December Challenge & GIVEAWAY: #20minaday

I don’t know about you, but the month of December and the holidays can sometimes feel stressful or overwhelming to me. Lunch dates, works events, Christmas parties, shopping, last minute shopping, gloomy weather, hours of holiday traveling, (who else is still wrapping presents on Christmas eve?) …. It can add up after a while for some of us.

And so I have a challenge for the month. It’s a #20minaday challenge.

I’m challenging you to do something for YOURself every day in December for just 20 minutes a day. Consider it a gift to yourself.

Share what you are doing on Twitter or Instagram or in the comments section here on my blog as I do updates during December, or even on my Facebook Page. I want to hear how it’s going. Be sure to use the hashtag #20minaday. I’ll definitely be taking pictures and sharing my #20minaday on Instagram throughout the month.

Examples of what you can do with #20minaday:

1. Move: Walk. Run. Ride your bike. Swim. Take the dog for a walk. Take the kids for a walk. Jog in place. Yoga. Stretching. Do some calisthenics. Burpees and the plank anyone?
2. Learn something: Pick something and watch some online video tutorials. How proficient would you be at the end of December? I’m trying to learn Photoshop Elements. With #20minaday I could easily learn two new things a day.
3. Read: Pick a book you’ve really wanted to read and sit down somewhere quiet and read it. If you are a book blogger, pick a book that you wouldn’t normally feature on your blog!
4. Organize: Have some closets, a garage, or a room that need a little help? Do they make you feel crazy when you just open the door? With just #20minaday what would it look like by the end of December? Maybe you’ll have some stuff you can donate to a local shelter, food bank (they often take goods too) or Goodwill by the end of the month.
5. Cherish your photo memories: Get your digital photos organized, delete the crappy ones that are not print worthy, and prepare to back them up on DVDs on December 31. Go through old photos you have hiding somewhere. Get rid of the crappy ones that don’t really mean anything to you anymore. Get rid of the ones filled with people who you don’t really know. Take what’s left over and put them into an album that’s easy to browse through. Find just a couple you really love that have been hidden away or stuck on your computer and frame them for display.
6. Fix something.
7. Make something.
8. Look for a new job if you don’t like the one you have.
9. Plan for a vacation in 2013: where are you going, what will it cost, how will you save up for it. Be ready to put your plan into action on January 1.
10. Whatever it is, do something that makes you feel good. Do something that makes you feel happy. Do something that makes you feel like you accomplished something. Do something that is for you (which can often lead to having a positive impact on the ones around you.) Do something that at the end of the month makes you look back and say, “I did it.” And sitting around browsing Pinterest for 20 minutes looking at things you “want” to do is not an option.

At least 20 minutes a day. More is great too. But #20minaday is your challenge. Do the same thing every day. Do one thing a few days a week and something else on the other days. Do something different every day. Just do #20minaday.

GIVEAWAY: On December 31, I’ll be giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to someone who participated in the challenge. 
HOW TO ENTER: Use the hashtag #20minaday on Twitter or Instagram, leave an update on my Facebook Page, or comment on my #20minaday update blog posts (Dec 10 & 17). Entries must occur by 6:00pm (Pacific Time) on December 30.