A Challenge to Clear the Clutter
Now that the dust from the holidays is starting to settle, look around. Can you relax and enjoy your living space? Or, do you feel distracted and unsettled? The problem might be clutter.
Clutter is expensive, time consuming, distracting and unhealthy. Unless you have more time, money and peace of mind than you know what do with, it’s time to become clutter-free. Getting rid of your stuff takes commitment, motivation and a strong desire to live with what is really important in life.
Dumping the the unessential will define what is most meaningful to you. To help, I’d like to introduce you to …
The Clutterfat Challenge
Big change can come with big reservations, guilt about past behaviors and trouble finding the perfect place to start. If you want to finally live a clutter-free life, Leo Babauta and I invite you dump the guilt, planning and excuses and join the 30 day Clutterfat Challenge.
How to get started
- Read the Welcome Page
- Register for free
- Use our clutterfat inventory recommendations and start counting your stuff, room by room.
- Add your starting clutterfat number and images
- Declutter by selling, donating and trashing your stuff
- Add your final clutterfat number and images
That’s it! Decluttering can be an monumental task, so we want to keep the challenge as simple as possible. In the beginning of February, we’ll feature some of the best Clutterfat transformations.
Clutterfree Course
While the Clutterfat Challenge is 100% free, we also offer the paid Clutterfree Course, which starts on January 10th, to keep you motivated and excited about your journey. Through course materials, homework, live webinars and personal feedback, you’ll have all the tools you need to clear the clutter for good. Register by January 7th.
When you register for the Clutterfree course, you’ll also receive the Clutterfree ebook with formats so you can enjoy it digitally anyway you like (Kindle, iPad, iPhone, computer), along with awesome interviews from Clutter-free experts Joshua Becker and Tammy Strobel, and a Clutterfree video Q&A with Leo Babauta.
Save the Dates
- Clutterfat Challenge - Register now for free
- Free Clutterfree Webinar with Leo Babauta – Thursday, January 5th at 8pm EST.
- Clutterfree Course - Register by January 7th
On Thursday, I’ll post more information about the Clutterfree Webinar. Subscribe today so you don’t miss the update.
Free Webinar Update:
Where: Join Leo on this channel: http://www.ustream.
When: tonight, 8 pm EST/ 5 pm PST (Thurs. Jan. 5, 2012)
How: It’s free, and you don’t need to sign up or log in to watch. If you want to participate in the chat and ask questions, sign up for a free ustream.tv account.
What the webinar will offer: Leo will share tips on conquering the Clutterfat Challenge. The benefits of a clutter-free life, how to tackle your overwhelming clutter, why an inventory helps, what some of the tougher issues will be, how to get family on board, how to do it if they aren’t on board.
Are you in? Comment below with your biggest clutter busting tip or obstacle and post updates with #clutterfree or #clutterfat on Twitter. If you are reading this post via email, simply click here and post your comment.
P.S. I just started a Clutterfat Challenge Facebook Page so you can ask questions and share your decluttering struggles and successes in words and pictures. I look forward to connecting with you! Join me.
31 Responses to “A Challenge to Clear the Clutter”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
please comment
subscribe your way …
Have a ‘Goodwill’ area in your home, where you can regularly add things to give away. You’re not fully committing to giving it away just yet, so it’s a little easier to toss more things. Let the pile grow long enough that you realize how little you miss what you tossed – and now send it to Goodwill FOR GOOD.
Katie, That is a great idea. I always keep a box in my garage.
Wish I would have had this when I first started getting rid of everything before my big move! It was stressful because I was in overwhelm and didn’t know where to start!
Living clutter free is so joyous. I highly recommend it for everybody. In fact I’m in for the challenge too just to make sure I don’t gather more than I need here again.
Yippee Yoo! Welcome aboard Jt.
Awesome timing Courtney! I just got rid of some old clothes and CDs and I’m still in the mood to declutter. I’m in.
Great Patrick! Glad to have you on board.
This sounds great! I need to seriously de-clutter and minimize my possessions as I prepare to move into my tiny house this summer!
My biggest excuse is always that I don’t have time. With a full time job and studying at university I always feel like spending time with my boyfriend not with my stuff. But secretly I know that I would have more time when I could get rid of my clutter. This year I move my apartement – good time to get started
Eva, Sounds like it’s time!
I’m frequently in declutter mode, so I’m definitely in for this challenge. I don’t think my before and after photos will be as great as they would have if I’d done this 18 months ago, but hey, I could surprise myself!
I know my inventory will shock me the most, especially clothes and shoes. I’m already red from embarrassment even though I’ve purged my closet several times.
Alyssa, No need for embarrassment! Just make a change and embrace your closet space.
I am a big fan of de-cluttering and making things more efficient; it has changed my life, and I am now trying to help my friends and relatives. One thing to remember is that too many “special” things make each one less “special”. Also, choose a reasonable sized bin to keep your sentimental items, and don’t put in any more than it can hold.
Another big help is just having another person there to talk you through it. Trust me, your children will not want their stained burpcloth when they are older!!
One word – Flylady! I’m a work in progress, but feel blessed beyond belief!
