Declutter Challenge – Getting Motivated for Simple Living
You know you’ve thought about decluttering your home, but how do you find the time? If you’re competitive or have a timeline, there’s a declutter challenge I made just for you. Take a look!
A declutter challenge is decluttering with a timeframe in mind. Benefits include your choice of timeline, less clutter, less stress, and more success. Timelines vary from 10 minutes daily to a 60-minute challenge and 365 days of decluttering.
Do you want to work on decluttering your home but are unsure if you have the time? Are you looking for some guidance on how to declutter quickly? I’ll share tips from 100 things to printable declutter challenges.
What Is a Declutter Challenge?
A declutter challenge is a competition with yourself to perform decluttering of your home over a certain period. There are many different times for decluttering challenges, from 15 minutes per day to a 365-day declutter challenge. It is a way to hold yourself and your family accountable for cleaning and reorganizing your living space, even in a short time.
Some declutter challenges, such as the 30-day declutter challenge, have gained popularity for their structured and time-bound nature, making them accessible and appealing to those seeking to simplify their lives and reduce clutter in their homes. Many people find decluttering challenges motivating and effective as they break down the process of decluttering into manageable tasks and create a sense of accomplishment as progress is made.
Benefits of a Declutter Challenge
Because there are so many different options to declutter challenges, you can make a choice that best suits your schedule and lifestyle. Decluttering already has many benefits, but let’s look at some of the benefits of a declutter challenge:
- Your timeline
- Less overwhelming
- Small daily goals
- More space
- Less clutter
- Better organization
- More control
- Less stress
- Easier to accomplish
- Better success
And this is an abbreviated list of benefits! Think you’d have a hard time donating anything with sentimental value? A. Dawson interviewed Consumer psychologist Julie Irwin of McCombs University and colleagues, who found taking pictures of items helped college students donate more unwanted items when they moved. So we’ve talked about what a decluttering challenge is and its benefits, but what does a declutter challenge look like?
Characteristics of a Declutter Challenge
A declutter challenge is defined by (flexible) timelines. From daily decluttering to focusing on a single daily category, several characteristics of a declutter challenge exist. Do you want to declutter your whole home but don’t have much free time? There’s a 15-minute daily challenge for you. Only have one room and plenty of time? There’s a 7-day challenge for that.
Are you looking to keep your home decluttered over the long haul? There’s a 365-day challenge just for you. Want it to be fast and fun? There’s the 100-item decluttering challenge. The choice is entirely up to you! Whether for a specific time or category, there are declutter challenges for everyone and everything you can think of.
Types of Decluttering Challenges by Timeline
Even in as little as one minute per day, Lilia Chavez of the University of Southern California says that decluttering reduces stress cultivates productivity, and improves happiness. Not sure what kind of decluttering challenge you’d like to try? Here are a few decluttering challenges by timeline for you to peruse.
Whether it’s a big event, a special visitor, or preparing to move, if you’ve got a little more time and a lot of decluttering, there’s the 30-day declutter challenge.
10-Minute Declutter Challenge
Don’t have a lot of time to declutter? Try the 10-minute declutter challenge. All it takes is 10 minutes daily, every day, for as long as you’d like. Set a timer and get started. The time will fly by, I assure you! You could do this until the room or living space is decluttered and call it done, or you could continue daily for a year to keep your whole home decluttered. In just 10 minutes per day!
Daily Decluttering Challenge
If you have a little more time or don’t want to set a timer, try a daily decluttering challenge. Take as much time as you’d like each day, from minutes to hours, and start decluttering. You could declutter your whole home relatively quickly, then continue as needed and however fits your schedule.
Weekly Declutter Challenge
If you don’t have time every day to declutter, there’s always a weekly declutter challenge. Take one day per week, as much time as you can spare, and declutter your living space. Whether it’s for 15 minutes or an hour, you can still get a good amount of decluttering accomplished once a week!
