31-Day Purge Project - Feeding the Soil

Can I entirely purge and organize my house from top to bottom (and side to side) in 31 days? My best shot will be to break up the massive project into mini-challenges—one step at a time, one day at a time. That’s where the 31-Day Purge Project comes in.

I love living in a space where absolutely everything has a spot. However, it’s not easy to build a home where everything has a spot with two children and a partner who isn’t as committed to a ruthlessly organized house as I am! For example, they are constantly bringing new stuff into our home, and they have a really hard time letting things go.

I think my love of an organized and tidy home came from spending summers with my grandmother. For example, there was no junk drawer in her house. I think that tells you all you need to know!

Why a Tidy & Organized Home Matters to Me

When everything is put away and surfaces are clear and organized, I feel more lightness and spaciousness in my mind and heart. As a result, I feel lifted and supported by my surroundings rather than bogged down. I feel free to put my efforts and energies into bigger and more important things.

Excess stuff (and, frankly, junk) can accumulate in a space. Our surroundings can literally become heavier and more dense over the years if we don’t put any attention or effort to it on a quasi-regular basis.

That’s why this 31-Day Purge Project matters to me. If you, too, feel lighter and more clear in a tidy and organized space, please join me in this project (or some version of it). Or, if you have other endeavors tugging at your heart, then ignore this project all together! Each of us has to find our own joy and our own purpose in this vast world.

31-Day Purge Project List

First, here’s what I’ll be working through:

Day 1: Adult clothes
Day 2: Children’s clothes
Day 3: Costumes
Day 4: Adult books
Day 5: Kids’ books
Day 6: Filing cabinet papers
Day 7: Papers on counters
Day 8: Warranties and manuals
Day 9: Arts and craft supplies
Day 10: Technology
Day 11: Games and puzzles
Day 12: Office supplies
Day 13: Cleaning supplies
Day 14: Freezer & fridge food
Day 15: Pantry food
Day 16: Dishware & bakeware
Day 17: Sheets and blankets
Day 18: Medicine & vitamins
Day 19: Toiletries
Day 20: Photos
Day 21: Journals
Day 22: Memorabilia
Day 23: Letters
Day 24: Children’s memorabilia
Day 25: Adult bathroom
Day 26: Guest bathroom
Day 27: Kitchen
Day 28: Master bedroom
Day 29: Living room
Day 30: Car and purse
Day 31: Garage

This approach is a mixture of various approaches, including the KonMari Method. Marie Kondo recommends organizing by category rather than space and completing purging everything before starting to organize it. For example, when we organize our “books” instead of our “living room,” we can pull all the books together from various spaces and have a wider perspective about what we own and how it all fits together.

First I like organizing by category first (clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous, and sentimental). Next I also like to go back through by space, as time allows. Hopefully that part gets much easier if I’ve done the pre-work of organizing category by category.

Important Questions

I’ll be asking myself these questions:

Have I used this item within the past year?
If I haven’t used an object within a year but feel worried that I might use it in the future, would it be relatively easy to replace it?
If I donate it to someone else, are they more likely to use it much more often than I currently do?
Am I holding on to it just because it’s expensive (but not useful/relevant to my life)?
Am I holding on to it just because it’s a gift?

Are you interested in joining me on this journey? If so:

What cadence makes the most sense to you? Is it daily? Weekly? Or even monthly? You could take the list above and turn it into weeks instead of days. (Please Note: Marie Kondo recommends getting this process done has quickly as humanly possible—no longer than six months.)
What is your list of what you want to tackle and in which order? I find that having a specific plan (no matter what it is) makes it much more likely that you will make it happen. It’s really helpful not to have to make any decisions about what to get started one each day. (There are already plenty of decisions to be made about what to keep and what to let go of!)

No matter what your journey looks like, I would love to hear from you on Instagram with the hashtag #31daypurgeproject. For me, being in community increases accountability and follow-through!

Cheers to more lightness, airiness, and clarity in 2022!