Empty this drawer…fill your creative brain!
Over the last few weeks the topic of ‘de-cluttering’ your life has come up numerous times. First, I listened to an amazing audio program by Denise Duffield-Thomas with tips on how to manifest success. Her first tip talked about de-cluttering your life. (Go sign up on her site, I love her stuff!)
That idea was fresh on my mind when other tips seemed to pop up on facebook, email newsletters and conversations with friends. Everyone was saying the same thing, the less extra ‘stuff’ in your life, the more space for greatness!
If you have big things to create and projects you want to get out into the world, you need space to do it. And often physical space leads to mental space.
I have been LOVING my new office space I carved out in my bedroom. But such a small space inside a small bedroom does not leave much wiggle room for clutter. In fact, I find that I spend more than a few minutes cleaning up the room before I sit down to work, because a clear workspace gives me a clear mind.
All of these things have been aligning and I have been feeling a strong pull to PURGE! And purge my whole house. But as a busy mom, the thought of needing to purge my entire house is a little overwhelming.
I started thinking about purging the same way I think about most of my tasks, especially business tasks, in my life as a entrepreneurial mom.
Break each task down over and over again until it is in the smallest, most time manageable bite- Click to Tweet This!
Then take each manageable bite and schedule it into a reasonable time frame.
So, I thought, what if I purged ONE tiny area of my house each day for a month? Then, before school starts at the end of August, I’d have an amazingly clutter free house, without feeling overwhelmed or giving up a whole weekend to do it.
Want to join me?
Lets all do this 30-Day Purge Challenge together. Below is the next 30 days spelled out with one small area to de-clutter each day. You shouldn’t spend more than 15-20 minutes on each task. You can, of course, do this challenge any way you want, but for me, I am going to focus on getting rid of stuff, not necessarily cleaning or reorganizing an area (that’s another challenge!) So, when I purge my spice cabinet, I am going to go through and toss all the old spices that are expired or that we no longer use, but I am not going to spend time alphabetizing the remaining ones. (But if you want to, go on with your bad self!!) Also, I made the decision not to include my kids rooms on this round…that really is a challenge it itself!!
Be sure you are following me on facebook or twitter, because each day I’ll remind you what we are purging!
Let’s create space for greatness this fall!!!
30 Day Purge!
July 16- Bath toys
July 17- Make up
July 18- Under the bathroom sink
July 19- Medicine cabinet
July 20- Linen closet
July 21- Products in shower
July 22- Cars center console and glove compartment
July 23-Kitchen utility drawer
July 24-Spice cabinet
July 25-Freezer
July 26-Kids dishes and cups
July 27-Under the kitchen sink
July 28-Pantry (remember, you are getting rid of stuff…not reorganizing!)
July 29- Storage Containers
July 30-Toy Basket in the living room
July 31- Entryway table or bookcase
Aug 1- Under the TV cabinet
Aug 2- Hallway coat closet
Aug 3- Desk Drawers
Aug 4- Paper stacks
Aug 5-Sock and underwear drawer
Aug 6-Other dresser drawers
Aug 7-Under bed
Aug 8- Hanging clothes
Aug 9-Shoes
Aug 10- Nightstand
Aug 11- Magazines
Aug 12- Miscellaneous clutter around
Aug 13- Sit Back and create in your new clutter-free space!!!
Purge! 30 Days to Greatness Checklist
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Heather Thorkelson - This is a great post – I’m a HUGE advocate for less stuff. When we moved from Toronto to Lima, Peru we ditched 80% of what we owned (which wasn’t much) and live almost like monks here. I LOVE it! I have so much mental clarity. I also love that you’ve provided a de-clutter list that allows people to tackle one thing per day. If I hadn’t already ditched my stuff, I’d be all over that. Great post!
Mindy Crary - I LOVE your list! I went through a MAJOR purge earlier this year when I lost my mother suddenly, but now i am already seeing more “stuff” that I can get rid of. I am going to bookmark this post and try to follow along!
Beryl Young - Oh my gosh – I am so with you on this!! Joining up now — we actually started this yesterday purging the baby junk from our family room and getting it more toddler friendly. But my junk drawers still need mega help. Hooray for this challenge!!
Sarah @ Spoon Fed Baby - I love this! I am constantly purging and giving to Good Will (reason for why we never have enough stuff to sell at a garage sale!) I am with your on this challenge!
Kat Bouchard - Your a genius !! Truly, this is great advice. Tackling a small section a day makes it way more manageable. I always try and take on my whole house at once, and I end up with a bigger mess than I started with! I certainly will try and join you on this!
Cathy Sykora - It is good to purge. I did a 9 part series, beginning with the psychological influence of visual complexity…as it relates to clutter. Some people thrive on clutter and other people are stymied by it. I think it helps if we have a cheerleader while we are purging too! My daughter in law helped me get rid of 15 year old clothes I had attached myself to in my closet last fall…4 boxes later we were headed to the goodwill. I need my husband to agree to declutter our basement and garage. That will take at least 30 days!
Anastasia Valentine - I’m SO IN!!! What an awesome post. With summer in full swing the 30 clutter challenge is perfect timing. Breaking it down in manageable chunks by day is a surefire way to actually being able to pull it off. So excited to start TODAY!
Anastasia
Visit Anastasia on Mentor Mondays for great actionable tips for your mind, body and business! http://www.anastasia-valentine.com/mentor-mondays/
Fatma - De-cluttering is one of my favorite topics. I start my programs with a “Create Sacred Space” session. I love your list and am definitely going to do it. Thank you for the details. Saved me the time to do it!
Will share on your FB page with you!
Fatma XO
Megan - Thanks Heather!
People always say they hate moving, but I kinda like being about to purge and reorganize!
Megan - Thanks Mindy! I am so glad you are going to follow along! I already feel so ‘free’ just a few days in!
Megan - Awesome!! I so excited you’re pumped! Honestly, when I opened my thinned out make up case this morning, I actually smiled!
Tina Pruitt - Fantastic! I just moved and so I was able to do some decluttering during that process, but it is interesting that even in that mode, you start to just pack to simply just get the move done! In other words, you KNOW you are starting to pack, move and possibly even store away things that you may not even use or care about on the other end – but the overwhelm of everything sets in and it is just TOO much! I LOVE this idea of breaking it down into smaller chunks and will definitely give this a whirl! Thanks for a great post!
xo, Tina
Theresa Keeling - I’m in too!