Introducing 365 Less things.. a Decluttering Challenge

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1.5.15

Introducing 365 Less things.. a Decluttering Challenge

 

I'm facing a pretty tough de-cluttering challenge this week. We are moving back to our country home in September. But we are bringing the equivalent of a 2nd household's worth of 'stuff' with us. Yipes!


 There are a few things that make this task pretty daunting.

One, I can only just 'hobble' about with a fractured left toe and a booted right foot..with a broken bone that is still healing.

The other is that I'm 'between homes'.. staying at the country house  temporarily to get some things done.. but going back and forth.. so we have to have some bare minimum of stuff at both places.

On top of that I can't drive.. to get boxes or ship things or whatever. My son has to take me wherever I go.



Hubby's request is that I somehow 'make room' because he plans to move us in stages. This is akin to having surgery.. on a weekly basis.  Not the kind of misery you want to 'stretch out' lol.

My brain..sort of rebels at this plan.  It isn't like life suddenly 'stops' for these kinds of 'events'.

Honestly, I wasn't quite sure how I was gonna do it. Then I stumbled (thank you Lord :) over this blog..



Here are a few tips from her introductory post....

  • Keep it simple..
  • Pledge to remove, on average, at least one item a day 
  • The departure point ~ Designate an out of the way area to place your decluttered items until you are ready to take the next step. The next step might be to through it in the bin, recycle it, sell it or donate it.
  • There is no speed limit ~ If one thing a day is too slow for you declutter as many things as you like just be sure to keep within your comfort limit.   Try to do something everyday to maintain your momentum. 
    Be mindful about your decision making - make sure you don't get rid of something you'll need later

 You can read the rest here.
I really really like the idea of breaking down the decluttering process into such tiny baby steps. The best part is making a daily habit of it. You'd never have to get overwhelmed by this process again!

So I'm getting rid of a few things in these areas this week..


  • Teas
  • Shoes
  • Books
  • Grandchildren items (sniff.. all living long distance now)
  • Jewelry
  • Desk Caddy papers

She posted a challenge today and suggested we get rid of duplicates like scissors too. I might add scissors and pens to that list.

I may make my schedule 3 items a day instead of 1 since.. I'm a bit behind lol.

After all.. it is August and she started in January.




But I am so excited about the idea that if I got rid of 3 items a day for the next six months.. my new year would be a lot brighter! That's 3 x180 = 550 items gone out of my house!

If I also put a 'moratorium' on bringing stuff in, the reality of a 'simplified, clutter-free home', could be mine..and yours.

Be sure to check out that blog and get inspired. I'll let you know how it goes on my end.

Clutter free.. here I come!


 Happy Homemaking :)

Donna


5 comments

Trudy said...

Oh my! Good luck.

Amy said...

I need to do this. Thanks for sharing!

Dee said...

I did something similar when we moved to a much smaller house back in 2009. I did it first before the move and then again over the next 12 months after the move. I gave myself the 100 items challenge. and counted every item as I put it aside. I surprised myself how easy it was to collect 100 items and kept going. Over a couple of months I culled over 1200 items from our house. When we moved again we went to an even smaller house and I just kept going. I didn't count it by this time and tended not to blog it as much either. several years later I am still de-cluttering. It was actually the motivation to start my blog in late 2009. Even now I still find things that I can cull. I am much more ruthless than I used to be and my hoarder hubby isn't totally reformed but he also enjoys living with less.
I wish you all the best. It is easy once you get into it.

Donna said...

Thanks for sharing ladies. :) I have been having so much fun and today a friend from church came over and we just really decluttered my pantry (she did that *blush* ) and my bookshelf.

Our season of life has dramatically changed and this was very needed. It feels so 'freeing'!.

Donna said...

Dee I really like your comment. How inspiring! Me and my friend Kelly made great progress today. Out of a tall five shelf bookcase, I have 1 -2 shelves of books left to go back in. :) Also the pantry is purged. Much of the stuff in it was over a year old due to our being gone so much.

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Sangster

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