Wow, what a month!
Just goes to show you just how much you can achieve by letting go of a single item that you no longer have any need for each day for one whole month. I also made the challenge a bit more interesting by excluding a particular area of the my house that I was already in the process of decluttering.
Now when I look around the house I am starting to really feel a sense of freedom that decluttering brings upon yourself.
You should really try this for yourself, but I would suggest that if you have not done this before , start small and see what you can achieve in 7 days.
Here were my 30 items
Day 1 – Set of old screwdrivers
Day 2 – Baseball caps
Day 3 – Phone Directories
Day 4 – Garden Hose Reel
Day 5 – Blender
Day 6 – Window squeegee:
Day 7 – Dining Table
Day 8 – TV
Day 9 – Timber Stand
Day 10 – Sunglasses
Day 11 – Fly screen
Day 12 – Camping fry pan
Day 13 – Golf shirt
Day 14 – Our pram
Day 15 – CD’s
Day 16 – iPod nano
Day 17 – iPod nano armband
Day 18 – Business Shirt
Day 19 – Business Ties
Day 20 – Timber Box
Day 21 – Beanie
Day 22 – Wall speakers
Day 23 – Alarm Clock
Day 24 – Race Car
Day 25 – Wooden Train
Day 26 – Toy
Day 27 – Book
Day 28 – Ball
Day 29 – Small tv stand
Day 30 – Paperweight
Remember, 1 item each day for the next week and set yourself free from clutter.
Enjoy
Greg
Week 4 of the Minimalism Challenge ( click here for further details on the challenge )
The last full week of the minimalism challenge was rather difficult, however with a little bit of help from the kids and the wife, here is what we came up with,
- Day 22 – Wall speakers: With our move from the previous house, we brought with us the wall speakers for our home theatre, however with not much TV being watched these days, drilling holes into our newly painted walls seems a waste
- Day 23 – Alarm Clock: Lisa hated the sound of the alarm, it was a real ” Get the F*** outta bed” type of alarm. She now uses the calming alarm on her mobile phone to gently wake us up
- Day 24 – Race Car: We are starting to teach the kids how to let go of stuff. This car is just one of the hundreds of cars Jack has lying around the place. He was happy to give this up
- Day 25 – Wooden Train: This was great when the kids were young, but with most toys they get put away in a back corner. Donating toys like this will make a kid less fortunate smile
- Day 26 – Hello Kitty: Bye Bye Kitty : )
- Day 27 – Large bedtime book: These stories were read over and over to my daughter when she was a lot younger, she would like for us to donate it to another kid to enjoy
- Day 28 – Spikey Bounce Ball: Just another toy that has gone way past its used by date.
Well, that nearly wraps up the whole challenge, in a few days I am going to list my remaining items as well as some thoughts on this whole 1 month minimalism experience.
Stay tuned
Greg
Just a short note to inform you of my very first guest post on another great blog “The Smart Homeworker” which is a blog about about making the best choices, the best decisions, and getting the most out of your small business.
In this post I explain in a bit more detail on the process I followed when I recently decluttered my study.
Help share some link love by clicking here to check out my post, and while you are there check out some of the other good stuff Sahail is writing about.
Enjoy
Greg
Week 3 of the Minimalism Challenge ( click here for further details on the challenge )
This weeks 7 items in 7 days has definitely been a challenge! and although it’s becoming a little difficult in the last stages , I am enjoying the feeling of accomplishment when I track down these items. It’s kind of like a dingo or a wolf looking for its prey.
Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean.
The following are my 7 things for the last week and a brief description about each item and why they don’t matter anymore,
- Day 15 – CD’s: These were 5 cd’s from my collection that I cannot not recall the last time I ever listened to?. I figure what is the point of keeping them? These will be donated to local charity.
- Day 16 – iPod nano: I also have an iPod Touch which I use all the time. I don’t need to have two.
- Day 17 – iPod nano armband: The armband was purchased for the nano as motivation for me to go on a run. The funny thing is, and maybe it’s just me, but I found it kinda annoying running with music. I will list the armband as freebie with the nano on Ebay.
- Day 18 – Business Shirt: I soon will be sorting through the whole of my wardrobe, this shirt is just the start of it.
- Day 19 – Business Ties: I no longer need to wear a tie for work, therefore, I have a kept a couple for emergencies, (meeting clients or a corporate function) and the rest can go.
- Day 20 – Timber Box: I bought a wallet a couple of years ago and it was packaged in the rather cool looking timber box. This is why I kept it but I never used it?, so again, what’s the point?
- Day 21 – Beanie: Unless your a car thief, there aren’t two many times in this great southern land that you require a beanie, so I have kept one for those occasional chilly nights and will donate the other.
With week 3 of the Minimalist Challenge now complete, the finish line is in sight. I’ve got my eye of a few things for next week, but would like some ideas. If your in the process of decluttering I would like to hear more, so share your latest accomplishment in the comments below.
Wow, this first month of 2010 has really flown. I can’t believe I am already doing the first monthly update of “Big 4” which is my simple goal setting technique for 2010.
To recap, “Big 4″ is all about setting your foundation by creating four distinct and realistic goals. I like to look at them as structural pillars to help you build and grow, and allowing you to achieve this by the end of the year. This will not necessarily mean that it should take you all year to accomplish, however, it does provide the most realistic time frame to either accomplish one at a time or work in phases. ( I choose the latter by breaking each of the four down to smaller respectable chunks)
So, here’s how I am travelling so far
- I will declutter the whole house – I can now say I have finally got the study area into shape and will continue to stay like this as I move on to the next room in the house ( which I am still yet to decide on ). This was a real tricky sort of room, as it was quite deceiving in the way that many items could have been easily be stuffed back into the drawers or filing cabinets. As I explained in my video, clutter is not always visible, you really have to get in there and sort through all the drawers and filing and really cull it down to useful levels. I will be posting another video shortly to talk about in more detail how I transformed the study.
- I will write 100 quality posts for Live It With less – For the month of January I published six posts on the site, just a bit under my expected average to reach one hundred by end of the year, but I can honestly say that I am starting to feel like I am getting in the zone for some good stuff ahead of me. I would also like to say thank you to Charley from You Simplified, and Caitlin from ClutterCubed who were kind enough to include me in their “bloggers to watch in 2010″ lists that were re published on Problogger.net As a result of this, it provided a huge increase in readership for my blog and most importantly has given me a feeling that I must be doing some good. Cheers guys.
- I will weigh 72kgs (158lbs) – For the month of January, I lost 2kgs (4.4lbs). It wasn’t easy I must admit, and did find it hard to adhere each day to my 1500 calorie limit, especially as I am currently at home on leave from work due to the birth of our third child (Jesse). However, this is all about learning, and I am not going to whine about it anymore. By the way, do you like the picture of the butter representation? I was hoping for more than a 4 pound loss, however, when you look at in this perspective you do feel satisfied that this pile of lard is no longer attached to your gut or butt.
- I will write an informative ebook - Not much here to report on except that I do have a great idea for ebook. Of course, the focus will be on living with less, but will have my special twist to it. I am looking forward to finding some time over the next couple of months to begin some solid writing.
There you have it, I do recommend that if you already haven’t done so, start thinking about what really would make you happy and how you would get to that point? Start now!
Remember make it realistic, keep it simple, and give yourself a deadline.
Good luck
Greg
