I have a lot of stuff. My desk is piled with things I probably don’t need. (So no, that desk is not mine. It’s inspo.) Same for every closet. Same for my kitchen. Same for my craft stash. Stuff is everywhere. That’s why I decided to start the new year off with a 365 Days of Decluttering challenge. I might succeed. I might fail. I might not actually have 365 days worth of stuff to get rid of, but we’re going to give it a shot!
My Decluttering Rules
- One bag a day must go.
- The bag can become trash, a donation, be recycled or be sold.
- Working ahead is ok.
- Getting behind is not.
- The bag must be at least the size of a plastic grocery bag.
- Things that are too large to fit in a bag can count as one bag.
- Regular trash and recycling accumulated from day to day does not count.
- Avoid bringing in new, unnecessary items.
- Purge instead of organizing.
- No stopping until you run out of clutter or hit 365 days.
So speaking of that working ahead rule, I already have seven bags ready to go. Mostly from my kitchen. I plan to hit my closet next. It was important to me to allow myself to work ahead. With travel and work schedules being so variable, flexibility was necessary. I knew it was setting myself up for failure if I wasn’t flexible.
And to speak to the purge instead of organizing rule, that’s a big one. I might a legitimate need for some type of storage as I go along, but the purpose is to clear out clutter, not to put it away in a pretty box.
I’m not actually sure that I have 365 days worth of stuff to declutter, but I guess we’ll find out! I’ll be checking in at least once a month to update how I’m going and with any helpful tips I’ve found along the way. You can follow along here.
You can also save this to Pinterest by clicking the photo below. Happy decluttering!