I know it is spring when I feel the urge to purge our home of unwanted clutter. The spring cleaning for me is more of a year-round activity and will probably continue that way until both of my children are in school full-time. At this point in my life, who has an entire week to just deep clean their house?
March though is a true time of devotion of ridding our home of extra things to dust and care for, with a refocused spirit on loving what we already have. I find this time of year is focused on restoring the order in the drawers, learning to part with clothing that is never worn or doesn’t fit, and finding a new way to love the space we have have the privilege of owning.
You may remember my clutter challenge from last year and what I learned from it. This clutter challenge will be repeated again this month with another round of clutter that I would like to remove from our home. This month I will be tackling one room a week and getting rid of the clutter in that room so I can make cleaning and maintaining our space easier. My goal is to take one trunk of useless items out of our home each week.
30 day challenges are still my favorite way of reaching and achieving the goals in my life. It was, in fact, a thirty day goal that has brought exercising and a commitment to healthy living back into my life. It was also a goal of mine to read more and honor my body with an appropriate amount of sleep. Those commitments, I am proud to say, are still a very important part of my life.
Consider a 30 Day Challenge for yourself. What is missing in your life right now? What would make your life easier? I wanted to share with you the steps I took towards choosing my challenges:
Focusing my goals: The first step for me was making a focused and small goal that could be built upon. I think the challenge for me was making a small goal instead of a big one. I am what is commonly referred to as an “overachiever.” I think that is why I fail so miserably at New Year’s resolutions and the previous goals for myself. I also wanted this very focused and small goal to add an element of enrichment that would be beneficial in certain aspects of my life.
For me, the enrichment needs to happen in three sections of my life.
Enriching myself.
Examples- Exercise challenges, challenging myself to one hour of quiet time to myself, reading the Bible, writing in a journal, reading literary classics, drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, watching classic movies, learning/mastering a new craft, cooking challenges, giving up television, taking courses that enrich myself/my business, traveling, photography challenges.
Enriching my family.
Examples- Dating my spouse again, taking steps to improve our family finances, making alone time for each child, sitting on the floor and playing with my children each day, volunteering with my family, teaching my children a new craft/hobby, finding free things to do each day together, cooking with my children, making outdoor living a priority, limiting computer/television time, no spend challenges, trying to bless someone else each day, starting a gratitude journal together.
Enriching my home life.
Examples- Getting rid of clutter each day, organizing the paper flow in the house, organizing problem areas in our home, cleaning out a junk drawer each day, cooking every night, starting a garden, getting my children more involved with chores, taking inventory of pantry and closet clutter, green living challenges/making the home more energy efficient.
Balancing My Goals- I then decided that to make these challenges work for me, I would add something to my life one month and take something away the next month. For example, I add 20 minutes of exercise to each day of my life this month, but the next month I reduce clutter so I have less cleaning to do for the following month. That natural give and take is what will help me fit these challenges into my day and make them work with my busy schedule.
Reward Myself- At the end, I wanted to give myself a reward for completing the challenge. Maybe it could be a night out on the town after taking a no spend challenge or maybe it is catching on a television series after giving up television for a month.
It’s time to get out the trash bags and start chucking the clutter from my life. The problem zones in my house right now are the endless junk drawers, the kid’s toys that they no longer play with, the medicine cabinet, and the plastic container monster that seems to take over my kitchen.
On the horizon? Empty space. I can’t wait!
This month, I am cutting the clutter in our house and I can’t wait to share with you the results from this challenge! Want to take a 30 Day Clutter Busting challenge with me? I would love for you to join me! Let me know in the comments below what you plan to do to rid clutter from your life today!