It’s the first of May — and we’re ready to get started on our first group 30-Day Challenge!
I’m so happy that many of you expressed an interested in taking part. It shows that we aren’t alone in our endeavors to make positive changes in our lives, no matter how small the first steps may be.
So Justin… What’s the First Challenge?
For the first 30-day challenge at Optimal Living Daily, we’ve decided to go along with the theme of DECLUTTERING.
CHALLENGE: Declutter at least 1 item a day in the month of May.
You are free to decide how slow or how fast you want to go, depending on your schedule and other commitments. If you have a lot on your plate, try to set aside a specific amount of time each day for the challenge. But simply decluttering 1 item a day can make a world of difference… or a 10-15 minute daily routine is more than enough to continue taking part throughout the month.
Quick tip: Avoid burnout! Don't declutter too much on the first day.
How to Participate and Be Included in the Book Raffles
- Announce your commitment to the monthly challenge! You can do this in any or all of these ways:
- Post a picture on Instagram while you're doing the challenge (include #OLD30Day and @OLDPodcast to notify and tag us)
- Or comment on my post about the 30 day challenge in our Facebook Group (pics encouraged)
- Or if you're not on those social networks, comment on this post below
- Sign up for our newsletter for the latest updates.
- Repeat #1 half way through (for accountability) and at the end of the month. I'll give reminders in the email newsletter.
Blog Posts to Give You Ideas and Inspiration
To give you some ideas on the types of things you could declutter, you can check out some of our blog posts here on OLD Podcast:
- How to Declutter Your Wardrobe
- How to Declutter Sentimental Items
- How to Declutter Paper
- How to Declutter Books
- How to Declutter Toys
Printable Download
This calendar is an example of some of the things you could declutter during the 30 days (digital version below, or download PDF version to print).
Feel free to jump around or focus on areas that you feel need the most attention!
Why Join?
Our community is made up of friendly and supportive members who are always interested in optimizing their lives.
It will be so fun to have encouragement, accountability, and more among listeners of the podcasts 🙂
You can share your progress and before / after pictures, and check the posts from other members such as:
QnA post on “getting started with minimalism.”
The “after” photos from a Decluttering Countertops mini challenge!
What Else Do I Get?
We'll be doing book giveaways — and you can choose the book you want if you win! Names will be collected via the shares and comments on Instagram, Facebook, and here on this post, so be sure to follow the instructions above!
The book list includes (and some of the books are autographed!):
- Push Journal by Chalene Johnson
- 131 Method (signed) by Chalene Johnson
- The Art of Productivity (signed) by Jim Stovall
- The Power of Having Fun by Dave Crenshaw
- Good Enough by Kim Foster Carlson
- Live, Love, Explore by Leon Logothetis
- Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by The Minimalists
…and many. many more!
Can I Share an Idea?
Many of you sent in GREAT ideas, like:
- A social media detox
- Quitting junk food and soda
- Improving the quality of your relationships
- Getting rid of items
- Avoiding negative affirmations
You may already have an idea you’ve been wanting to do as part of a 30-day challenge.
Send us an email if you’d like to share your idea! We'd also like to hear what's working for you and what would make this process easier.
Some Quotes to Inspire You
If you think 30 days is too short of a time to make a real difference, maybe some of these quotes will convince you otherwise:
- “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” ~ Jim Rohn
- “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle
- “Your habits determine your future.” ~ Jack Canfield
And here are some habit-related quotes from our subscribers and Facebook group members:
- “I never heard of LaCroix Sparkling water until it sponsored Optimal Living Daily. Now I drink 2-12 oz cans daily to replace a 32 oz Diet Pepsi Daily habit. I just want to say thank you and I have already told this to the LaCroix corporate headquarters!” ~ Charles B.
- “I listen to the podcast every morning! Thank you for the daily fuel.” ~ Chris C.
- “The OLD podcasts are daily positive reminders for me. They inject small power boosts of positive energy that help get each day off to a great start!” ~ Rhonda W.
