Is downsizing your home overwhelming you? You’re not alone! So, take baby steps!
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We’ve found its important for you to not get caught up in the size and enormity of the task, but to instead focus on it day by day. Getting started and then sticking with it is the most important thing to focus on, and then before you know it- you’ll be amazed what you accomplished!
We’ve compiled this 40 day downsizing challenge to get you started, so read on!
But first things first, here’s Annie’s 5 Tips for Success with this Challenge
1. Keep your reasons/inspiration for downsizing in mind. If you don’t know those reasons yet- figure them out! Are you downsizing to make it easier on those you leave behind? Are you doing it to take the weight off your shoulders? Are you doing it so you can move into a smaller, more manageable space? Once you know the answer, repeat it to yourself before you get started. Remind yourself when things get tough or you are tempted to stop or not get started that day. Write the reasons down and make sure you can see them every day and/or they are in front of you while you are performing your daily tasks!
2. Don’t beat yourself up. Its about day to day. If you have a bad day or fall of the track, get back on it! This challenge will be just as effective if it turns into a 45 or even 60 day challenge- as long as you get to the finish line!
3. If you find yourself getting distracted or procrastinating, try setting a timer for 15 minutes. Tell yourself, “I can do this for 15 minutes” (because you can), and then set the timer and get to work. If you want to stop after the 15 minutes is up, then stop. After you’ve taken a break for an hour or a few, commit to another 15 minutes, and so on. For some, after getting started, 15 minutes will easily turn into an hour. If you particularly hate these tasks, then you might need to use the 15 minute rule the whole way through. Everyone works differently!
4. Hide when you pack. If parting with things is particularly difficult for you, when packing away items for donation or trash, put them in a container or somewhere you can’t see them anymore. Out of sight out of mind can really help you in this case.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Consider asking someone to help who’s company you enjoy and who will help keep you on task. These small projects can get so much easier when you have someone keeping you accountable and helping to pass the time. If your friend or family aren’t able to help you (because of distance or physical capabilities), talk to them about your progress day by day or week by week and ask them to keep you accountable. Or put them on speaker phone so you can catch up while you are going through your closets or drawers!
Alright, now we’re ready to get down to the 40 day challenge. Because this list is to keep in mind those of you that are overwhelmed by this task, we’ve included some “cushion” days to catch up or take a mental break from the tasks. You can easily make this a 30 day or even 25 day challenge if you combine some of these tasks into one day or skip over your “pat yourself on the back” days. You’ll see, some days might take you a few hours, but we tried to disperse those days with days that might only be a 30 minute activity. You’ll figure out the pace that fits your lifestyle and the time you’re willing to put into this.
REMEMBER, the purpose of this is to help you take this DAY by DAY! Don’t be hard on yourself and try to have fun.
40 Day Downsizing Challenge
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Day 1- Empty out one junk drawer. If you have several drawers in mind, don’t be afraid to start with the easiest or less overwhelming one. Today is about taking the first step!
Day 2- Purge your closet of the things you no longer wear. If you have several areas where you keep clothing, start with your everyday closet. Again, don’t beat yourself up if this is a difficult task. Use today to do your initial “purge”. This is a job that gets easier with time. Hopefully, this first purge will get your “downsizing” juices flowing. As you pick an outfit out every day after this, keep it in the back of your head that you are looking for clothes you don’t need or don’t wear as often as you think. You might find that every day you can pull one or two more articles out of your closet. Keep an ongoing “donate” pile in your closet. Make sure its in a box or solid bag that you can’t see through once they’re in- you’ll find out of site out of mind really can be your friend in this case!
Day 3- Go through your media collection. For many, this may be DVDs, CDs… for some of you may be VHS, vinyl, or cassettes! Either way, you probably have way more than you need. When you pick up an item, think about how long it was since you listed to or watched the item last and if you really need to keep this item to stay happy. Remind yourself of your reason to downsize.
If you don’t have a media collection like this, think of another collection that needs addressed.
Day 4- Clean out your television stand. If you don’t have a television stand, clean up your office area or a bookshelf. You know which needs the most attention.
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Day 5- Go through your mail pile. File away the important items- throw out the old bills. Consider if you can scan documents into your computer (and save them in two different places) and throw out the paper copies.
Day 6 & 7- Fill in the gaps. Pat yourself on the back. You got through the first week. Take a break, bring your items in that you want to donate or take any throw-away items to the dump, do another once-over in your closet. If you can’t think of anything else that needs to be finished, then take a break (or skip these days if you’ve caught the downsizing bug)!
Day 8- Clean off your kitchen table. Keep it simple today as you get back to work on your second week. Pat yourself on the back for sticking with it.
Day 9- Purge two kitchen cabinets. Again, think about how often you use these items and consider that you might be ok without them. Can you borrow a bread machine from your friend for the one day per year that you use it? Do you really need this much tupperware (especially the ones without lids)?
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Day 10- Discard old books. We all have them. Consider checking in with your public library. They will often take donations or know someone who will.
Day 11- Clean out your wallet/purse. Get rid of what you don’t need to keep in there. This is a task that will LITERALLY lighten your load! If these are already organized/cleaned, consider clearing out or getting rid of any other accessories you are keeping around that you don’t need- ties, glasses, suitcases, etc.
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Day 12- Clean out your coat closet. Think about how many coats you really need and use regularly. How many formal events do you go to where you need a formal coat? Or on the contrary, how many coats do you need to use from day to day in the winter? Remind yourself of how nice it will feel to have a coat closet with enough room for your guests coats. Don’t forget about clearing out your hats, gloves, and scarves too!
