31 Day Minimalist Challenge for Bloggers

I’ve been trying for so long to get my life organized, when in reality, I think I just have too much stuff. I live in a small apartment, and I’m continuously frustrated with having my photography setup in my living room. I feel like I’m constantly climbing over things to get to other parts of the apartment. And don’t even get me started on my closets! I’m always digging through things trying to find what I need.

But ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! 2017 is going to be different. Live with less. If it doesn’t matter, get rid of it. These are my new mantras.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year is to live a more minimalist lifestyle. I’m currently going through closets, cabinets, prop/photography closet, junk drawers, files, inboxes, and I could go ON AND ON. I have a list. I’ve saved a bunch of 30-day minimalist challenges on Pinterest, and even started a new Pinterest board for minimalist inspiration.

Over the last several months, I’ve been having some trouble staying inspired for this blog. So I thought it might be helpful to have a minimalist challenge specifically for bloggers! There are 31—one for each day in any given month. You don’t have to start on the first of the month or even go in order. The idea is to do one thing each day to help you work towards a more minimalist lifestyle.

1. Clean out and sort through your inbox! Take advantage of the “Labels” feature in Gmail. Sort through your inbox, deleting everything you don’t need. Also unsubscribe from newsletters and company/store promotions you don’t need.
2. Keep a gratitude log. Sometimes blogging is hard work and it can occasionally be frustrating. Keep a daily gratitude log to remind yourself why you love blogging. (Currently doing this in my bullet journal!)
3. Have a set morning routine. Whether it’s looking over your planner during breakfast or replying to emails/comments you received overnight, having a morning routine ensures your day is off to a good, productive start.
4. Schedule Facebook posts and Twitter posts for one week. Maybe you still have blog posts to schedule for this week, but take 10 to 15 minutes to sit down and schedule other things to share on your social media channels. (I’m horrible about this!)
5. Insta purge. Unfollow inactive accounts and accounts that never show up in your feed.
6. No email or social media until lunch. The idea behind this one is that if you have your priorities in order (ie. posts and social media for your blog already scheduled), you don’t need to look at your phone first thing in the morning.
7. Define your goals for this year. Blog goals, social media goals, financial goals. Take a few minutes to write them down and keep them posted somewhere you can easily see them.
8. Clean up your Pinterest boards. Delete boards you don’t pin to very often and have low pin counts. Leave group boards you never pin to.
9. Twitter purge. Unfollow inactive accounts and accounts you never see/look at.
10. Clean your office/work space. Keep your work area clear and organized.
11. Delete/organize/backup photography saved on your computer. Delete duplicate photos and photos you’ll never use. Back up your photos either on an external hard drive or online.
12. Delete photos off your camera/phone. If your blog photos live on your laptop and you’ve backed them up, you don’t need them on your devices!
13. Clean out your photography props. Sort through and sell/donate any props you don’t use. Don’t purchase new props unless you really feel like they’ll add to your photos. (This is a huge one for me! My goal is to have simpler photos in 2017.)
14. Sort through your photography equipment. Get rid of cords, accessories, and sell/donate equipment you never use.
15. Practice single-tasking. I’m almost always trying to do blog stuff while I’m attempting to do other things. Try taking the time to sit down and focus only on blog work. You might find that you complete tasks faster this way.
16. Evaluate the last 5 purchases you made. Whether they were for your blog, for recipes, props, fonts, graphics, social media promotions, etc. Did you benefit from them? Where they worth it?
17. Turn off notifications. Try turning off the notifications for your social media apps and only opening the apps to look at your notifications when you have a free moment.
18. Clean out your closets. Sort through your clothes, props, photography, random blog equipment, and swag bags you received at blog conferences or events.
19. Clean out your pantry and refrigerator. For food bloggers—throw away expired products and reorganize. (I’m jealous if you actually have a pantry lol.)
20. Delete apps on your phone. If you don’t use them or they haven’t legitimately helped you grow your blog/social media in the last few months, delete them.
21. Leave Facebook groups. Leave groups that you don’t actively participate in, or groups that you and your blog haven’t benefited from.
22. Set work hours. If you blog full time, set yourself up on an 9-5 schedule to keep yourself on track. If you blog in addition to your day job, set specific work hours for blogging during the week (before or after work) and on the weekends. Don’t work around the clock.
23. Go media-free after 5pm. Get off work when everyone else gets off work. You’ve been looking at screens all day, so try going media-free for a few hours.
24. Keep a blog planner. Roughly plan out blog posts for a month as a guide, but don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t follow it exactly. Life happens.
25. Detox day. Leave at least one day completely free from blog work and technology. If it’s helpful, consider doing this once or twice a week.
26. Enjoy your meals without your phone. Take the time to actually enjoy your meals and relax. Use them as a break. Don’t check your phone, social media, or emails.
27. Work in one browser window. If you always find yourself with a thousands tabs open on your browser, try working with only one or two open. This is similar to single-tasking.
28. Let go of a goal. This sounds weird, but you’ve most likely made a list of several goals, some more achievable than others. Re-evaluate your goals, and get rid of the one you’re least likely to achieve. Focus on the others.
29. Work outside of your house. Let your home be the place you relax, not work. Edit photos or write posts at a coffee shop or library instead of while you sit on your couch or bed.
30. Turn down opportunities you don’t need. If a brand partnership is not going to benefit you in anyway (ie. you have never heard of them or you never use their products, you have more followers than the brand, they want to send you free product instead of payment, their payment is social media exposure only), just don’t do it. There are other and better things you could be posting on your blog that YOU and YOUR READERS will love.
31. Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers. (I’m so guilty of this!) Just focus on what you love and why you love blogging. What made you start blogging? What keeps you going? Ask yourself these questions when you’re feeling discouraged.

Happy 2017, friends! I hope some of these might be helpful for y’all. 🙂