Lots of closet-cleansing challenges exist for the would-be wardrobe minimalist — but what if your clutter problem’s in the garage. Or kitchen? Or bookshelves? And worse, what if you’re so overwhelmed by the clutter in your place that you can’t get yourself to tackle it?
If you find yourself in this clutter conundrum, consider joining A Thing A Day: A basic uncluttering challenge that requires you to get rid of one thing a day.
This simple challenge was started simply — by a forum member at clutter-busting blog Unclutterer who just posted the challenge as a forum topic. The no-frills idea already has 59 people participating! They’ve gotten rid of everything from a “labor saving” tub scrubber (“It never worked very well-pads wouldn’t stay attached to velcro handle and it smelled funny”) to a too-heavy blanket (“once under it, you were pinned to the mattress”).
So try this reducing and reusing challenge for greener, leaner living this summer. Getting started is simple — Just start getting rid of one thing a day. You decide how many days you want to get rid of things. If you’re feeling generous, you might want to combine this with the 29 Day Giving Challenge and give away something useful or helpful for the next 29 days.
Earlier: Radical uncluttering: Getting rid of stuff in search of new adventures
Photo by chris.corwin
Love the idea of a “Thing a Day” especially since you can do it in batches if that’s easier (e.g. 7 things on Monday for the whole week). Once I get started, I can usually find a lot more than one thing.
A recent look around my small home found 10 things to remove at once.
I find uncluttering, and even simple cleaning, to be an iterative process. On the first round through my closet, I got rid of two huge garbage bags of clothes. I loved the feeling of freedom it afforded me. A few months later, I can now see at least half a bag more of things that I really don’t need. And I think it’s the same for all the other areas of the house — you have to keep going through it again and again.
As for me, I’m just uncluttering, very slowly.
Barb @ 1SentenceDiary´s last blog ..Uncluttering- very slowly
Comment by Barb @ 1SentenceDiary — July 29, 2010 @ 8:23 pm
Hey — You’re already 9 days ahead if you’re doing A Thing A Day! That’s not all that slow :)
Comment by Siel — July 30, 2010 @ 11:00 am