now here - all three days
Over six thousand people signed up for the 3-Day Decluttering Challenge (in email form) over its seven-year run. What a success! The email challenge has now retired to make room for new adventures and projects. However, if you are interested in decluttering, you can…
still do this challenge!
What follows is an introduction to the 3-Day Decluttering Challenge as well as the entire content of the three days of Challenge emails. Use this as a DIY guide to completing a 3-Day Decluttering Challenge.
Introduction
Sometimes decluttering your home is more than just something that will help you feel organized. It can help you feel free, have more joy, and gain the space you need for the people and activities that are truly important in life. When decluttering starts you on a journey away from consumerism and towards more fulfillment, it becomes life-changing. That's why the 3-Day Decluttering Challenge can be so powerful.
I'm Genevieve Parker Hill, Author of the book Minimalist Living: Decluttering for Joy, Health, and Creativity
It's an Amazon Best Seller and over 100,000 e-copies of the book have been distributed to readers all over the world. I love helping people travel light and live with simplicity so they can have more time and space to enjoy life and focus on the beauty around them instead of being overwhelmed by the clutter.
About the Challenge
Sometimes all we need is a little challenge to start something life-changing. The 3-Day Decluttering Challenge is a free email series I created to help you start decluttering your home today by breaking down the job into 3 easy, bite-sized steps. Email content is below.
By the end of your 3-Day Decluttering Challenge, you'll have:
A head start on a clear, decluttered home you can breathe easy in.
A more joyful, peaceful mindset as you learn to embrace the simple living lifestyle.
More space, time, and freedom to do what matters most to you.
Day 1: Declutter one item.
If today is too busy, don't read the rest of this email. Just declutter one item. That's your action step for today.
I'll come to your inbox tomorrow for Day Two of the 3-Day Decluttering Challenge. For more details, like how to declutter easily, a link to your free wardrobe planners, and an inspirational bonus step 👟, read on.
Welcome to Simple Living Toolkit's 3-Day Decluttering Challenge.
Hi. My name is Genevieve Parker Hill and my goal is to make the next three days of decluttering as easy and fun as possible. I have a lot of inspiring and helpful info that will fire you up to embrace minimalism in a way that works for you. But I'm not going to throw it all at you at once. I've learned that small, simple steps and bite-sized chunks are not only the most fun, but also the best way to make lifestyle changes.
Today's action step (do it now!): Put down your device or stand up from your desk and grab that one item you just know you want to discard. Now put it in a (clearly labeled so you remember) box or bag hidden away out of sight. It can be your closet, a shelf, cabinet, etc. Don't make it too hard to reach because you'll be adding to it later.
MY SECRET: How to Make it So Much Easier
One of my secrets that helps people release their items without regret or hesitation is my wait-it-out-approach to getting rid of things. Around here, we let time do the emotional work which means less angst for us.
To clarify: while I recommend decluttering right away, I don’t always mean throwing or giving things away immediately. Instead, create a discard pile with clear boundaries (ideally a box, basket, or bag). We’ll talk about what to do with the items you are getting rid of later.
Since you're still reading, I've got another action step for you that will get you fired up. It's nothing you have to do now, merely something to daydream about.
Start thinking about your "why." Why do you want to declutter? Why are you here learning more about keeping it simple to live your best life? There are no wrong answers. It could be that you want more calm, quiet moments. It could be you want to spend less time cleaning and organizing and more time laughing with your kids. It could be so you have more time for travel or self-care, or so you have fewer things distracting you from life's small, sweet, simple pleasures.
It could be so that you can finally get rid of those boxes that have been following you from house to house. The ones you never open, the ones standing between you and turning the dining room into an art studio. It could even be because you don't know what to do next and you think space will give you clarity (it will). Daydream up this vision of what less stuff and more life will look like for you. This vision is your why.
Have fun visioning your "why" or minimalist living mission and I'll see you in your inbox tomorrow for day 2 of your 3-Day Decluttering Challenge!
Simply yours,
Genevieve
P.S. If you'd like, you can journal about your "why" until you create a satisfying and succinct "minimalist mission statement." I love journaling (I do it on my laptop or in a notebook) but I know it's not for everybody so do this only if it's fun for you.
Day Two: Plan for Triumph
Today's 3-Day Decluttering Challenge task is to spend no more than 10 minutes planning for joyful decluttering success.
