the globe.
- If you hit it, you get a point. Make sure to add it next to your name on a leaderboard.
- After the end of the last round - the participant with the most dones gets a chance to be the DJ (or to nominate a DJ) and the "End of the world party" begins. Beer is provided by the organizer (in exchange for a small participation fee or for free if organizers are overly altruistic or if this is a corporate donesday).
- All drunk and happy everyone goes home - till next time that is (we recommend to participate in a Donesday at least once a month).
Yes you can participate remotely if your task(s) requires being elsewhere. But it's not nearly as much fun. The way to participate remotely is to just do shit, using the same 25 min working / 15 min talking schedule and post your dones with #donesday hashtag throughout social media. For 15-min conversations of people participating remotely - we suggest that we call your firneds and ask them if they have 15 mins to help you with something / double check your logic. But a much better idea is to just organize your own Donesday at your home. It's not too much work: you basically invite a few friends over and you get shit done together. Like you can make a party around sorting out your balcony. Sounds like fun isn't it?
Donesday has an official song. Here it is. And here is the video of Snoozy singing it.
Can sing better than Snoozy? Pull requests are very welcome. Lyrics available here.
At the end of every Donesday we throw the "End of the world party", called Donesdance. The only prerequisites are beer and music. And Donuts (pun intended), but they are optional. Burning the to-do post-its from the Dones bin is usually fun. But only do this if you are outside and it's going to be safe and you know what you are doing. There is no special dance at the moment, but eventually our wonderful would-be community may come up with the moves (pull request welcome!) and then you will have to learn it.
Send your feedback, ideas and questions to [email protected]
- make a donesday clock (JS: 25 min working, 15 min helping. transition sounds. how many sprints?)
- pre-launch with friends
- soft-launch via FB
- put up a .org website via jekyll & gh-pages
- create a poster (A4) (with location to be filled in) for local groups to organise
- make a participation form for the via typeform + connect to google spreadhseet
- upload / publish the final video: to youtube & directly to FB for better sharing
- shorten the video (also add something about #donesday hashtag ??)
- lock down the date for the real international donesday #1 (beta) - tentatively scheduled (July 23)
- buy / get all the stuff needed for the test event (donesbin, post-its, tape, hats)
- make a video for the song (?) something with a puppet toy
- register a youtube account (update. holy shit it's a pain in the ass. eligibility criteria and all. may be go with vimeo instead)
- create a FB page for donesday and open event for Donesday x Moscow
- organise the test donesday #0 (alpha) - scheduled (June 15)
- come up with a brilliant idea
- design a logo
- register domain name (.com yeah, baby!)
- procrastinate
- come up with a funny song
- procrastinate
- record the first version of the song
- register a github org
- write down the first verstion of the rules
- add a license (CC-BY)
- register a gmail account
- register social accounts (twitter, what else?)