30-Day Declutter Challenge

Clutter is a thing of last year. We are going to leave that behind us by participating in a challenge this month.

During the 30-day decluttering challenge you will do a small activity meant to help you declutter one area of your life.

Decluttering often seems daunting because we tend to think of it as a big ordeal. With this 30 day declutter challenge, we are simplifying the decluttering process by focusing on a single daily task. 

I hope that you’ll come to realize that decluttering doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming. With that being said, let’s get started.

30-Day Declutter Challenge

Physical Declutter

In these first ten days, we are going to focus on decluttering your physical space. From your home office to your car, we are decluttering it all. Some of these activities may be things you already do often. There are others that maybe you haven’t thought about.

Each of these are important in creating a decluttered space. To begin grab a trash bag, a donation box, and/or a storage container.

1. Go through your bedroom closet.

Depending on how often you shop for clothes, this may be one of the hardest tasks you have to do in this category. We are knocking it out first thing so that you don’t have to worry about it later.

Consider tackling your closet and dresser on separate days. Going through clothes can be overwhelming so break it down for yourself in a manageable way. Pass on things that you haven’t worn in the last year, things that don’t fit, things you’ll never wear again, things that don’t fit your style, etc..

Allow yourself a finite amount of “memorable” stuff to keep. One small box of memento clothing is all you need.

2. Tackle your living room.

Your living room can hold a lot of stuff. Since it’s the place where a lot of people hang out you want to keep this area as clutter-free as possible. You want to make sure everything has a designated space, from kids’ toys to old magazines.

3. Organize your office space.

Now it’s on to the third room in the house. It’s easy for your office space to get cluttered. The problem is that this space can house a lot of important documents. When decluttering on this day you want to pay extra attention when going through that pile of paperwork so that you don’t throw anything important away.

4. Go through the pantry and fridge.

The next two days we are decluttering the kitchen. Today’s task is to sort through your fridge and pantry. There are two main things you want to do here. The first thing is to check the expiration dates. If they are past the date you’ll want to throw it away. Any good food you’ll want to decide if you want to keep it or donate it (more on that later). If you are keeping the food, find a way to organize your fridge and pantry in a way that works for you.

5. Organize kitchen cabinets.

To finish the kitchen today we are organizing the cabinets, this includes the junk drawer and the kitchen counters. Some things you want to do here are, check your food storage containers and make sure you have the tops that go with them. Then you want to make sure all your small appliances and other kitchen storage solutions are all in their proper place.

6. Check your medicine cabinet.

You’ve done a lot so far to lead you to a clutter-free home. Today is a small task, but still just as important. As you are going through your medicine cabinet be on the lookout for expiration dates, empty bottles, etc.. It’s also a good idea to take note of what basic medicine you may not have that you can get later at the store.

7. Review your skincare routine.

We are spending another day in the bathroom, but this time our focus is on skincare and beauty products. Do you have any products that are at the end of their use that need to be thrown out or products that you stopped using? Take the extra time today to review what you have then see if they can be organized in a better way.

8. Organize your laundry room.

This is the last full room that we are decluttering for this challenge. If you have extra time on any other days of this declutter challenge you can tackle other rooms like the dining area, linen closet, etc..

Decluttering a laundry room is quite simple. Make sure all clothes are folded and put where they are supposed to be, then organize the cleaning supplies. Make sure the empties are thrown away and put the ones you’re using in a place where you can access them easily. And anything that doesn’t belong? Out it goes!

9. Get rid of books you don’t want anymore.

This is another simple task, but because bookshelves are in different places in every house, I wanted to make it a separate activity. All you do here is go through your bookshelf and figure out what you want to keep and what you want to sell/donate.

10. Clean out your car.

This may not be a part of your house, but it is a physical space. If you haven’t cleaned out your car in a while, this would be a great reminder for you to do that.

What To Do With Your Decluttered Items:

That was the last of the first part of our 30-day challenge. You should have a good amount of things to throw away, donate or sell. While where you throw things out is obvious, you may not know what to do with the other two.

Donate:

For anything you are donating you have a few options. You can donate it to a thrift store, a homeless shelter, and even some of your local churches. There are some Facebook pages where you can even list things locally for free. Giving something to someone who will make us of it is better than just throwing it away.

Sell:

If you are wanting to sell some items you may want to look into posting them on Facebook Marketplace. You could also have a garage sale to see what you can part with. You can also use Mercari or Poshmark. If you have extra clothes, consider sending them to ThredUp.

“Trash”:

Do your best to keep things from ending up in landfills! Consider passing them to someone you know, Get a Take Back Bag from For Days or send things to the Knickey Recycling Program.

Digital Declutter

Now that our physical space is looking better, it’s time to focus on our digital life. These areas are easier to clutter up because you can’t physically see it unless it’s really bad. Others aren’t able to see your cluttered phone or computer either. When your digital life is in order you feel lighter and more productive.

11. Review your email.

I don’t know about you but my inbox gets clogged up with sales emails and that’s only half of it. To fix this, while you are deleting your emails go ahead and unsubscribe from the daily emails you don’t want or need.

