I did it! Small notes, big effect? My challenge box test
16.6.2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Pictures: Anna Sandner
My 30-day challenge involved picking a health-related task from a box. From meditating to exercising, kicking back to eating colourful food, the little notes included general well-being tips but also a few surprises.
After my cold shower fiasco it was time for a more pleasant I did it! week, or rather, month. All I needed to do was relax and let myself be inspired by the challenge boxes I gave a try. Gratitude, a healthy lifestyle, mindfulness, solid sleep, happiness and so on. There are so many things you can do for your physical and mental health. And it seems there’s a matching challenge box for each of these topics.
I worked my way through the range, did a little bit for my health every day, but mainly picked up some ideas for new healthy habits and tried them out right away.
How are the boxes and brands different?
I tested several boxes simultaneously, so enjoyed not having to think up my own daily task and being able to choose from several options. I was yet to find out how big or small the challenge variety would be. I tested boxes called Another me and Doiy. Both brands belong to The Wow Effect Company based in Barcelona. I was curious to find out if the boxes by the two brands differ at all and which one delivered the most creative ideas. I also wanted to learn how different the challenges from the same brand are when it comes to the same topics.
Source: Anna Sandner
Healthy lifestyle from Doiy
The box provides you with a daily task and instructions. For example, «Practise positive thinking». The back of the note explains why the daily challenge has a positive effect on your health. In this case, it says that positive thinking reduces stress among other things. I already knew that and am a little disappointed, as I would’ve preferred some kind of small guide. Food for thought, a brief exercise or recommendations on how to use positive thinking in concrete situations.
The scant information is a bit of an issue throughout, but not with all notes. Every now and then the box delivers what I was hoping for. For example, the task «Pay attention to your breathing». It includes a quick guide for a breathing exercise: «Inhale for five seconds, exhale for five seconds. Repeat this three times.» The exercise is soothing and my breathing relaxes.
Now that I’ve been trying out healthy habits for over two years as part of my I did it! series, the challenge box has a tough time surprising me. Many topics I already covered extensively. Sleep for 8 hours, Drink plenty of water, Don’t forget to stretch – all of which I tried and found helpful. In that sense, the challenges were good.
Source: Anna Sandner
But what I’m missing is a surprise. Every morning, my expectations are high that the daily challenge will have something new for me in store. Although that’s not the case with the «Healthy Lifestyle» box, I’m still happy with it. After all, it provides me with a pleasant task without me having to put much thought into it. And who knows, maybe the other boxes contain some unexpected ideas.
Slow Life: comparing the boxes from Doiy and Another me
To directly compare the two brands, I ordered the Slow Life box from both Doiy (in English) and Another me (in German). Comparing them is easy, which was to be expected from two brands by the same company. The challenges are identical and even arranged in the same order. What is different, however, is the layout, even though both have a similar design.
Source: Anna Sandner
There is one big difference, though. While Doiy’s German-language healthy lifestyle box has a short explanation on the back of the notes, the backs of the Slow Life box notes are blank. Is this to do with the language? It does seem that way with Doiy, because the English-language boxes for Gratitude and Self-Confidence don’t come with any explanations either. The brand Another me, on the other hand, gives a bit of background information on the challenges in both the German boxes on Mindfulness and Slow Life and in the English-language Happiness box. That’s one point for Another me.
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Another Me 30 Day Challenge, Slow Life, English
English
The challenges in the Slow Life boxes include some standard ideas that also coincide with the Healthy Lifestyle box, such as «Be offline for 24 hours» or «Eat slowly and enjoy every bite». But there are also one or two less predictable ideas: «Put together your favourite photos and create an album» or «Draw something on a fogged-up mirror». Overall, another big plus is that most of the tasks can be carried out alongside your usual daily routine. There are only very few challenges, such as «Take a day off», which need a bit of preparation.
Source: Anna Sandner
Verdict: handy if you want to explore a topic
I had a lot of fun during my 30-day challenge and will certainly be taking up one or two of the ideas again later. I particularly enjoyed the Advent calendar effect of being able to draw a note every morning. Sometimes, I’d have liked a little more guidance, but overall most of the challenges were self-explanatory and certainly did my health some good in one way or another. Not to mention that these boxes are a lovely little gift idea for health-conscious friends or family.
Find out how I fared during my other I did it! weeks here:
Header image: Anna Sandner
Anna Sandner
Senior Editor
Anna.Sandner@galaxus.deScience editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always outside - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.
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