The challenge to decluttering something each day in the month of January isn't about filling bags and bags of donations. Although, I'm sure none of us will complain if that is the result, right? I imagine that at the end of the challenge many of us will have created a habit of looking for the clutter we are living in. At a minimum we are taking a few minutes to find something that can leave our home, or setting aside a few minutes to take action on an item we know needs to go.
The last few days I have been helping my husband reduce his Army files here in our home. While he has been the decision maker, I have been the one shredding the papers. We have put in quite a few hours of our time. The suggestion to my husband was to work on it a little at a time this month. I know he heard me, but I think he was motivated to just get it done. Sometimes the small moments of time we take to declutter will morph into hours. At least we had the hours to commit to it this weekend.
In addition to the paper purge, we got rid of these items as well:
- Pair of daughter jeans
- Set of salt and pepper shakers
- File folders
- A remaining ornament of a set that I already sent to Goodwill
I did bring in four rolls of clearance priced Christmas wrapping paper since I completely ran out this year. Luckily I have a place to store them and they have been put away until next year!
How is everyone feeling about your progress so far? Are you overwhelmed with needing to look for something to declutter each day? Are you stuck trying to find anything? Have you found yourself spending more time decluttering that you expected? Let me know how you feel about the challenge so far!
If you need some visual inspiration look at this:
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| Army Files: Before |
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| Shredded Bags of Army Files |
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| Army Files: Progress |
The file on the far left has not yet been touched. It would be great if it could be reduced, but we don't expect it to go down by much unfortunately.
It didn't occur to me that it had been five days. I think I'm doing okay, I seem to be finding stuff to purge which is good.I quite enjoy doing it. Was that your Christmas salt and pepper shakers that you donated?
ReplyDeleteI think you are doing great, Sarah. I donated some clear salt and pepper shakers that I JUST bought for a dollar. I attempted to make my own colored sprinkles to add to a gift. It didn't work out...so I donated the set. Waste of money, but I don't want to keep to add to clutter!!
DeleteThanks!
DeleteI think I actually ended up making more work for myself - there's a coffee-table-ish-table in our living room that I wanted to be clearing off...and I ended up putting the books I need to take to Powell's on it. And, of course, each day I've had an excuse as to why I can't go to Powell's that day.
ReplyDeleteThis is why my house is messy xD
Jessica, is there a better place to store the books for Powell's? Near the exit to your home that you use, or in your car? Are you going to be running other errands near Powell's soon?
DeleteIf you can find a place for the books, you can begin on the table tomorrow...or today if you are motivated! Don't let a pile of books get in your way is my point.