Last weekend, I finished a marathon year of decluttering as I completed the final task in the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge. And what a year it was! Today, I look back on what I learned and accomplished during the year—including my final decluttering tally. And if you’re ready for your own decluttering challenge, my five easy steps will help you get started.
This post was originally published in December 2021 and republished in December 2024.
About the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge
In this year-long journey, I tackled one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing my home. Every week, I published a post with my progress, tips, and learnings from the week.
You can get easy access to all the weekly posts on the main Decluttering page.
The final tally from a year of decluttering
Can I get a drum roll please?
Yes, you saw that right! My final decluttering tally for the challenge was 3,379. That included 1,803 physical items and 1,576 digital items.
I didn’t really have a number in mind at the outset, but I can honestly say those numbers exceeded what I might have expected.
My biggest week for physical decluttering was week 32 when I decluttered 166 paper files. For digital decluttering, my biggest single-week total was 1,233 in week 35 when I did a major email cleanup.
At the other end, there were weeks when I didn’t find a lot to declutter. In fact, I had a couple weeks where I got rid of only a single item. In week 4, I found cleaning my kitchen counters to be more of an organizing and relocating exercise. And, in week 47, I learned I wasn’t much of a collector.
2024 update
It had been three years since the first round of decluttering, so I decided to repeat the challenge in 2024.
I’ve been mindful about not adding more stuff to my life, so I expected to find less this time around. Even so, I decluttered a total of 1,941 items—676 physical items and 1,265 digital files. If I add that to the 2021 tally, it’s a total of 5,320 items.
What I learned
Overall, I feel great about what I accomplished. In addition to what I decluttered, the challenge gave me an opportunity to rethink my priorities. Here are some of my key learnings:
- Decluttering is a marathon, not a sprint. I have always rejected the notion that decluttering should be a single, big, multi-day event. That method may work for some people, but it’s definitely not for me. I made much better progress taking a slow and steady approach and being thoughtful about what I was doing.
- Once I started, momentum built quickly. The first couple of weeks were difficult but once I got on a roll, I was excited about the next task. I also caught myself decluttering things without even thinking about it.
- I owned a lot of stuff I had forgotten about. When I started emptying drawers, I discovered things I hadn’t seen in years. Some of those items brought back great memories and were the inspiration for the Clutter Tales series.
- A decluttering mindset saved me money by reminding me of what I already own. This prevented adding duplicates and overbuying.
- There were some things I should have gotten rid of that I just wasn’t quite ready to say good-bye to—and that’s okay.
- Decluttering doesn’t mean filling the landfill. In the entire year, I filled only two garbage bags. Everything else, I donated, recycled, or gave away on my local Buy Nothing group.
- Most importantly, the challenge gave me the opportunity to rethink my relationship with stuff. I realized I can live happily with less. These days, I buy very little beyond necessities, and I always favour experiences over things.
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Five steps to help you get started on your own challenge
Are you ready to take on your own year of decluttering challenge? Here are five easy steps to help you get started.
1. Figure out your why
You could just jump in and start, but you’ll be more successful if you first take time to think about what you’re trying to achieve. Why do you want to declutter? What’s your vision for your home and your life? Write all this down and come back to it anytime you’re feeling frustrated.
2. Make a plan
Download my 52-Weeks of Decluttering and Organizing checklist. Cross out any areas that don’t apply to you and add any that are missing.
3. Pick a starting point…and start
This step is the most important of all. First, download my Easy Decluttering Checklist. Then, pick the first area you want to declutter. You might be wondering where to start. That’s a question only you can answer—and, honestly, there’s no right or wrong answer.
Some decluttering experts will tell you to start with the areas of your home that are most visible. Others will tell you to pick your biggest problem area, so you’ll get an immediate sense of accomplishment.
My advice is to pick an area that will be challenging, but not so difficult you’ll just get frustrated and give up. I decided to start in the kitchen because it’s the most-used room in our house and I knew there was opportunity there.
