This post is Day 19 of the 31 Days to Reset Your Life Challenge. Learn more and sign up for the program here.
A lot of us have accumulated so much physical stuff over the years, that our closets might resemble something from the TV show, Hoarders. The pressure to consume and buy more and more stuff to fill our homes is all around us, which makes it tough to figure out what we really want and need in our lives. But what would your life be like with less stuff? Probably more meaningful and less cluttered. Today, you’re going to get rid of all the stuff you don’t need.
Day 19: Get Rid of Stuff You Don’t Need
Go through your living space today and be ruthless in getting rid of ALL the stuff you don’t need. Every single bit of it. Go through closets, bedrooms, shelves, storage rooms, even your home office and ask yourself the following questions for each item: Do I really need this? Do I even want it anymore? If yes, keep it and love it. If no, kick it to the curb by throwing it away, giving it away or recycling it. If you have a roommate, live-in partner, spouse or kids, you can also ask them to do the same.
What are some of the kinds of things you might get rid of?
- Clothes
- Shoes
- Papers and magazines
- Knick-knacks
- Broken appliances/electronics
- Anything you haven’t used or worn in six months
- Things you’ve never used or worn
When you’re done, tell us what you got rid of in the comments! Also let us know if any immediate results have occurred, either with an outcome or simply a change in your frame of mind.
Note: If you blogged about today’s assignment, please post the link in the comments so we can read it!
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I really enjoyed this challenge. It helped me in many ways. One of my goals in this challenge is to live healthier. I’ve lost 10 lbs this month and over the course of the last year I’ve lost about 30-40 lbs. Needless to say, I have a lot of clothes that are too big. I packed all those clothes and I’m giving them to the goodwill & to friends. I also got rid of old knick knacks and shoes. It felt good to give things away and my friends were very appreciative of the things they got. Plus I love to shop at thrift stores so I feel like I’m giving back both ways.
One thing I could not part with was old books. I read A LOT! I envision having a library in my home one day so I’ll hold on to them.
Another part of this challenge is evaluating my living situation. I live with my parents (6 years) & I’m planning to move by March (30th Birthday). This challenge has helped me to organize all my stuff which will make my moving process so much easier.
I know that my room is choc full of a lot of stuff, either that I can’t let go of or that were “gifts” from my abuser self to my abusee self. On top of that is stuff I just don’t file properly, so i’m never sure what to throw away.
But I have recently been feeling the need to simplify. I have also felt myself growing in maturity. On top of which, I have come to realize that there is stuff I am holding onto with negative or immature associations.
Also, I read a post from Iyanla Vanzant the other day asking how can we do any good in the world when our own house (physical/spiritual/emotional) is not in order. And that is so true of me.
So today is day 1 of an ongoing process of simplifying, of maturing, of letting go. As Ann Maurice (House Doctor) would say “if you don’t love it or use it, lose it!”
Now, I can’t lie and say that I am 100% ready to let some things go, so it will be a difficult and emotional process. But at the end of it, I will be able to B.R.E.A.T.H.E.
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(a few days later) So this morning I figured out that me holding onto stuff was like someone holding onto a bad relationship. There’s no reason to, but you’ve invested so much meaning into it and it’s all you have and you have no clue who or what you are without it. Then the danger, even if you do get rid, is you’ll jump into another one just as bad (accumulate more meaningless stuff) because you NEED somewhere for all that “meaning” and emotion to go. Now, I could “cheat” (acquire new stuff without getting rid of old stuff, then gradually get rid of the old stuff) but that is still daunting to do unless and until you are sure of the new.
So then I thought, maybe i’m not quite ready for the clear out and I should wait until I am.
And THEN I realized – you know how some people can talk themselves out of something? Well I have been very adept over the years at THINKING myself out of something. Anytime I have to think too hard about something, you can betcha 9 times out of 10 I will come up with a million reasons to think myself out of it. My best decisions are made when I don’t think and just do.
And as the post it on my wall says – “Just do it.”
These objects only have the meaning I choose to put on them (borrowed that from eliminate one belief!) They are just factory made objects, taking up space in my room.
There was also something Rosetta said in one of her blogs about feeling like getting rid of perfectly good stuff was a waste, but the real waste was having that stuff unused taking up space in her life. A concept I have yet to convince my mother of, espesially since I got rid of 3 pairs of TUK shoes!! Pretty they looks, but worn they weren’t!!