12. Organize/delete photos on your phone.

 If you haven’t done a clean sweep of the photos on your photos in a while, this is your time to do that. I start this by going through and deleting any photos and/or albums I don’t want. Then little by little I’ll airdrop the rest of the photos to my computer and delete them from my phone. For the last step, I transfer my pictures and videos to a flash drive.

13. Delete apps you don’t use anymore.

We all have those apps on our phones that we download thinking we are going to use, but then we never do. It’s time to delete those today.

14. Clear up storage space on your phone and computer.

 For today’s simple task all you have to do is go to your storage settings and see if there are any ways that you can optimize your storage. This will declutter your devices from things you may not think of checking for.

15. Do a social following purge.

One of the best ways to declutter your digital life is to do a friends list purge. Sometimes we can get caught up in the follower/friends count. We don’t take a minute to sit with the type of content we are allowing on our feeds and into our minds. Today go through your followers and friend lists. If there is anyone that doesn’t give you positive vibes it’s time to unfriend/unfollow. This article has a few other reasons to do this.

16. Delete posts/photos that you don’t want on your profile.

We all have posts from 10 years that come up on our memories that make us wonder why we thought it was okay to post. Or those pictures we got tagged in that we don’t want future employers and co-workers to see. Your task today is to go through your feed and delete all of these.

17. Organize and delete files on your computer.

Depending on how organized you keep your computer, this can either be a few minutes or an entire day. You just want to delete files you don’t need – just make sure they aren’t important things. Then organize what is left, folders help with this. 

18. Delete subscriptions you don’t need/use anymore.

 These are things like streaming services, online games, etc.. If you haven’t used them, but they are still taking up space in your wallet or on your devices, it’s time to get rid of them.

19. Declutter bookmarks.

 This activity is one of those little things that you never think about until you go to look for something you bookmarked. It can sometimes seem like you bookmarked the entire internet – okay maybe that was an exaggeration. The point is, they need to be decluttered. Figure out which ones you still need and which ones should have been deleted a long time ago.

20. Organize cloud storage.

This can be iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, any cloud storage that you use. Start by deleting documents you don’t need anymore. Make sure you are not deleting any important items, then start organizing what is left. This would be just like what you did for the files on your computer. Hopefully, by doing this you’ll free up some storage space.

Mental Declutter

Just like the previous category, your mental clutter is also hard for people to see. It can even sometimes be hard for you to see as well. These last few activities are important for your mental health and a great example of self-care. If you take nothing away from this challenge I hope it’s the importance of taking care of your mental clutter. A positive mindset leads to a positive outlook. A stressed and cluttered mindset does not. Here are the last 10 days of this declutter challenge.

21. Unplug.

The best thing you can do to start the last 10 days after you have your digital life decluttered is to unplug. This is a great way to transition your digital decluttering to your mental decluttering.

Spend the day away from your devices and see how it felt. At the end of the day, journal about your experience.

22. Do a mind dump.

Our mind carries around a lot of thoughts, both consciously and unconsciously. A great way to get them all out is to do a mind dump. Set a timer for 10 minutes and grab a paper and pen.

In these 10 minutes, you want to write down whatever comes to mind. It can be sentences, phrases, and even just single words. After the time is up see what you wrote down. You may be surprised how much clutter was in your mind.

23. Meditate.

Another way to get your mind on a clean slate, and not full of clutter, is to meditate. Apps like Calm and Headspace are great to use for meditation. They also have beginner ones if you’ve never tried to meditate before.

24. Journal.

 We are writing again today, but this time it’s not random things that come into our minds. When you journal today reflect on how this declutter challenge has been for you. Have you learned how to create a clutter-free home, or a more organized phone? Write it all out.

25. Determine habits that you can stack.

Habit stacking is a powerful tool because the more you can automate your routine, the more mental space you have. It literally helps you declutter your brain. To learn more about habit stacking check out the book Atomic Habits.

26. Clear your schedule.

Today is your day to just be. Get rid of the to-do list and fill the day with your favorite things (if needed you can switch this day around if taking this day off isn’t possible).

27. Take a walk.

Spend your lunch break, or anytime during the day getting some movement in. If the weather is bad outside, find a way to walk around inside. The key is to not think too much while on this walk, just let yourself be in the present moment.

28. Write down 10 good things.

This is kind of like a gratitude list. Today I want you to write down 10 good things in your life right now. It could be a person, an event, a feeling, etc..

29. Make a to-do list.

Sometimes making a plan can save you from racking your brain trying to figure out what you need to do. Grab a planner, a sticky note, your phone, whatever it is you write down your to-do-lists. Then write your tasks for the day out.

30. Make a declutter plan for next month.

You’ve reached the last day! For your last activity, spend some time planning how you will keep up your decluttered physical space, digital life, and mind. Will you be repeating this challenge – maybe with a family member this time, or doing something else? Let me know in the comments below. 

I hope you learned a little more about decluttering and the importance of it. Let me know which activity was your favorite and how you felt after completing the challenge.

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