Are you trying to declutter and get organized? The best way to fail at this is to try to tackle too much all at once. If you say to me: “I’m spending all day Saturday getting rid of stuff” then there’s one thing I know for certain: on Saturday you will not get rid of anything at all.
The reason you’ll fail is that you will wake up Saturday and feel overwhelmed. You’ll suddenly have no idea how to get started and the whole exercise will feel impossible. You’ll do what we all do in these situations – you’ll procrastinate.
Instead, we propose that you break your decluttering plans down into small, do-able, tasks. And that was the inspiration behind our 30-day decluttering challenge. Each day for thirty days you’ll tackle one manageable project. Each project will only take you a short amount of time to complete. Because each daily project is a focused, specific, challenge, you’ll find it is easy to get it done and check the daily challenge off your to-do list.
Ready to jump into the challenge? Sign up on the link at the bottom of this post and you’ll immediately receive the challenge in your inbox.
The reason this approach works is simple: Decluttering is just like working a muscle you haven’t used in a while. At first it feels painful to lift the smallest weight, but once you get started, you learn that it becomes just a little bit easier every time you work out.
Our goal with this challenge is to help you make decluttering a daily habit. Your commitment each day is short and easy. You don’t have to block off hours of your time or devote a whole weekend to decluttering…most of these sessions will take just five minutes or so. If you spend a few minutes each day, for 30 days, you will see significant results.
Do you want a sneak peek at what to expect with this challenge?
On days one through four, we’ll have you working in your bathroom. You’ll find a specific task each day. By the end of day four, you’ll find that your bathroom is no longer cluttered with extra bottles of bath and beauty products, that the only medications are current, and that you’ve got space to hang your towels.
After tackling the bathroom, the challenge will lead you into your kitchen, where you’ll spend 10 days addressing some very specific areas, such as your spice collection, canned goods, and junk drawers.
After you have built up your decluttering skills, we focus on clothing. This will be days sixteen through twenty-two. But we break it down for you, of course. One day, you’ll focus only on undergarments, another day you’ll focus on sweaters, etc. By the end you’ll be relieved to look at your closet, and getting dressed will be much more fun.
Next we work on books for three days, followed by photos.
The last day of the challenge is the day when you get to donate everything you won’t keep (or give it to a friend or neighbor) and then sit back and enjoy your refreshed new home.
There’s no cost to take the challenge. All it takes is a commitment to yourself to make some positive changes in your home.
