Whenever someone starts to discuss the 2014 Things Challenge people have one of two reactions:
- “2014 Things? I desperately need to do this!!!”
- “2014 Things? I could never come up with 2014 things!!!”
I’ve been so amazed at the post to my Facebook Page of the number of Things you all are racking up!
A few of you have already racked up over 1000 things, and one brave warrior, my agent Rachelle Gardner HAS ALREADY COMPLETED THE 2014 THINGS!!!!
Here is what she said:
“Kathi, just FYI… we completed the 2014 Things challenge. Yep, in one day! And believe it or not, I haven’t even made a dent in my books. The challenge continues… perhaps we’ll make it into the 20,014 Things challenge???
And by the way, we live in a smallish house, maybe 1900 sq ft, so I know we don’t have as much clutter as many people! Once you get in the right mindset, getting rid of stuff is ridiculously easy and fun
.”
I don’t want these success stories to make you feel behind. Instead, I want them to inspire you to know that it’s doable!!!
And to help you out, my team has come up with this great download: 75 Places and Spaces to Find 2014 Things
Tell me in the comments what space and place your plan on attacking next,(Roger and I have romantic plans to clean out the garage weekend after next. Pray for us,) and you’ll be entered to win a copy of The Get Yourself Organized Project
Happy Tossing!!!
So many places to choose from! I’ll say dining room, then kitchen, then bedroom, then… We moved twice in 2012. So, eventually I need to go through the boxes of stuff in our basement. What qualifies as a thing? How small can a thing be? Thanks!!
My kid’ toys…which seem to be in every room! Getting rid of those “little” toys that come in from happy meals, birthday parties, etc – that add up to taking up lots of space!
The desk in the kitchen. It’s straight in front of us when we walk in the door, so everything gets dropped there.
My next hidden places to declutter are under the beds and plastic container storage. Here we go.
Sigh. The office/guest bedroom/baby storage/we-don’t-know-where-else-to-put-it room. Phase I: organize baby clothes to keep for next baby, give away to friends, or donate to RealOptions pregnancy clinics. Phase II: go through 7 years of work papers and knick-knacks from families before I went on “maternity leave” and let go of my professional identity before I became a mom. Phase III: organize closet which houses files and other random things, including programs and items used in my wedding. Yes, ma’am, that is the most challenging room for me.
I need to start with the kitchen cabinets and then move to the pantry. I know it won’t be hard to get rid of 2014 things. I just have to find the time to get started. Maybe the junk drawer in the kitchen tonight…
I have accomplished getting rid of 200 (to the thrift store) things so far !
Valentines day weekend our kids are away so our big romantic plans- attack the basement!
Between the kids too small clothes, left over Reno scraps and old board games I am sure to find 1814 things to donate!
My husband’s office and our garage are a disaster. I guess I need to get in there myself and do it or help him since he’s been trying to do it himself for 8 years.
I decided to participate in this challenge, because we have a lot of “things” – things that I must go through and declutter. My husband plans on selling our house in June and begged me to go through my “things.” The biggest area that is in dire need of purging is our office/homeschool room. I used to be a teacher and I have accumulated many items that I have a hard time getting rid of, mainly because I know that I can use them with my daughter. After purging that room, I will need to work on the kitchen. I love to cook and bake. My cooking gadgets have taken over the house. I probably should go through my books next, but that will be the hardest thing for me to get rid of but I must. Needless to say, I definitely have my work cut out for me. I get easily overwhelmed with this task, but I have a goal like everyone else thins year to declutter. I could really use the book that you are giving away. My house has been disorderly and disorganized for a long time. I can use ALL the help I can get. Thank you!
Home office . . . our family was thrilled when you updated the “rules” to include paperwork. It’s the thing that causes the most clutter, missed deadlines, overdue bills, and definitely stress. This weekend our family started purging all of the paperwork — old bills, school papers, outdated information, books, magazines, etc. Our 7-year old daughter put a check-mark on the 2,014 Things Challenge tally sheet for each thing that we picked up and made a decision about, whether it was shred, recycle, donate or toss. As long as it left the house, we counted it. The total for the weekend? We picked up and made a decision to get rid of 967 things!! Best of all, among the things we came across was paperwork for our property taxes, and it looks like we’re going to receive a refund of over $900 of overpaid property tax. And it’s all because of the 2,014 Things Challenge!
My closet and my kids’ closets, where I’ve stored their art, school work, baby clothes, toys, etc. for the last 22 years. I can’t seem to get rid of any of it! That’s where my clutter is. How do I get rid of any of it when each item holds such precious memories?!
Spice cabinet–I know that when I open some of those little bottles there will be no fragrance left at all. Out they go! And no new recipes that call for odd spices I’ll never use up!
I will be starting on the boxes behind the couch from our move almost 2 years ago.
I chuckled at your post, because we moved into our house almost exactly two years ago, and our “guest room” is still packed floor to ceiling with things we haven’t yet unpacked. We’re definitely going to tackle that as part of this challenge. Best wishes to you!
Kitchen cupboards! How many mugs does a family of four really need? 🙂
We have an under-the-stairs closet that I set up initially as a craft storage area for the kids. About every 3 months (really probably more often) I need to clean it out and “re-organize” it. It is a huge mess and a catch-all for the things they don’t quite want to get rid of or we just don’t know what to do with! Hopefully I can start working in there soon!
I’m tackling my laundry room, which also houses games (with lots of wayward pieces that need to be sorted) and boxes of odds and ends from other places in the house. After that, perhaps the catch-all closets in the basement. It feels good to be clearing the space. Thanks for the encouragement and motivation!
We have a skinny, but deep, closet in the main floor bathroom. It’s the ‘toss it in the bathroom closet’ space. Who knows what is lurking in there and for how long! That is high on my list as one of the places to tackle next!
I am still going through moving boxes (from July). I plan to finish the bedroom storage area and then move onto the spare room dumping ground. I have a large moving box full and another basket full of items to go and VVA just picked up 9 boxes last week (but they were from last year).
Garage focusing on books and household items