Declutter Challenge: Twelve Day Reset

All my life, the practice has been to declutter before the holidays, then deep clean before the new year, as we pack up Christmas and before the holiday wraps up and we are back to work and school. In various formats, this is a practice across many cultures to keep from bringing old habits, or even bad luck, into the new year.

Since adopting minimalism in our life, we’ve learned to declutter regularly, especially living in a small space and dealing with dust allergies. I’ve followed many influencers with great plans for decluttering and how to tackle spaces–some with the intent of minimalism. I’ve combined their expertise and my personal experience to create my own version and include the busiest areas of life that many of us procrastinate on (looking in a mirror at myself on this one!). Peruse this blog for a quick overview, or, if you prefer bingo-style boxes, head to our printables page and download the FREE Printable Twelve Days of Reset

So, without further ado, here’s some quick tips and a guide for tackling it quickly. I break it over 12 days, but it can be done in less time, if you want!

Tips for success:

Your ONLY goal is to go through it, organizing comes later–see follow on challenges! Some may be trash, none of it may be, but touch everything and make sure.

Do NOT pull everything out, you’ll get overwhelmed!  Go through it in place with a trash bag, a donate box/bag and (if you have the bandwidth) a sell box/bag

If that category is too much for you right now, skip it!  Even getting ONE area better organized will help in the long run!

If it doesn’t apply to you, tackle something else that day!

Feel free to add extra days, or areas, that may apply to you, such as a craft room, office, shed/workshop, garage, or kid’s rooms (I tend to let them deal with their own space and just close the door!)

Have a place for donations, such as in your back seat, so you don’t forget about them. Drop off at the end of the challenge–find someplace close, or a company whose mission or target audience is near to your heart. And GET A RECEIPT FOR YOUR TAXES!

Take care to sell items daily or at the end of the challenge, just don’t leave them to sit.  The rule of thumb for many is to donate if it can be replaced for under $20 or within 20 minutes. The other rule I follow is to donate if I can’t sell it within 30 days

Throw trash out daily!

DAY 1: THE PILES

Start with the visual clutter that is sitting on counters, tables, furniture, steps, seatbacks, cupholders, door panels, and put it where it goes

Do all the laundry piled up (for future days work)

DAY 2 THE CLOTHES

Go through all drawers, closets, bins, laundry baskets (and put those away, too)

Turn all hangers backwards

As you clean and put clothes away each week, put what you wore at the front of the drawer, bottom of the pile, or turn the hanger the right way to keep track of what you wear and don’t wear for future decluttering

DAY 3 THE MEDICINE CABINET

Go through all items, add to your shopping  list anything you need to replenish to have on hand, or wait until you need it, and renew prescriptions.

Most areas have a police department/sheriff’s office that has a medication drop box, so you can take them up to drop them off. Check online or call your local LEO dispatch line to find out.

DAY 4 THE LINENS

Go through your bath towels, hand towels, face cloths, cleaning rags, dish towels, sheets, blankets, table cloths, napkins, etc.. 

You decide how many you need, but for some, 1 per person per week, plus a spare works, if you have easy access to laundry. You know your situation and what is best!

You can donate these to animal shelters, even if not in good repair!

DAY 5 THE KITCHEN

Go through the utensils, dinnerware, serving ware, appliances, cups, storage and organization containers.

Go through the fridge and freezer, spices, and seasonings–toss bad or  expired, combine multiples into one container/area..

Go through pantry items & paper products–toss what’s expired/ Combine multiples/like items into one container/area.

Donate to a food pantry if sealed and still good, if you won’t use it

DAY 6 CATCH UP DAY/ AREA OF CHOICE

If you need to finish an area from another day, or want to revisit it, today is that day.

