Some of them, such as the daily devotions, etc., have become second nature by now and implementing them is not difficult. Others, like a healthier life style (diet and exercise), time management, etc. require more discipline and commitment to actually doing.
One area I really want to concentrate on is my goal for a clean, tidy, uncluttered house.
The goal, as written in my Balanced Life goals, is as follows:
Environment: The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house and a well-maintained garden.
House:
- Focus on decluttering and maintaining cleaned areas
This month, I really want to focus on decluttering and maintaining the cleaned areas. Therefore, I am going to start on another decluttering challenge. This will tie into one of my spiritual objective of cultivating detachment, as well, because it is my attachment to certain items that hampers my efforts to declutter.
My daughter is providing inspiration by decluttering her closet and dresser! She is much more pragmatic and much less attached to things than I am! On Tuesday (Jan.2), she went through her closet and decluttered a trash bag of clothes and another of shoes and boots. The majority of them will be donated, but we gave some to my friend, who visited us in the evening, for her granddaughter. Daughter plans to go through her dresser drawers, next.
I am challenging myself to declutter at least three items a day in January. Why three? Because that is the number of items I was able to declutter on January 1, and I don't want to state a bigger number and be behind in my decluttering on the first day, itself! LOL!
The three items I decluttered on January 1 were two pens (one had dried out, the other ran out of ink as I was writing) and a stem glass which I accidentally knocked down and broke! Oops!
On January 2, I decluttered a gift bag from the stash, an empty apple cider bottle, and an empty gallon sized milk jug. I am not counting what daughter decluttered as part of my decluttering.
On January 3, I decluttered a blouse that was starting to fray and the silver trimming was starting to wear off, a pair of grey pants that was too big, and last year's calendar.
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I will be posting each day's decluttering. At the rate of 3 items a day, I should have decluttered 93 items by the end of the month. Maybe I will toss in another 7 items to make it 100 items in January. That sounds like a nice, even goal for the month, doesn't it?
Is anyone else doing a decluttering challenge? If so, what is your daily or monthly goal? Would anyone else like to join in the challenge?
I don't have a daily or monthly goal per se, but I do want to make one trip to Goodwill each week w/at least one bag or box of items. I get into the habit of packing stuff up but then am terrible about actually getting it out of the house. Which is actually the whole darn point!!!
ReplyDeleteI think you do a very good job with your goals each month. Perhaps you have figured the trick of writing the kind of goals you can achieve. I find that I am better about this as I grow older and know (or am more honest) more about myself.
Laura, why not schedule a pick up? Goodwill and Salvation Army, etc., will come and pick up from the house, in my area. I don't have to be at home, either - as long as I put the items outside, with a note with their name and tell them where the items will be (by the front door, by the gate, etc.) before I go to the office, they will come by on the agreed day and pick the stuff up. And, if I request a receipt, they will leave a receipt (one has to say how many bags/boxes of what - 8 bags of clothes, 2 bags of household items, 1 box of books, for example - for them to make out the receipt, because they need to state it on the receipt).
DeleteI try to make fairly reasonable, achievable goals, I think. Ideally, I'd like a completely decluttered house, but, getting rid of 100 items this month is reasonable and achievable, I think. 3 items a day is rather painless, too, I think.
I really like this idea of decluttering 3 things a day...that is doable and not overwhelming at all. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie. That's what I thought, too. I have done 10 items a day and that was fine, at the time, because I had a lot more things to declutter. The "as many items as the date" challenge was more difficult, especially towards the end! I am hoping the 3 per day will work out better. :)
DeleteGood plan, Bless! Today I started decluttering my exercise room, which is one of my goals for this week. I have too much crap stuffed in every corner and closet of this house, I want it gone. I threw away a big bag of junk, have a big box of school supplies to donate to a teacher, and a big box of office supplies mostly to donate to a thrift store. And I'm only halfway done on that room! I'd like to try to declutter one room per week so I can get it all done relatively early in the year before I lose steam. It's been driving me nuts for a while and I was waiting for the new year to get started, for some reason! Good luck with your own decluttering! It's so cleansing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nathalie, and well done for getting started on your exercise room! The start of a new year, or a new month, is very motivating, isn't it? Should definitely take advantage of that fact and get as much done at the beginning while you still feel motivated and enthusiastic!
DeleteI like the idea of decluttering one room per week - it is very satisfying to declare a room (or area) done and be able to move on to the next room or area. So far, I've just been decluttering here and there, but maybe I should give some thought to doing it a bit more methodically! Thank you for the idea!
I shall be starting your challenge next month, in February. I won't be here for half the month, so I will resolve to start while I am doing my Spring cleaning. You are doing great with your challenge....3 items a day is not so overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteFebruary will be a good month for the decluttering, Susan. It'll go well with the spring cleaning. :)
DeleteYes, 3 items a day seems easy enough to do. Baby steps. What matters is that things will be leaving the house.