Spring Declutter Challenge

Hello friends! Some of you recently saw my Facebook post of a Good Housekeeping article that talked about a decluttering strategy called the “Minimalist Game“. The short version is you declutter the same number of things as the date for one month….one item on the 1st, two items on the 2nd, etc. If you follow this for 31 days you’ve eliminated 496 items from your home.

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Really? 496 items? WHO does that? I mean, at that point, it would probably drive me insaner if I didn’t just round that UP to 500….but I digress…..

When I posted this article on my personal Facebook page I got some comments with varying interest and some suggestions to make it more manageable. For a few days I’ve been mulling it over and now I’m ready with the official, The Neverending Lori’s Spring Declutter Challenge!!!

Before we dive in, a few housekeeping items

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Ha ha – get it…”housekeeping” items. And we’re doing a decluttering challenge which is kinda part of housekeeping. No? Just me. OK…back to your regularly scheduled programming…

First up – the RULES

• NO judgement. No judging yourself, others in the challenge, or anyone who doesn’t participate. Worry ’bout yourself. But don’t judge yourself. It’s stuff. We all have too much stuff and even if you complete 1/4 of the challenge – it’s less stuff. Everybody wins.
• Speaking of winning – it’s a challenge, but not a competition. EVERYBODY wins! Decluttered 500 items….50 items??? No items but got motivated and might do it for fall? GREAT! Everybody wins – and your prize is less shit in your space. Woooo!
• Sharing. Yes, sharing IS caring, but in this case – you share as much or as little as YOU feel comfortable with. You can comment on a post here on the blog, or you can hop on over to the Facebook Page for the blog and join in the fun there. I will set up events for each week and you can share photos, comment, etc. But NO judgement! Want to see what others are up to but don’t want to share or comment? Lurking is totally acceptable. Unless you make it creepy and then it’s not ok. Ha ha.
• The schedule. This week I’m posting on Thursday and you have until Sunday to complete the Prep Days tasks. Each WEEK after that, starting on Monday, March 24th, I’ll post the challenges for the week. NOBODY – and I mean NOBODY – is gonna come knocking on your door asking why you didn’t finish the Week 1 challenge by 3/30. Also, NOBODY is going to show up with a cookie if you finish Week 1 on 3/24. Personally I’ll be hella impressed, but that doesn’t really get you much! The point here is do what YOU can. Every little bit helps, right?
• To truly “COMPLETE” a weekly challenge, the items have to be GONE. G O N E. Out of your space – and by “space” I mean home, apartment, RV, whatever you live in and are working on decluttering. The items must be G O N E in order to complete the weekly challenge. Every time I’ve decluttered, getting it out of my space is the final step that I generally have a hard time with. Get it out! You’ll feel much better and feel like you really accomplished something.

OK – Prep Days are first. You need to make some decisions here. Each person’s experience will differ based on their own needs. But, as I’ve been thinking this through, I do think some prep work will make a world of difference.

First of all – determine WHAT you want to do with your decluttered items.

• Are you donating all the items?
• Are you selling any items?

Next, determine your “area of focus”. For me, I think I’ll be happier with one or two areas in my home that are REALLY decluttered vs me just running around like a nut job and grabbing stuff from different rooms. A focused approach will likely result in more visible results, which will possibly encourage me to declutter more. Now, do I NEED to declutter every room in this house? Oh, yes – friend….YES. But, for me and THIS challenge, I’m going to choose a few areas of focus and try to stick to those areas. Will I not “count” an item if it’s not from that area of focus? Uhhhh, NO, every item out counts, but I’m going to try and focus on a few key areas. You do what works for you!

Once you know your area of focus, be that a few rooms or just “this whole messy house”, and you know if you’re donating, selling, or both – you SHOULD have a better idea of what you need for the next step.

Get yourself a container – a box, a bin, trash bags, laundry baskets, etc. Maybe you’re decluttering an area with larger items, so you might need 2 containers – one for donate and one for stuff to sell. Gather ye supplies, decluttering friend. Your goal here is to have an easily accessible spot to put your decluttered items and move on! You’ll also want a marker, pen, crayon (some kind of writing utensil) located near the box/bin spot. If you’re decluttering and will need multiple containers, keep one container (two if you’re donating AND selling) in your accessible spot and put the extras out of the way so that your “drop spot” isn’t cluttered. You should have one or two containers and a writing utensil. That’s all ya need.

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I mean, that’s probably all you need. Unless I forgot a really integral part of this whole process, in which case I’m going to look like a complete ass. Hmmm…I guess I have until this post goes live to think this through and come up with any other things one might need for decluttering. Oy….why do I get myself into these things???

There ya have it! Get yourself ready and on Monday (3/24) I will post the details for Week 1. Let’s make it fun, encourage one another, and get rid of some of the clutter. For me, less stuff makes my brain happy and puts my mind in a more calm space. Our Florida home is pretty minimalist and I always feel so calm there. (That MIGHT be the Tito’s though). Hopefully we can all use this time to get rid of some of our excess and make our spaces calmer and more enjoyable for ourselves and others.

Let’s do this!!!