Now it's time to get excited for a tidier and neater home after 30 days!
I’m in
I’m in! One thing I’m decluttering for May is social media so I’m leaving my comment right here.
I will be participating! I don’t have social media (besides Twitter) so I’m letting the OLD family know on here! There’s a lot we can declutter so I’m excited for the challenge and the positive outcomes it will produce 🙂 I’ll be posting the progress on my Twitter @CDMCx3
I’ll join the challenge. Sounds fun.
Thank you, Justin! I am excited to join this challenge for May!
I’ve been trying on and off to declutter for months since late last year when I finally got the chance to read Marie Kondo’s books, so I think it’d be nice to continue with the cleaning and reorganizing along side with others through this 30-day challenge. Plus, I’m such a sucker for books. Happy Spring Decluttering!
The calendar looks like a good guide and is motivating. I will be participating in the Decluttering Challenge! Jan
Thank you Justin-I’m in for the challenge.
I’m in! Been meaning to declutter for several month now, so, thanks.
I’m in! Can’t wait to tackle that freezer and pantry.
Starting Today 🙂 I’m in!
I shall take the plunge by taking on what appears to be the mammoth task of washing all my winter clothes and donating any I wore less than three times this year.
As it was a particularly cold winter that showed what was good and what was not, so this is probably a good time to do it.
I’m in! I have been trying to de-clutter for a long time and this will give me some added motivation! Thanks.
I’m up for the challenge Justin! Thanks for the calendar!
I’m in, too! I started today and designated a corner of my office for donations to a local group – socks. Thank you for the 30-day calendar of ideas. As a retiree, I will alter it a bit. For the days the calendar suggests decluttering kids areas, I’m going to tackle recipes (that I will never make), home decorations, and cosmetics.
Works for me
I am joining as well. Thank you for the ummph community…Let’s Do This!
This seems like a good plan, and a good guide to use. I’m in
Me and my family is in! Read about the challenge after we have actually done a lot of decluttering on one day – fridge, 2 wardrobes, medicine cabinet, storage room. Still enough to do for every day this month!
I’m in, and I can’t wait!! I’ve been meaning to focus on decluttering for a while, but I think this is the exact push I needed to get going!! 😀
So excited for this! I plan on also decluttering my excuses.
I’m in! My biggest challenge is collections of items that have outgrown their storage – for me that’s socks and craft supplies. This calendar will be a huge help!
I’m in! I’ve been slowly decluttering over the last couple of years, but my progress has stagnated a bit lately. Thanks!
Committing!!!
I’m in! So excited for this! I already started by decluttering my bedroom floor!
I’m committed to declutter my closet and my room. Tonight i started off with cleaning my desk.
I’m in too! Thanks for getting us started!!
I have less than a month available, but I think I can still come up with 31 items!
Count me in !
I’m all ready for decluttering. Thinking of starting with my study table and moving forward with my cupboard and ending with my phone.
Best of luck guys!!
I have too much junk getting in the way and “I’m going to get to it when I have time” isn’t working… So yes, I’m in.
I am so looking forward to this challenge! I happened to have done a lot of decluttering in April but I am looking forward to getting to areas of the house that I haven’t tackled yet. Thank you for the motivation!
Justin, I am in!!!
I am in!
I started yesterday and I made a commitment because I want a more organized apartment
I’m in! Day one de-cluttered my home office desk. Schedule printed and ready to go.
great ideas!
Count me in!! I’m moving to a new city this month so this challenge is coming at the perfect time 🙂
Great idea! Just the tiny push I needed to begin! Happy decluttering
I’m in! I started the month de-cluttering apps from my phone – including my Instagram and Facebook apps. Looking forward to this 30-day challenge. Unfortunately, since I have deleted social media, I won’t be able to post my progress!
I’m super excited that this is the challenge this month. I already had a bag full of old clothes and books that I finished reading that I donated on Thursday.
Love the calendar ideas to get started. Not sure I can tackle some of the bigger items in one day; however, this can serve as a great idea board!
