If you want to declutter and need a little boost to get started, a 31-Day Declutter Challenge may be just what you need. I completed this challenge in late 2020. It helped get me serious about simplifying life and clearing the clutter. Read on to find out how the challenge works, what I hoped to accomplish, and what I learned.

This post was originally published in November 2020 and updated in September 2023.

The inspiration

In October 2020, I took part in a 31-Day Declutter Challenge thanks to Bonnie from Beautiful Minimal Millennial who put out the challenge on her blog. At the beginning of 2020, I had set a goal to declutter our house. I had made decent progress, but the 31-day challenge was a great motivation for me to step up my game and tackle some things I’d been putting off.

How the challenge works

There are different variations of a 31-day decluttering challenge. The rules Bonnie proposed were simple. She asked us to commit to removing one thing from our life each day in October. She also suggested we keep a list of the things we decluttered and post pictures on Instagram.

My goals for the 31-Day Declutter Challenge

Going into the month, I had some specific things in mind that I hoped to accomplish. I wanted to:

• Purge enough items so I could fit all my clothing into my bedroom closet.
• Unsubscribe from the majority of the store and travel emails cluttering up my inbox.
• Clean out old digital files on my computer.
• Deal with the box of miscellaneous items that had been sitting on my basement floor for ages.

Along the way, I posted pictures on my blog Instagram account.

What I got rid of

Here’s the full list of what I decluttered last month:

Digital decluttering

• Email subscriptions: 11 work, 28 home
• 200 digital files from my computer

Clothing

• 3 skirts
• 3 pairs of pants
• 2 suits
• 2 dresses
• 1 cardigan
• 7 pairs of shoes
• 1 pair of boots
• 12 tops
• 1 skort
• 2 sweaters
• 2 sweatshirts
• 6 t-shirts
• 1 pair splash pants
• 5 pairs of mittens
• 1 purse

Household items

• clock radio
• coffee maker
• 2 decorative storage tins
• decorative china mug
• 6 cooking trays
• 4 corn plates
• 2 serving trays
• juice pitcher
• magnetic picture holder
• picture
• 2 skillets
• decorative Christmas tray
• 27-year-old stove
• 2 packages of stove burner guards
• 2 candle holders
• hand mixer

Miscellaneous items

• 2 pairs of elbow pads
• 2 pairs of knee pads
• Christmas notebook and pen
• 2 toys
• laptop bag
• 2 pairs of sport goggles
• 2 pairs of shin guards
• 3 tote bags
• 2 soap making molds
• 2 old iPads
• 1 old iPhone
• 1 box of old electronics cables

What I’m proud of

• I repurposed some items to people who need them using the Buy Nothing K-W group on Facebook.
• All of my clothes are now in my bedroom closet. This will save me time in a couple of ways. I’ll have fewer clothes to look at when deciding what to wear each day. And, I won’t have to do the twice-yearly switchover of seasonal clothing from the basement to my bedroom.
• I donated a couple of bags of clothing, shoes, and purses to the local Salvation Army Thrift Store.
• Since my workplace now has a mostly casual dress code, I set aside some business suits I no longer wear. When the opportunity arises, I will donate them to charities that help women who need clothing for job interviews.
• I minimized the amount of stuff I sent to landfill.

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What I learned

Of course, I learned a few valuable lessons from the 31-Day Declutter Challenge that will help me in my future decluttering.

• Clutter isn’t just about what you can physically see. Getting rid of digital clutter is very freeing.
• One person’s junk really is another person’s treasure. I first wrote about this in 6 ways to turn your junk into treasure. There’s nothing better than making someone happy by finding new homes for things on the Buy Nothing group. It’s surprising what someone else can find a use for.
• Less clutter = more time. I spend less time dealing with emails every day, and it will be easier to find files on my computer.
• Decluttering is addictive. Once I got on a roll, it was easy to get rid of more than one item a day.
• Clearing out clutter is an opportunity to do good for people in need.
• Slow, steady progress makes a difference. I didn’t need to book two or three days in my calendar for a decluttering “event” yet I still accomplished my goals.

The bottom line

In addition to the digital decluttering, I got rid of over 100 items in October. I still have more work to do but I am already starting to see and feel the benefits of living with less.

Join my 52-week decluttering challenge

If you’re ready to take on a bigger decluttering challenge, check out my 52-week decluttering challenge—a series of weekly decluttering tasks that helped me get rid of thousands of items in a year. You can find all the details and everything you need to get started, including downloadable checklists, on my main decluttering page.  

Have you ever done a declutter challenge? What did you learn from it? Tell us your thoughts below.