I took the 30-day minimalism challenge, got rid of 338 possessions, and still failed - here's what I learned
I would recommend the minimalist challenge to people, but I'd caution them not to obsess over it like I did. Get rid of what you want, and if you don't finish the challenge, no sweat! It's still an eye-opening experience to get rid of what you don't need.
The challenge taught me to focus on quality over quantity, and what I ended up keeping made me consider what I actually value.
The challenge was still helpful though. I can comfortably close my wardrobe and dresser drawers now and can fit my childhood belongings in two small boxes.
If I had done this challenge a year ago I think I would have succeeded. I regularly toss things out every couple of months in big chunks (excuses). I'd definitely tossed out 127 things within the last year. Alas, I just didn't have enough this time around.
Week four was where I finally had to cave. To successfully finish the challenge, I needed to donate 212 items. I got rid of 85, leaving me 127 items short.
Other things were harder. This necklace is beautiful, but I have literally not worn it since high school. Someone else can give it much more love than I have.
Some things like this ukulele case were easy to get rid of. I have a much nicer and stronger case for my ukulele — why was I hanging on to this?
Week three was the biggest haul: over 130 things. I went through my childhood boxes, and went from five boxes of possessions to two.
At this point I was getting obsessed with the end game. I worried that the only way I could meet that magic number of 465 would be to get rid of things I wanted to keep. I had to remind myself numerous times that no one was forcing my hand. I could stop anytime.
I'm a huge bookworm, but I really didn't need all the books I had. I got rid of any books I didn't think I'd revisit (since I've read almost all of them). I also donated well-known books that I could easily get from the library.
I sailed through week two mostly due to my giant book collection that is now much smaller.
The challenge after week one felt like a diet. A thing-diet. I was shedding all this "weight," but worrying about "gaining it back" after the challenge. Would I binge-buy stuff once it ended?
I donated everything to charity (except for cards or old school records that were recycled). I chose St. Vincent de Paul, because their store was down the street and appeared to have virtually no restrictions on what I could drop off.
Source: St. Vincent de Paul
I only wanted to keep clothes if I felt amazing in them. If I didn't, what was the point of having them? Studies show that when you feel more confident in your clothes, you perform better at work, and you're perceived better by your colleagues, too.
Source: Business Insider
Week one was easy. Anyone can probably find 28 things to get rid of without much effort. My haul was primarily clothes.
The challenge is meant to be done daily, but I work odd hours that get me home around 10 p.m. Rather than throw things out late at night, I lumped them into weeks.
And so the challenge begins. I hoped my bedroom would look fresh and minimalist like this afterwords.
So, a candy wrapper didn't count. But a card given to me by a close friend did count. They were both getting tossed out, but one took effort to part with, while the other didn't.
Joshua and Ryan don't have very strict rules, so I had to make up some of my own. I decided if something could be used again, or had great sentimental value, it counted.
Source: The Minimalists
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