7-Day Declutter Challenge
Maybe you’ve got a big event, a trip, or someone special coming over soon, and you want to declutter your home in a short time. The seven-day declutter challenge can help you declutter your home in just a week!
30-Day Declutter Challenge
Whether it’s a big event, a special visitor, or preparing to move, if you’ve got a little more time and a lot of decluttering, there’s the 30-day declutter challenge. In 30 days, you can declutter your entire home in just an hour per day. Don’t have that much time daily? No worries-take as much time as you need because you’ve got a month!
Decluttering Challenges Tips
If you need encouragement beyond a timeline, here are a few decluttering challenges tips to guide you.
There are multiple online resources for decluttering challenges, but if you need more guidance, look no further than decluttering challenge PDFs.
100 Things Decluttering Challenge
The 100 things decluttering challenge is a 60-minute challenge. All you do is have three boxes available marked donate, trash, and sell. Then pick an area of your home and declutter 100 things from that space. Sorting as you go, you’ll already have things separated into the three categories and ready for trash pickup, donation, or a garage sale.
Minimalist Declutter Challenge
The minimalist declutter challenge is applying the “less is more” principle to one area of your home. Your closet, kitchen, bedroom, the space is your choice! Then using minimalism, pare down the things you don’t use, don’t need, or have multiples of, and you will be able to declutter that space!
Declutter Challenge PDFs
There are multiple online resources for decluttering challenges, but if you need more guidance, look no further than decluttering challenge PDFs. These are checklists, charts, lists, and calendars to help you declutter in the period you need. Use these on your smartphone or tablet for easy access!
Printable Declutter Challenge
If you’re a hands-on person like me, you need a printable declutter challenge. The declutter challenge checklists, charts, lists, and calendars can be printed out and put on a clipboard for you to check things off as you go!
If you’re looking to jumpstart your decluttering check out this helpful video and learn the necessary steps to declutter your space in 30 days.
Related Insights
How do you drastically declutter?
To declutter drastically, you’ve got to choose to do it. If you’re moving, tired of cleaning and reorganizing, or just need changes in your life, you can drastically declutter and get rid of all the stuff that’s bogging you down.
How can I declutter for free?
You can declutter for free by doing it yourself, with the help of your friends and family, and using free online and local resources. You can print out free checklists, donate and discard for free, and free up some space!
How can I declutter my house quickly?
To declutter your house quickly, you need to make it a priority. Set aside time one weekend or every day for the time you need, and get it done! Don’t get hung up on sentimental items, don’t think about the “what ifs,” and concentrate on getting rid of the clutter. You don’t need it!
The Areas That Real People Are Most Interested In Decluttering
I asked friends and family if they would be interested in trying a declutter challenge and what they would try to declutter first. If not, I asked what would prevent them from trying a declutter challenge? Here is a table representing the percentages of their responses and what I learned from the poll.
| Areas to Declutter |
| 11% of people polled were most interested in decluttering their kitchen |
| 21% of people polled were most interested in decluttering their closets |
| 11% of people polled were most interested in decluttering their bedrooms |
| 5% of people polled were most interested in decluttering their garage |
| 26% of people polled were most interested in decluttering their whole house |
| 11% of people polled were not interested in decluttering |
| 5% of people polled had already decluttered |
| 10% of people polled had no time to declutter |
Other Resources:
- Clutter – Causes, Fixes, and Methods for Simple Living
- Being Clutter Free – Benefits from My Own Experience
- Declutter Your Mind: Succesful Methods from Real Practice
- Clutter Storage – Clever Options for Minimalist Living
Final Thoughts
A declutter challenge is the perfect opportunity to clean up and reorganize your living space, especially if you’ve been putting it off for some time. Use a timer, a checklist, a guideline, a schedule-whatever it takes to help you be successful. Decluttering has so many benefits-don’t put it off any longer! What will you declutter first?