Day 13 & 14- You’re doing great. Take these days to take a breather, catch up on the work you didn’t completely finish the last few days, or take a trip to the dump, thrift store, etc. If you don’t need a break then move onto the next task or add one of your own to the list!
Day 15- Purge your shower and/or makeup bag(s). This might be a big or small task for you, but do the best you can if its a lot to ask! If you’ve been saving makeup or creams that you think you might eventually need, but haven’t used in years, throw them out (or donate them to a shelter if they are barely used or new)! Check- they may even be expired. Its easy to hoard half-empty shampoo or body wash bottles in the shower. Combine them or just throw out the almost empty ones!
Day 16- Purge your linen closet. If you don’t have a linen closet, then purge your towel and sheet stash. Consider that it might be time to get a new towel set, and donate your older set, or just consider how many towels you really need in your house. Think about your sheets the same way- is there any reason to have more than 2 sheet sets per bed? DON’T get too caught up in organizing the closet yet, that comes later.
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Day 17- Purge your bathroom cabinets. Again, if you haven’t used the item in a year, there’s probably no reason to keep it. Throw it out or remember that many homeless/women’s shelters will take toiletries too!
Day 18- Go through your shoes. Donate what doesn’t fit or you haven’t worn in the last yaer, throw away the ones too beat up to use. Its OK to keep one beat up pair for yard work or painting, but that’s it!
Day 19- Purge 2 more kitchen cabinets. Its got to be so great to get these cleared. If your kitchen was actually pretty organized or cleared to start, you know what other cabinets or closets need it, move onto them.
Day 20 & 21- Finish what you haven’t finished the last few days. Tackle the shoes elsewhere- in the garage, or guest room closet. If you have two bathrooms, tackle the other bathroom cabinet and/or linen closet. Make a trip to the shelters, thrift stores, etc. All those towels, sheets, and shoes are probably taking up a lot of space in your garage! Buy some containers or a label maker to organize the closets you’ve cleared (organizing tasks are coming this week)!
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Day 22- Organize your linen closet. Now that you’ve purged it, you should have an idea of how best to organize it. If you’re not sure which sheets fit what bed, take this time to take them out and decide. LABEL your sheets so you never have to wonder what size they are again. You’ll thank us later 😉
Day 23- Purge your medicine cabinet. Remember, many pharmacies will take unwanted drugs (landfill or sewer is not the place for them).
Day 24- Go through your freezer/fridge and dump the items that are bad/expired.
Day 25- Purge 2 more kitchen cabinets!
Day 26- Organize of purge another drawer. You know the one.
Day 27 & 28- Again, take this time to play catch up. Get the items out of your house that you want to donate or get rid of. Tackle another drawer or your extra freezer in the basement OR move onto the next task!
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Day 29- Clear off your kitchen counters. Now that you have space in your cabinets! Consider how much you really need on your countertops- even if you use something once a week, consider putting it away and pulling it out only when you need it. Your countertops might feel empty for a few days, but once you realize how much more space you have to work, you’ll realize how much better the extra space feels.
Day 30- Purge 2 more kitchen cabinets. You’re doing great!
Day 31- Go through a closet you haven’t touched yet. Perhaps its your guest room closet or your laundry room closet? Anywhere else you’ve found to stash stuff you probably don’t need.
Day 32- Clean out your car.
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Day 33- Tackle the mementos or stuff left by family. This might be the most loaded/stressful task of all. Everyone has a different amount of this, but this is the stuff that’s usually in your attic, basement or garage. If you have a lot, start by organizing the boxes. You don’t need to go through them, just put it in order- photos in this corner, dad’s tools over here, mom’s stuff here, etc. If your adult kids or family members said they’d store things with you “for now” and never came back for it, use this time to send them photos or give them a realistic deadline to get it or go through it. If you remind them what’s there then it will be easier for them to tell you to get rid of it, and if you give them a deadline then it will be easy for YOU to get rid of it when they don’t come. Use the skills we mentioned before, just give this task 15 minutes to start, and see where you get. If you don’t finish this all today, that’s ok- just START it.
Day 34 & 35- Take a breather. If yesterday was intense for you, then you might just need a mental break for this next day or so. Consider tackling another drawer or cabinet if you don’t want to keep working on the hard stuff. IF you want to keep going at those mementos and stuff in storage, go for it!
Day 36- Purge your holiday decorations or tools. If there are items you are keeping but don’t use every year, just don’t overthink it and get rid of it. If you don’t want to get rid of holiday decorations, then at least organize them. For tools, remember you can always borrow or rent equipment when considering getting rid of an item you barely use but might need to someday in the future.
Day 37- Go through your shed or garage. Purge the outdoor games, beach or camping stuff, or chemicals (most waste facilities have a place to properly dispose of chemicals). Also, purge your yard equipment if you’re planning to do less of that yourself in the future. Again, if you haven’t used it in the last year or two, don’t feel bad about getting rid of it. Tell yourself, if you need it in the future, you can just buy it or BORROW it! There’s no reason to carry this extra weight around with you for the one weekend every few years you MIGHT need it.
Day 38- Organize and discard expired/unused/almost empty cleaning supplies.
Day 39- Purge your laundry room.
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Day 40 & 41- Clean! Get your newly organized home all sparkly!
Now, pat yourself on the back! You did an awesome job sticking with it.
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