CREATING BREATHING ROOM // My first exposure to decluttering was a show my wife and I watched called Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. After watching all 8 episodes we piled every single piece of clothing we owned on our bed to see what we actually had and went through one piece at a time. This was our bed on January 7, 2019:

I recently decided that each month I will focus on One Thing. The One Thing might be a new habit, something I want to learn, or just something I want to be more intentional about. For the month of July my One Thing was decluttering. In 2021 we purchased a larger home and our goal was to have a lot more space in the house, but not more stuff. It’s time to live out what we said we wanted.

Amy introduced me to the 30 Day Minimalism Challenge a while back. In this challenge you get rid of 1 item on the 1st day of the month, 2 items on the 2nd day of the month, 3 items on the 3rd day of the month, etc. And you finish up with 30 items on the 30th of the month. In total that’s 465 items in 1 month. If you want extra credit, choose a month with 31 days and get rid of almost 500 items!

Let’s be real, 30 items in a single day is a lot, but how many drawers of t-shirts do you have? How many 5K shirts have you kept for races you never even ran?! How many dress clothes that you plan on fitting in “some day” and how many baseball caps can you actually wear in a year? That’s just clothes! Let’s talk about the garage quick. How many screwdrivers do you need? Do you really need a bucket of spare bolts and washers? Then a quick walk into the bathroom. Why so many washcloths? By the time you walk through the entire house, 465 items probably isn’t as bad as you’d think! Especially if one LEGO brick counts as an item.

WHAT’S THE POINT? // What do you feel when you look at this picture?

Does this make you feel at peace or stressed? I feel anxious with a heaviness on my chest!

When you are able to get rid of the extra and have a home for everything in your house, you start creating breathing room for your life. You know what you own. You know where it goes. You know where it is. You have order in your life, you are less stressed, and you have more time and space to enjoy what’s left.

My 30 Day Minimalist Challenge started out pretty strong – I got rid of one item. Yes! A couple days in I pretty much stopped prioritizing this challenge, then had a vacation, then the month was gone, and all I had gotten rid of was 14 items. FOURTEEN ITEMS! Amy had decided to join me on her own, and she at least made it through Day 10, getting rid of 55 items.

I’m calling this My Failed Minimalist Challenge because I didn’t accomplish the goal I had set out to do. I didn’t even come close! I even considered skipping this month and not writing a blog about it because how credible do I look if I can’t even accomplish one of my first goals?! Even though I didn’t accumulate 465 items to get rid of, I would say that this challenge was not a total failure. Here were some of my takeaways:

1. As a team we did get rid of 69 items. True, my wife carried the heavier workload there, but it was teamwork still!
2. Amy decided to join in on her own initiative. It wasn’t something I coerced her into. She saw what I was trying to accomplish and wanted to join in. That’s pretty awesome!
3. I won’t always accomplish 100% of what I set out to do in my life, but what is my response going to be? I plan on getting it done this time, and for accountability I’ll share weekly updates on Facebook and Instagram.
4. Minimizing your home shouldn’t just be a month, it should be a lifelong activity. (My wife has waited years to hear this)
5. Some items in your home just don’t spark joy and you don’t need to keep every item that sparked joy at one time in your life.

GETTING STARTED // This one is simple – get rid of 1 item today! I have a secret for you: You can start with 1 item even if it’s not the first of the month! Yes, it’s easier to keep track of it if you do, but are you really going to get rid of just 1 item, then 2, then 3? You’ll probably get rid of multiple items at a time and want to jot them down. Lucky for you, I created a checklist you can use!

Other resources I recommend:

• Movie: Minimalism
• Book: The Minimalist Home

TO MY BOYS // “I’m so proud of you. I’m thankful every day that I get to be your dad! You are the very best parts of me. You are dearly loved by your mom and me. Now go out there and do your best.” – Dad