OR…

Take the donations to the drop off

Photo and post sell items

OR…

Take a day off to relax or do something you enjoy

DAY 7 THE SUBSCRIPTIONS/EMAIL

Newspapers & magazines, cancel or renew as needed

Unsubscribe from website & sales emails

Cancel/non renew digital subscriptions/ memberships

Unsubscribe/ unfollow social media pages and groups you no longer keep up with, or apply to you

Cancel/ deactivate social media accounts you no longer keep up with 

Purge email contacts list

Empty email folders, delete old emails, create email folder(s) for the new year, as needed

If you use a digital or paper calendar/ planner, go through recurring appointments or make sure upcoming appointments for the new year are logged

DAY 8 THE COMPUTER 

Purge documents, desktop, hard drive files not needed

Delete old folders, combine redundant ones

Don’t over-organize digital files, a general folder for files from the year is fine. Same for photos, you can always create sub-folders within the year by trips/holidays

Empty your deleted items folder

Purge/ consolidate/ reformat USB drives, disks, hard drives. Destroy any not needed

DAY 9 THE PHONE

Remove apps you don’t use; combine like apps into a folder on your home screen, such as TRAVEL, FINANCE, FUN, etc.

Go through photos and videos, delete redundant or ones you don’t remember. Upload to the cloud or store on your hard drive, if you don’t want to lose some or it doesn’t do this automatically. You can also opt to order a photo book for the year of your favorite trips or memories, if you want to have it handy

Go through notes, files, reminders and purge old or unneeded

Go through contacts and remove any you don’t need to keep

Go through your ICE/ Emergency contacts and make sure they are current. If you keep your emergency info on My Card (iPhone users) make sure your info is updated

DAY 10 THE JUNK DRAWER/ PAPER CLUTTER

Go through any catch all drawers, boxes, bowls, etc. that are collection spots and purge them. Give them a proper home, eliminate the junk drawer if you can!

Go through old paper files and purge old documents. 

Go through old IDs and bank cards, and insurance documents. Keep only what is current. Close old accounts, if it won’t impact your credit. 

For financials, follow your accountants suggestions, but generally it’s 5 years of taxes, all business, and the most current insurance information. If you can, digitize these items, or opt for paperless so they come in as emails. 

You can shred these either with an at home shredder or shredding service in your area. Burning is an option, just follow local burn guidelines. Don’t just toss things with personal information.

DAY 11 THE ENTERTAINMENT

Go through books and magazines. 

Go through movies–digital and DVD/VHS/Blue Ray, etc.

Go through music–CDs (cassettes…8 tracks, vinyl), and digital

Go through video game systems and games

Go through electronic items like TVs, DVD/Blue Ray players, VCRs, radios, CD players, stereos, iPods, walkmans, discmans, portable DVD players, iPads, cell phones, walkie talkies, etc. 

Go through board games and card games

DAY 12 CATCH UP DAY/ AREA OF CHOICE

If you need to finish an area from another day, or want to revisit it, today is that day.

OR…

Take the donations to the drop off

Photo and post sell items

OR…

Take a day off to relax or do something you enjoy

Follow on Challenges:
ORGANIZING

Go through each space above and organize it.  Start with sorting before you buy organizers–you may not need them at all, or that many. The goal is to have less to organize!

UPGRADING

Once you’ve decluttered, sometimes you realize you may need to replace or upgrade items you use a lot of, or need better quality of. Take inventory of these and make a priority list and budget, then tackle them

SELLING

Go through all the items you want to sell

Post to online market place on Facebook/Craig’s List, if you are comfortable handling yourself. You can also look into services that will sell your items for you, but there can be a fee

 Find local shops to sell or consign them. This could be a secondhand clothing shop, a pawn shop, or just a consignment shop. 

KEEPSAKES

This can be a difficult area, so I have as a follow on challenge, once you’ve gotten better at making these decisions.

Photo boxes, movies, albums–make sure you know who people are! There are companies that will digitize these items for you, as well

Old blankets and t-shirts can be made into quilts

Photograph items you are holding on to, but could part with, as long as you can see the photo of them

A digital frame can be a great place for photos of old crafts and keepsakes so you can see them often

Maintenance:

To keep it under control, set a goal to either:

• Revisit these categories seasonally (pick a time and calendar it–like the first day of the season change, or the 1st Saturday of every 3rd month)
• Revisit them as you access them