Declutter – Day 1
1 bag per day of the month challenge
Clearing the cobwebs
Wow, I am going to be vulnerable and show everyone the state of my house and I am scared – what will people think, how will I be judged, what negativity awaits me? But I ask you to stop and walk a day in my household’s shoes before you cast your judgment upon me. Picture this: it’s Friday and while I used to rejoice in the closure of another week, I groan in despair. My daughter has a track invite on Saturday, and it will consume my entire day. Did I wash her uniform from Tuesday’s track meet? My son has a soccer clinic on Sunday. Are his socks and uniform washed from last Sunday’s clinic? Fast forward to Sunday night. Well, I’m a failure yet again because I didn’t get groceries or plan meals for the week. Guess it’s another DoorDash kind of night and perhaps tomorrow I’ll have time to get a few things at the grocery store. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. This vicious cycle continues week after week.
The week is filled with activities from sports practices to choir practices and traveling all over the tri-county area to watch my kids runs for 15 seconds. Added to the mom-cheerleader responsibilities are the usual stressors of a high-pressure, visible corporate role. At some point, something had to give and that something was the state of my house.
With my new found freedom and my forced break from corporate life, I decided that the first order of business is taking back control of house. The month of January will be focused on decluttering.
Step 1 – Create a 1-month Challenge
Every year for the past several years, on January 1st, I attempt this challenge and every year, I fail just a few days in because well…life. But this year, I am determined to tackle the rooms full of clutter and live more simply. Here’s the deal: each day, I will fill as many bags as the day of the month. For instance, on January 1st, I will fill one bag. On January 2nd, I will fill 2 bags and so on. The bag can be trash or it can be donate but the goal is to get the things that you no longer need out of your house. My daughter said she will join me on my challenge. Let’s see how long it lasts.
The plan: I’d love to tell you that I have an organized list of rooms I plan to tackle each day, drawers to empty, or nooks to navigate but well…maybe next month. My main focus for this month is walk around from room to room until I fill a grocery bag up with things to discard or donate. Simple as that. My plan may change as the number of bags grow each day but why not start simple. No need to overcomplicate it because I’ll probably just give up before I even get started if that’s the case.