What a fantastic challenge! I wish I could join in but we’ve just done our own 30 day challenge. With newly renovated floors put in just before Christmas, we spent the break purging even more. A few of the things gone are: 1 bag of clothes donated, 1 crate of books sold to a second hand shop, digital stuff downsized, and due to skin sensitivities I’ve got rid of so many lotions etc and non-quality-fabric linen. This idea makes me wish I had taken more “before” photos prior to Christmas, but then we’ve been constantly decluttering and questioning items for a few years so it would have been great to compare now to then in photos! Still to go are DVDs, converting videos to digital format and in the “maybe” pile is the vacumn cleaner – with the new easy clean floors and zero carpet in our home I think we’ll be able to make do with just our handheld vacumn and still conquer dog hair! As a side note, has anyone noticed how easy it is to accumlate bags? And then need the space to store said bags? Agh!!
This topic has been on my mind for several years. I used to live a somewhat nomadic lifestyle with few belongings and
I moved almost every year until I was 38 years old. Then I bought a house with my then fiancé, got married and had 2 kids 23 months apart. The stuff just grew and grew. I dreaded anyone coming over because I couldn’t really get a handle on it. I would chip away and then feel overwhelmed. I then became focused on moving because i saw it as the only way we would gather the energy to go through stuff. Two weeks ago we moved. I got rid of a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff, but I am still in amazement at how much stuff we have and moved with. I love that I now can just go through stuff in a box…..seems much easier to make an objective decision about it’s value. So, in summary, I would love to partner with some other people this year in the process of letting go!
Of course, I’m in. We moved 2 years ago in our appartment, and well…there is still stuff in boxes because I can’t find space to put them. And I definitely know that I don’t open them so much, which means that I could get rid of lot of stuffs. The hardest for me is to get rid of clothes. And I have lot of books for my work. And yarns…which is a little part of my job, but the biggest part is from my big love of creativity and from a knit and crochet addiction ! lol It’s crazy how yarns can take space in a place compared to the slow process to knit something…
I’m in for the Challenge. We downsized from a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath home to a 30′ motorhome in May of 2009. We’ve been traveling and living in this small space ever since, but I still have too much stuff and clutter.
Wow Pollyanna! I have thought of doing something similar, was it hard making that move?
It was tough, actually took a few years of planning, selling, throwing & giving stuff away. It’s been great, but I’d love to downsize further…I still carry way more than I should, in my opinion…and I’m a clutterbug.
I’ve been slowly doing this over the 18 months or so, and have ground to a bit of a halt over the last few months. I guess mainly because the majority of whats left involves scanning docs/photos, which is tedious, and getting my arse into gear with selling the car boot full of rubbish I have to get rid of!
New year, fresh start!
Started my own decluttering project before the holidays. Now that the holiday decorations have been put away I’m ready to continue. Great timing I’m game! G
Excellent idea we have lived with 2 kids for years like this only owning stuff we use and love the kids have a good range of toys but not tons meaning that tidy up time is quick and easy we buy good quality clothing and items that last so that we are not continually needing to go shopping this Christmas holidays we went out most afternoons on a trip to a new place instead of wading through the Christmas mess of stuff lots of people seem to end up in after the holidays we enjoy our simple lifestyle very much the only debt we have is our mortgage and that is budgeted to be paid off in 10 years
I read and hear how sometimes it takes people from 2 weeks to 3 months to declutter their homes. It took me ONE WHOLW YEAR to get rid of my things and sell my house. It was hard, it was draining and it was painful. Now I live in 365 sq ft with my family and we live with so little. I still want to get rid of more. I want to see empty spaces. That makes me feel happy!
How many points do we get if we own a Freecycle group…with over 5000 members?
Woo-hoo!
I am overwhelmed with counting my husband’s stuff in drawers and boxers? What do I do? No, getting rid of his little items are not an option.
Well this fits in with my 2012 mantra of “less is more” quite well dosen’t it?!?! Thanks for thie link can’t wait to start! I’ll find your facebook page tonight!
Amber
I would love to take this challenge only my stuff is in storage in L.A. and I’m in the U.K. It’s been in storage for a few years while I travelled and I feel so over whelmed by it I don’t know what to do. I did do a huge clutter clear prior to putting it in storage so it mostly stuff that I would use if I was in L.A. but I’m not. It really feels like it is holding me up.
3 yrs ago my father’s health began to deteriorate fast. In order to help out I started to sleep at my parents house and went to my apartment basically to change or look for clothes until my father passed away about 8 months later. Afterwards I moved in with my mother but I must admit merging our 2 households has been very difficult, specially for me. I couldn’t sort and purge, that is, declutter before moving, there is very little storage space and I feel that I have to get rid of so many things that it is hard. I have dealt with shoes and clothes, but books, magazines, photos, papers, in general, are so difficult to sort and dispose of. Any insights on how to deal with paper; sort, file, organize will be greatly appreciated.
I am interested in the Challenge although I am financially unable to participate in the course right now. I found your clutterfat inventory very difficult. I would have to spend so much time doing this I will never start with the proper decluttering phase of the program. Can I register even if I don’t have a number to start with? Everyone registers or only those participating in the course? How is it going to work for those of us who only participate in the Challenge? Thank you for your help.