Dorothy’s “Stuff” Action Plan
For me, this exercise is going to take a long time. When one has lived in one place for decades, one tends to accumulate a lot of “stuff” in all the categories of living. To compound matters, my parents recently passed and I have items that once belonged to them and to my grandparents; (I have become the “elder” of the extended family and now have three generations of stuff in my home.) An action plan is required in order to sort and purge what is not needed from what may be useful to me and to members of my family. However, I am not a “hoarder” and everything is neatly put away in closets, file cabinets and drawers; and I have during the past year already given away a large amount of stuff that had belonged to deceased family members, but a lot remains still (family stuff and my own stuff). To approach this huge task, I will need to schedule several hours each week to tackle items in each category. The items will then be discarded in the following manner:
1. Yard sales for small household items, some of the clothing, home décor, books, and music.
2. Advertise in newspapers for sale of furnishings, musical instruments, and photo equipment.
3. Donate some of the items to charity.
4. Dispose of (shred and trash) obsolete paperwork.
5. Take obsolete electronic equipment to an appropriate recycling center.
6. Sell and give away accumulated art photos and paintings.
7. Donate historical items to a museum.
I’m still working on this…sadly. It came on Friday and my weekend was already packed. I did manage to rid my closet of several clothes that I don’t wear, can’t fit. Up next is the paper. I really don’t want to be as disorganized as I have become.
I used to live with a hoarder and it drove me mad, as I can’t afford to have things get in the way of my mobility aids:(
Every month I clear out things that have not been used or have any use in 1year. All broken toys binned, all clothes that don’t fit or used sorted(still keeping some old for decorating or art projects), shoes done, paper work done, knick knacks don’t have them; and the new year major clear out.
we are the second month of the year and still looking good
my child wanted to add that the old papers and mags were used to help keep boots straight…
Great exercise. After doing this it felt like i had made room for positive energy to flow throughout my space. Now i’ll just have to watch those little fire zones (my desk and table) that tend to overflow quickly with paper and such.
I am still playing catch-up with the Reset, but today’s challenge caught my eye. I have items that are in a storage unit that I’ve had for over two years. I fell behind on payments due to unemployment and now my items are set to be auctioned off. I tossed and turned ALLLL night about my things and even asked the Lord to provide a financial breakthrough so I could get my stuff back. Well, I called my dad and asked his opinion of how I can negotiate to get my things. Finally, he told me to let it go. It was hard to hear those words, but I took them in. I have things in there that I have had no contact or use for in the past two years. Here I am trying to scrape together money to salvage things that may not even be worth it. All I keep thinking is that it’s MY STUFF and I want to say a decent goodbye. However, after surviving for the past two+ years without that stuff, do I REALLY “need” it? Is it stuff that can’t be replaced? I decided to not overextend myself and just let…it…go. I just pray for peace with my decision and will try to put those things behind me.
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Still playing catch up with the challenge and I will get to this tomorrow. Funny it’s part of the challenge because it’s something I was actually setting time aside for this upcoming week. I’ve accumulated so much junk over the years that I feel like my room is more of storage space than an actual room.
Aww…luckily I already started this process. Gave away 3 bags of clothes…and getting ready to go through my son’s toys and donate the “gently” used ones.
Next week I will literally be going through every room in the house and getting rid of stuff that hasn’t been used or is no longer needed, broken, etc.
I decided to get rid of old magazines (over 60) and donate/trash old clothes. I have WAY too much junk in my closet. And the fact that I shop as much as I do makes it worse. : (
magazines are my weakness..I have no idea why I save them for so long!!!
Let me tell you…I went through a huge pile that I had, and I realized that there were some magazines from 2007. TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN! That makes no kind of sense. I’m still working on getting rid of the junk ones, but it’s been a relief to trash so many!
Hi KeikoKaveri have you got rid of most of the Magazines, I take mine to the Dr Surgery or Dentist for others to read whilst they wait have you thought about this option?
I trashed the majority of them, but that is an excellent idea! Thanks for sharing.
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This post came right on time as I did some much needed cleaning yesterday. I’ve moved a lot over the past six years. Eight times, I believe. Each time, I accumulated more “stuff”. But I equally give away a lot of things as well. This time, I want to live a very minimal lifestyle in my home. I removed EVERYTHING except for my mattress in my new bedroom. Starting from scratch. I will not have the traditional bedroom set like previous times. I want to be surrounded my space and eliminate clutter.
