Take A Declutter Challenge!

It's a new month, a new day... and it's time to start the DeClutter Challenge! Wouldn't you love to be able to come home to a clean, orderly, peaceful house? Don't you dream of cooking in a kitchen where all of your utensils are where they should be, and where your countertops glisten and beg to be covered with cookies instead of clutter? Take the DeClutter Challenge today! What is a DeClutter Challenge, you ask? Simply put, it's a challenge you give yourself (and/or your friends and family) to get a huge part of your house decluttered in a specific time frame. And it WORKS!

The 30 Day DeClutter Challenge

One type of challenge is called the 30 Day DeClutter Challenge, and the idea is that on each of the 30 days of the month you declutter one thing or area, large or small. The items can range from the top shelf in your pantry cupboard to the toy bin in your son's playroom, from your sock drawer to the gift wrap bin that gets stuffed in the office closet. The key is to be realistic with your task assignment. Writing "put photos accumulated from the last 2 years into albums" probably won't be able to be accomplished in one day, but perhaps "sort the photos into piles or envelopes according to the event or child and dispose of photos you don't wish to keep" COULD be done!

Once your tasks have been assigned, consider giving yourself a reward to look forward to when your 30 Day Challenge ends victoriously! Yes, having a much less cluttered house will be a reward in itself, but it's an undeniable truth that we work harder if we have something tangible to gain from our efforts!

The One Week DeClutter Challenge

Another type of challenge will require you to assign one entire week to your project. This will be a serious "no distractions allow" week during which you clear your schedule for the purpose of gaining back what used to be your clutter-free home.

Assign yourself one room of the house for each day, lock yourself inside it so to speak, and go nuts! Garbage bags, boxes for donations, boxes for re-sell, and of course some good old cleaning supplies will be your must-haves. Pull your significant other, your room-mate, or your children along for the ride! Many hands make light work, but also many hands make much clean!

Perhaps you'll need to scale back and give yourself a One Week Bedroom DeClutter Challenge, or a One Week Toy Room DeClutter Challenge. No worries! By committing yourself for 7 days (and really, what is 7 days in the scheme of things), you will without a doubt bring order back to at least part of your chaotic home!

The 2010 in 2010 DeClutter Challenge

This challenge is my favourite. Commit yourself to decluttering (throwing out, donating, or selling) 2010 things during the year 2010. That sounds like a lot of "stuff" doesn't it? If you do the math though, it's not too crazy at all. 2010 divided into 365 days is only 5.5 things per day. Look around you... the junk drawer, the cupboard under the stairs, your closet, the garage... that doesn' t seem unreasonable, does it? Keep track by ticking it off on the calendar or somewhere handy, and watch the clutter melt away!

Yet another way you can do the 2010 DeClutter Challenge is to commit 2010 minutes specifically to decluttering! That's 33.5 hours.... A lot until you consider that there are 8,760 hours in one year! It's not even one 45 minute session per week! And yet 2010 minutes is enough to get a LOT decluttered!

So, the "30 Day Declutter Challenge", the "One Week Declutter Challenge", and the "2010 in 2010 Declutter Challenge"... three awesome ways to start decluttering your home! Click Here for more information! The end result of any of them will be a much less cluttered home - a place where you will enjoy being, enjoy hosting others, and enjoy living!