I’m in! Better late than never, right?
I have started clearing one item a day, the great thing is it always ends up being more. Just getting started with clearing one item starts a great chain reaction.
It is Day 5 but I am jumping in now. I love your podcasts and listen to this and all in your series. Very motivating and useful in everyday life.
I’m in!
Woo hoo! Off to declutter for 30 (oops, 25) days!!
yes!! Thank you for doing this Justin!
I’m in! Thank you for the motivation!
I’m in too! And thanks for the calendar to trigger ideas of where all my clutter might be hiding!
Hello,
Thank you for starting the challenges! I am not huge into posting what I do on social mediaI so just wanted to check in here. I have gone through most of the house, reorganizing, tossing what I couldn’t use, and donated what I could over the past month or so. Today I finally reorganized my digital photos and it felt great to look back on the positive moments and friendships I’ve gained. After getting rid of the years of excess photos and backing up what I wanted, I freed up a ton of noise on my phone and computer. I also will be more mindful of using a screen to experience things. One quick photo can capture the memory. Thanks for the push to simplify.
I’m in! I was traveling for a few weeks, but am going to double-up for the rest of the month! I made some progress in the garage last week and the plan is to get my car back inside by this weekend!!
Mid-Month Declutter Challenge Update: I’ve made some progress so far.
I got in a nice storage trunk for memorabilia, and with its limited space, it really got me to let go of some items that weren’t as meaningful to me. After reading up on how to declutter photos, I plan on going through them again, though luckily I didn’t have much to begin with before smartphones came along. I also want to find a better way to store them compactly.
I’ve also swapped out seasonal clothes, taking out those less worn and photographing what I kept to keep inventory so that I don’t end up shopping for something I already have.
I still have much decluttering to do, but I’m getting somewhere. Hope all are doing well with decluttering!
Final Declutter Challenge Update: Still have a bit more to do, which I expected at the beginning, but the home certainly has cleared up a bit. The living room where much of the clutter was has improved a lot. A bunch of used cardboard boxes and packaging material that I had saved up were broken down for recycling. I even cleaned up my car’s storage trunk and started cleaning my Fall/Winter shoes, especially a pair that had dried up mud since last year! I did come up with a cleaning task list per room and a daily goal for me to go by as I continue with decluttering. Hope everyone had a good decluttering month – it’s been productively fun!
Half way through, decluttering one item a day has been easier than I thought. So much easier that some days I’ve gotten rid of more than 1 item. My house is looking better and I’m feeling less overwhelmed.
Doing a midpoint check in here! Before this I had already done a sweep of the house but this challenge made me look again. Since the beginning of the month I have decluttered and organized my phone and computer, the spice cabinet, the bathroom shelves and (the big one) my painting studio. I threw away things I would clearly never use and posted some of my studio supplies on craigslist for sale that I haven’t used in a long time. Even separating these items helped. I started a personal goal to use the studio materials I had neglected and get out of my comfort zone. The bathroom items that I said I would use, I made more available so that I remembered I had them to use etc. I even took anther look into the closet and found more items to donate to Goodwill. The challenge has definitely made me more mindful of the things I decided to hold onto.
Mid-Month Declutter Challenge Update, like Amanda, Barb, and Theresa, I’ve made progress, feel less overwhelmed by clutter, and have taken a second look at items I had kept after a previous sweep of my apartment. The 30-day calendar has helped spark ideas for focus areas. The biggest challenge so far was letting go of books and recipes – more than 130 removed and given away. I’m inspired by each of your comments above.
Mid-month update. I’ve missed a few days, but hope to catch up over the weekend. The biggest thing for me has been prompting to look at old electronics to get rid of, selling books that I no longer need, and clearing out my wardrobe a bit. These will take a bit longer to follow through on, but it will be great to finally get them done.
We finished the challenge at my household, and I am happy to report the we will be able to sustain this, because we have a plan. thank you for giving us another excuse to keep our household clean.
I can’t wait to do the financial tracking challenge, although that one seems more daunting.