Next thing to tackle today will be my closet. Lord. I give a lot away every season but my closet never seems to get smaller. Time to give away more clothes, shoes and handbags.
Since I have made a pretty big decision in my life, I am in the process of purging. I have 2 very tall bookcases that are FILLED with books. I have decided to keep all the classics, hardcover, fashion, & coffee table books but my collection of paperbacks (suspense, mystery, & chick lit) I will be giving away. I plan to get an iPad or Nook Color so I can download those genres. I have so many clothes to go through & donate and finally I need to sell my bookcases, entertainment center, TV, sofa, and some kitchen appliances I don’t use.
I go through my clothes and my kids’ clothes every season and donate the items that we either can’t fit or do not plan to wear, so this is actually not a problem for me. The one thing that I really need to get under control though is furniture items in my garage that I do not plan to use or that are no longer any good. I will work on that after the new year.
I did this about a week ago with my clothing, which was getting out of hand. I own way more clothes than any one person should and I keep them long past the time they should be worn. For me, clothing has such a sentimental value that I end up keeping things that don’t fit or have holes just so I can say – remember when you wore that to the bbq where you met that guy you dated for 3 months. It’s silly, really. Especially now that I moved from NYC to SF, where the weather is completely different. I wasn’t able to entirely kick my bad hoarding clothes habit, but I did come up with a garbage bag’s worth of stuff that I really am not using.
I think for me, I need to learn how to separate the memories from the clothing, maybe taking pictures of clothes and making a scrapbook or something?
Awww purging is so good for the soul! I have to declutter at least weekly or I literally can’t function. I always think my surroundings are a reflection of my thoughts. Cluttered home=cluttered thoughts Before I moved this summer I threw all sorts of stuff out any gave away a ton! I had things in my parents house from highschool (now over 10 yrs old) lol The thing I did do today was cleaning of my purse that has a habit of being ridicously cluttered. Im also a secret receipt hoarder so I chucked a bunch of 1yr+ receipt.
Did this yesterday!
This is definitely on my to-do list to complete by the new year. I learned that I have to be in a certain mindset/mood to do it, otherwise I just find new spaces for stuff…lol. One thing I’ve found to be extremely useful is Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/). It’s essentially a “network” of folks who have things to get rid of and those who would be happy to take them off your hands. I’ve gotten rid of a bunch of relatively recent magazines and a VCR that I used a few times. It’s a great way to recycle things that ordinarily would hit the trash.
I definitely need to be in a certain mindset to de-clutter. I found that playing music while cleaning help me get a lot done.
This is actually something I did a few months ago (after watching a hoarders marathon lol) and it was amazing all of the things I accumulated. I gave away clothes, shoes, electronics and furniture to the lupus foundation and it was really easy. I set up an appointment and they came and picked up all the items from my house.
I also shredded tons and tons of papers (as a write I had so many things that I felt I had to keep but really wasn’t necessary) and tossed out old magazines that I really didn’t need anymore. I also went through professional journals and magazines and pulled out articles that I wanted and put those specific ones in a binder that way I could toss most of them out.
It’s amazing how much more calm and relaxed I am in a clean and clutter free environment and how easy it is to find stuff when you aren’t searching through papers or bins (closets and trunks) of clothes.
I followed your lead today and flipped through a few magazines I around, remove the articles I want and set the rest of it for recycle. I still have go through my professional magazines.
I actually do this maybe twice a year at random and then after I get really upset about something in my life (like a breakup)…it’s about time for me to do it again, thanks for the reminder.
I started this project about a month ago, I started with my walk-in closet and it’s amazing how much we collect. The worst part is that you say to yourself “I’ll use it or wear it” and never do. It is a great feeling to get rid of things you don’t use, not to mention all the free space you’ll have.
Hey Jacks! Yes I have a lot more space now too.
Love this! Love this!. Just took a few minutes to get some breakfast and to check what’s going on twitter. To my surprise I was already doing today’s exercise. Yesterday I put up 2 of 4 frames I had sitting around. This morning I decided to arrange my living space starting with my book shelf. I plan on getting rid of as much clutter I can before the new year. I am so happy.