Monday, April 9, 2018

New 100 Day Challenge

Have you heard of a 100 day challenge before??

I first learned about it from Elise Joy and she talks about her 100 day creative projects regularly on instagram @elisejoy

Remember last May when I posted about my 100 Day Recipe Challenge??  I had a great time going back through my blog archives and writing out my family's favorite recipes.  It feels so good to have a recipe box full of my best recipes.  I found this pretty mint tin recipe box in The Dollar Spot at Target.  It also makes meal planning easier now that I have the majority of my go to recipes written down in one spot.  I'd highly recommend taking the time to do it for your family.  I did a pretty good job of writing out at least one recipe a day for 100 days.



For my new 100 day challenge I've decided to do:

100 Days of Decluttering!!

I wrote about an amazing Decluttering book by Dana K White that I read last month.  You can find out more about it here -->
Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff


It has easily been the most motivating organizing/decluttering book I have ever read.  It got me so excited to clear things out of my house.  White gives you really easy steps to get the ball rolling and start decluttering your life.  I can't recommend it enough.  I'm an organized person, but I learned a lot from this book about clearing out the clutter around me.


Decluttering in numbers:
20 bags dropped off to Goodwill
12 trash bags full of trash gone
4 bags of stuff my stuff + kid stuff taken to resale shops

I am so proud of the progress I'm making around my house.

It just feels like we have more room to breathe and relax with less stuff.

I have free space on my shelves and in my cabinets.

Things don't fall out when I open closet doors.

It gets me excited to keep going!!

My game plan for this project:
1. Declutter at least one thing every single day.  One shelf.  One box.  One space.  If I'm excited to do more, I do more.  My goal is at least one thing every day.  I write declutter on my daily to do list to remind myself.

2. Touch every single thing in my house and make the decision to keep or get rid of it.  This felt daunting at first, but it's exciting to really know what you own and be aware of things you're storing in closets.

3. I made a master list of spots in my house that need decluttering.  I listed out EVERYTHING from pieces of furniture, linen closets, garage shelves, desk drawers, kitchen cabinets, my clothes, kid clothes, shoes, purses, medicine cabinet, pantry etc.  I listed it all to give myself accountability and to be able to track my progress.

4. Get stuff out of my house.  I've made a monthly drop off at Goodwill in March and April.  I plan to keep it up until I'm done (which I fully realize may be longer than 100 days if I want to do everything we own). I'm doing the majority of things, but my husband will decluttering his own things.  My kids are pretty young so I'm having them help me sort and organize when it's appropriate.

5. Be more aware of what I'm bringing into the house.  Less shopping.  Less clutter.  I love to shop as much as the next person, but I don't need a ton of stuff.  I'm trying hard to only buy things I LOVE - home decor, clothes, shoes, etc.


I did debate about having a garage sale with all of the things I'm donating, but it just didn't make sense for my life right now.  We had a garage sale when we lived in Mississippi and it was so much work.  We made money for our move and got rid of lots, but I just wasn't up for that again.  I did not want to store tons of stuff waiting to have a garage sale.  I did not want to price all the things.  I did not want to hire a babysitter to watch my kids during the garage sale cutting into the money we'd make.  I did decide to pull out the newest, best things and try to sell them at Once Upon a Child and Style Encore.  The rest of the stuff went to Goodwill or location charities.


Have you ever challenged yourself to do something every day for 100 days??

Join me in a challenge of your own!!  I'd love to hear about it in the comments.


PS Some affiliate links included.  Thanks for reading & supporting Polka-Dotty Place!

7 comments:

  1. What a great challenge. I just added that book to my Amazon cart!

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  2. That is such a great idea! Good luck on your decluttering. I have every aspiration to declutter our house as well. I need to make lists like you by each room so I keep myself accountable. Sounds like you are on a great start.

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  3. Upon your rec, I bought that book a few weeks ago and still haven't opened it (insert shame faced emoji). I need to get back on the clean out bandwagon. It felt soooo good when I was on a roll then I lost momentum. I'm hoping with warmer temps (someday?? ha) comes motivation to freshen and lighten up!

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  4. This is such a great idea! As we've been packing to move, I've LOVED decluttering!

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  5. I have been loving this book! I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I did share what I've read so far with Russ and he is totally on board and has been helpful!

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  6. This sounds like such a great challenge!

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  7. I need to read that book. Love to declutter around our house constantly :)

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