No matter where you decide to start, just start. And check out all my weekly posts on the main Decluttering page for tips and inspiration.
4. Find a way to hold yourself accountable
When I started the challenge, I committed to writing a weekly blog post to document my progress. That helped me stay accountable. I had weeks I didn’t feel like decluttering, but I knew I had to so something so I could write that post!
You could commit to documenting your progress in a journal, or on your social media channels. Even better, find a friend to do the challenge with you.
5. Celebrate your wins—and forgive your failures
Don’t forget to celebrate your wins—preferably with something other than buying stuff. When you hit certain milestones, treat yourself to a nice dinner out, your favourite bottle of wine, or a spa day.
And, when life gets in the way and things don’t go as well as you’d like, cut yourself some slack. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a week or two. Just carry on when you’re ready. The clutter will still be there.
If you’re ready to take on the challenge, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a comment below or send me a message any time.
What’s next for me?
So, now that my year of decluttering has ended, does this mean I’m done? Heck no! I still have more decluttering to do.
All this decluttering has motivated me to find ways to simplify my life. With that in mind, the theme for my blog—and my life—for 2025 will be simple living. Stay tuned for more information in the new year.
If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word!
Are you ready to take on the year of decluttering challenge? Tell me your thoughts below.
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Congrats on that very impressive tally!!!
Thank you, Ab! Now I need to figure out how to keep the momentum going in 2025.
I like that you’ve been consistent about tabulating what you’ve decluttered. Sometimes I don’t appreciate small spurts of decluttering because I’m not giving myself enough credit for them. Thank you for the inspiration and wishing you a peaceful, clutter-free 2025 🙂
I tried to keep track of the miscellaneous items I decluttered outside of the weekly challenges, but I am sure I missed some. Thank you for reading and following along. Happy New Year!
Two takeaways from this challenge for me Michelle that really helped: small but consistent projects are such a great way to approach what might be a huge task for many people and no matter how organized you think you are there is always room to improve! With my own efforts and so many great hints from you I think I’ve reached a point that if I attempt to declutter anything more I will actually be tossing/donating things I probably need. It’s sort of addictive once you get going but I think a break is a good thing 🙂
I completely agree on the small, consistent projects. They really do add up over time. Thanks for following along and joining in on the challenge, Deb. I always appreciated your comments and updates.
Thanks for sharing. Love this.
Thanks so much for reading!
Such an enjoyable series I really love the way of your posting keep going on. Thanks to the admin for sharing this beneficial stuff with us. I like to visit this informative spot again for further updates.
Thanks so much for dropping by. It was a great challenge and, for me, the best way to appraoch decluttering – with small, weekly tasks. I’m glad you enjoyed reading about it!
i love how you mentioned decluttering is a marathon and not a sprint. my plan is to do a year long declutter as i’ve really accumulated quite a bit this last year [ especially during the holidays ]. i try to declutter during certain routines like laundry, putting away dishes, weekly cleanings etc…that way it doesn’t feel like i’ve wasted time. and i end up decluttering quite a bit in the process.
That’s a great approach. Now that I have done my year-long decluttering challenge, I find it easy to squeeze in a quick task every week. I am determined to stay on top of it.
I really enjoyed this series! I’m looking forward to your posts in 2022 about simple living.
Thanks Suzanne. It was a fun series to write!
Ah amazing! I definitely want to take on this challenge tho it’s a little hard because I half live in 2 places.
That definitely makes it harder. My daughter’s room is a big mess because she brings stuff home when she comes home for holidays and just dumps it and then leaves again. LOL
I feel her 🙈
I have so enjoyed reading this series over the year that reading your wrap-up was a real delight! It is fun to see how our relationship with possessions changes and how real effort can make a difference. May the words flow into 2022!
Thanks Jaya. It was a fun series to write and it kept me motivated to continue decluttering.