If yesterday you began thinking of the reasons behind your desire for a simple and decluttered home and life, that will help you complete today's step.
There are two parts to the planning you will do today:
1. Jot down a note for yourself. This is going to be your plan. At the top, write "Vision for my space: ____" And then in one sentence, fill in the blank with what your ideal decluttered home looks like and include your why, your deepest motivation, something that gets you thrilled and delighted when you think about it.
Underneath your vision, write a list of three categories of stuff in your home. Make them not too large, but not too small. The categories will be uniquely sized to feel like a signficiant step for you, but also fairly easy. For example, some people may write "kitchen stuff," while others may need to break it down further and write "baking stuff" or "cutlery."
Create three categories to get a start with. Tomorrow you will tackle one of these categories, so mentally prepare yourself today!
This decluttering challenge is only three days long, so I'm giving you a spark of motivation that you can then fan into a burning flame of enthusiasm for clearing your crap and embarking on a exciting new adventure as a minimalist. I could have you decluttering nonstop for three days solid, but enthusiasm and a few key actions steps will serve you better in the long term then a burnout-inducing marathon.
2. The second part of today's step is to formalize your space for your decluttered stuff.
You need an ongoing "discard pile" so that when you come across something that you want to let go of, there's an easy place to put it instantly. For me, it's a bag in my hall closet. You may enjoy having a lovely basket in the corner or a box on a shelf. Just make sure it's clearly marked for any other members of your household. You want it to be easy to access but not so visible that you (or others) are constantly seeing the stuff and questioning the discards.
If you really want to get sneaky (so much fun) you can hide it from the more resistant members of your household. I don't recommend getting rid of things that belong to others without telling them and getting their consent. But, the evidence of something not being missed for days, weeks, or months becomes undeniable if you use this hide-and-hold technique. After 60 to 90 days, or a time that feels right to you, go ahead and sell, recycle, or give away the contents of the box (after getting permission for anything that doesn't strictly belong to you, of course).
When to do this ten minutes or less of planning:
NOW!
Make it easy and quick.
A little action along with reading this email will get you results.
See you tomorrow!
Day Three: Blaze through a category.
Today your action step is to declutter everything in one of the categories you wrote down yesterday.
I use the word "blaze" on purpose because it's a technique I write about in my bestselling book Minimalist Living: Decluttering for Joy, Health, and Creativity.
ABOUT BLAZING
Blazing = removing everything out of a given space and putting back in only what you love, need, and want in that space. When you do this, you don't individually contemplate the things you are discarding. Blazing is quick... but in some cases it's unrealistic. Many times you will want to look at what you're getting rid of. For that reason I combine it with "gazing."
In my family we say, "We need to do a blaze and gaze," when a drawer, shelf, or space is getting full. Gazing is holding each item in your hand and making an individual decision about whether to keep or discard it. This usually creates some angst and uncertainty. It's best to avoid it when you can; blaze when possible.
WARNING: Don't blaze important files, paperwork, or other people's belongings. The risk of tossing something important to you or a loved one is too great for these categories. For these categories, you'll want to gaze.
YOUR MINIMALISM ADVENTURE
This is the last step of the 3-Day Decluttering Challenge, but your adventure in minimalist living has only just begun.
Joyous Words from the Minimalist Living Community
“I am just decluttering my home this month and already feel so much better…..Life is good!!!”
– Mercedes de Marchena
“Each week I’m taking old zines I own and don’t read anymore to the recycling bin.”
– David James
“Today…..24 bras down to 11, next stop is to pare down any duplicates in my closet…..”
– Donna Willis
“I now shop with the words 'minimalist living' in my mind. I buy what I need, ignore what I don't and my cupboards are no longer stuffed to overflowing. I have given away a huge amount to charity and thrown out the rest. [...] Embrace life and loved ones is now how I think, not what can I buy.”
– Julie McDonald
“It’s so much less stressful knowing I can say no to something that could take up my time or space.”
– Monica Kamps Lobenstein
I can finally walk into my bedroom and breathe[...] I wake up thankful that I helped people with the [...] clothes I got rid of.
– Quiana Bell
“The last six months I have gotten rid of 40% of my belongings. I have never felt more liberated!”
– Nancy Graves Bowden