Getting rid of excess stuff used to be hard for me. I’ve been a pack rat for most of my life. It’s a trait I must have inherited from my father, who still keeps some of my old toys in the attic. I’ve hung onto old t-shirts, commemorative mugs, and other things for sentimental reasons. But other things like clothes I’m hoping to fit back into or treasured books I haven’t read for years just don’t bring value to me anymore.

I like to work incrementally, which is why I’m playing the 30-Day Minimalist Game to de-clutter. I started on Sunday, December 1. Since that was Day 1, I found one thing to throw or give away. On Monday, December 2, I got rid of two things. Today, which is Day 3, I need to pick three things, and so on. Josh and Ryan from The Minimalists explain the game in this video:

On Day 1, I got rid of a candle holder. I’m giving up candles because an RV is not a good setting for a bunch of open flames. On Day 2, I gave away two books. Tales of the Field by John Van Maanen is about writing ethnography, which is observational research I did as a university professor. The other book is Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. It’s one of my favorite novels. I like the story of a woman in Medieval times who dressed as a man, got ordained a priest, and eventually became Pope, while fooling the church patriarchy the whole time. Ha!

Today is Day 3. I got ambitious and found four items to give away.

It’s early in the month, but I’m having a good time. It might get tough as the days add up, but I’m on a serious mission. I need to scale down to get into my future RV. By the end of the month, I’ll have 500 fewer items! I’ll provide updates since it’ll make me more accountable.

How do you de-clutter? Have you tried something like the 30-Day Minimalism Game? Please like this post, and leave a comment below to share your ideas for de-cluttering.