Experiments

“The point of an experiment is not to arrive at a predetermined end point, to prove or disprove anything, but to deliver a poem that reveals much about the process taken.” -John Barton

I’ve run a lot of life experiments. To get a feel for what that means, you might want to check out my introductory posts on what life experiments are all about:

After you check out some of the intro, here are the experiments I’ve documented personally, at least a little, on Marshallogue.

2019

  • Subtraction: I got rid of one item each day of February. Meagan did this with me too.
  • Lunching Every Workday: I tried to take an hour-long lunch break every workday for a month. I rarely took more than 10 minute breaks before that.

2018

  • Accountability Texting: I texted a friend at 5am every morning for 30 days straight to keep me accountable for getting up early each day.
  • No Wash Jeans: I never washed a pair of jeans I bought and wore for over a year. No one mentioned a thing.
  • No Marshallogue: I stopped writing and posting for the blog for the entire year.

2017

  • 10 posts in 1 hour: I set a timer for one hour and tried to write 10 posts. I liked the process so much that I did a round two and started batching my writing for Marshallogue.

2016

  • No Alarm Clock: I turned off my alarm clock and got up early on my own without it.
  • Podcast: I recorded a series of audio installments, trying the format, learning how to do it, what I liked and didn’t like.
  • Idea Machine: I wrote down 10 ideas, an eclectic mix, but the purpose was to ship, not curate.

2015

  • No phone at home: I plugged my phone into the wall when I got home each day and didn’t look at it again until the next morning.

2014

  • Journaling John: I planned to read a chapter of the Gospel of John and write a short commentary on what I noticed each day. That didn’t really work out.
  • Listening through the Bible: I listened to the Bible from Genesis all the way through Revelation.

2013

  • No Facebook: I deactivated my Facebook account, using Google Chat instead and cutting back on Internet usage overall.
  • Paper Marshallogue: I wrote Marshallogue in a journal and updated the site after the end of the month instead of each day.
  • 100 pushups: I followed the Hundred Push Ups routine to do 100 pushups in one set. I never made it to 100.
  • Cool showers: I took showers without hot water for five months when I lived in Saudi Arabia.

2012

  • No sight: I blindfolded myself for six hours straight and tried to perform basic tasks.
  • Short posts: I published posts on Marshallogue that contained no more than 100 words each.
  • Sleeping sitting up: I slept seated in chairs or on couches with my head upright, a much more difficult task than I originally thought it would be.
  • Adoption fund: I asked friends and family to contribute money to help me adopt a child in the future, raising funds over the course of a month.
  • 13 item wardrobe: I lived with just 13 pieces (socks and shoes count in pairs) of clothing, including a belt and a watch.
  • No heater: I didn’t turn on my heater for a winter in Korea.
  • The Flinch: I completed the five challenges presented in the book The Flinch in an attempt to practice doing stuff that scares me.
  • Linking here on Facebook: I posted a link on my Facebook profile every time I published on Marshallogue.
  • Daily checklists: I made a checklist each day for what to do.

2011

  • No refrigerator: I unplugged my refrigerator.
  • Sleep schedule: I tried to get to bed by 1:00 AM and out of bed by 10:00 AM every day while working second shift in Korea.
  • No A/C: I didn’t turn on my air conditioner for a summer in Korea.
  • A jar of peanut butter a day: I ate a jar of peanut every day, six days a week, for a month.
  • No shampoo: I stopped using shampoo for a month, and kept going.
  • Email ask: I emailed a different person each day, asking for something, anything.
  • Hacking Hangul: I learned the Korean alphabet and some Korean phrases.
  • 100 items x 10 posts: I wrote a list post with 100 items in it each day for 10 days.
  • No TV: I quit watching TV for two weeks. And then I went a year without TV in Korea.
  • Chopsticks, Korean style: I learned to use metal, Korean style chopsticks.
  • Facebook once per day: I cut my Facebook time down to once per day.

In addition, here are some of the big ones I tried before Marshallogue existed.

Pre-Marshallogue

  • Posting every day (2009): I started a blog on WordPress.com and published a new post on it each day, the start of Marshallogue.
  • Script Frenzy (2008): I wrote a 100-page draft for a movie script in April.
  • Typing Proverbs (2008): I typed the book of Proverbs, one chapter a day.
  • Bible in a month (2007): I read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in what turned out to be about three weeks.
  • NaNoWriMo (2007): I wrote a 50,000-word draft for a novel in November.

Please let me know your thoughts on these, especially if you’ve had similar experiences. Also, feel free to suggest other experiments for me to try. I love getting new ideas.