7 Things Sunday (How I decluttered in 2014) Part 1

Last January I realized I could no longer deal with the exorbitant amount of stuff in my house. Clutter bothers me and stuff lying around gives me anxiety. I can't sit down to work on something unless the surface is clear that I am going to be working on. If there are dishes and pans laying around in the kitchen, I struggle to begin cooking. It drives J nuts because I like to organize and rearrange his stuff, but I can't help it. It irks me.

This is not to say that I am a clean freak and my house is spotless. I'm not and it's not. But excessive stuff bothers me. I have to either physically move away from it or I have to organize it. Depending on how much energy I have helps me decide which one I'm going to do. But let me tell you, throwing things into the trash or the donate box gives me a high! I LOVE TO GET STUFF OUT OF MY SPACE.

So back in January of 2014 I decided to throw out, giveaway or donate 1 thing every day. And to make life simple I decided to do this on Sunday and do "7 Things Sunday,"

The rules for 7 Things Sunday were pretty simple.

• Find 7 things to throw out, donate or sell. 
• Straight up trash didn't count, so picking up a water bottle off of the side table earned zero points.
• Items for donation went into a box that, ideally, went to Angel's Attic on Monday.
• Items for sale had to be posted for sale that week and if not gone within 3 days were donated.
• Photos were to be taken and posted to FB for accountability each Sunday.

Honestly, this was probably the only resolution I have ever completely kept. Some weeks were a bit challenging because I wasn't feeling inspired. Some of you may remember "the marble".  I was struggling that week to come up with 7 things and I found a random marble rolling around in my utensil drawer. It went in the donate box quickly.

But most weeks were super easy and I found way more than 7 things. I decided where I was going to focus on and then dug in. Closets, drawers, cabinets, bins, baskets, nook, crannies. Nothing was safe. I did stop taking pictures of everything because I decided that not that many people cared that I removed 7 pairs of hole-y socks from my drawer, but I did it for probably the first two months just to get in the routine.

The amount of stuff I got rid of was staggering! And I haven't missed ANY OF IT!

If you struggle with clutter, this might be a good resolution for you. I know it's basically March, but isn't spring a great time to turn over a new leaf? Grab your phone and go to your calendar app. Go to March 1 and add an event, call it "7 Things Sunday". Set the event time for a time that is good for you that you are usually at home and then set it to repeat every week. Lastly, set the reminder to go off! When you get that notification, you will remember to go find 7 things!

I'm going to continue this series for the next bit telling y'all some decluttering tips that helped me and ways to free up your space so that you can actually live in it. It's amazing what having less stuff surrounding you does for you. You literally feel lighter. Peter Walsh even has a book that talks about this phenomenon called "Lose The Clutter, Lose The Weight,"


Upcoming topics
*Where clutter hides
*Turning clutter into tax deductions
*Dealing with sentimental clutter
*Selling the good stuff
*Digital clutter

Even though it's now 2015, I'm still doing 7 Things Sunday, just not as religiously.  5-6 books and a few bookmarks are heading to Angel's Attic tomorrow along with some random, new makeup I found in the back of my bathroom cabinet. You would think after a year there would be nothing left to declutter, right?! Bwahahahahaha!

If you decide to jump on this bandwagon, post your photos to social media and use #7thingssunday so I can see your hard work!

***Affiliate link*** because I am an Amazon Associate they give me a little thank you gift of a few pennies if you shop through my link. The price is the same for you as if you just went to straight to Amazon. Even if you don't want to buy that book (and really, if you are decluttering buy the Kindle version) use my link and buy something you would normally buy, ok? And then I can write in my YMJ that someone shopped through my link and earned me a penny for my thoughts. :)