Who Wants to Play the Minimalism Game?

Join me on a month-long challenge to declutter your home relentlessly and effectively.

We are quickly approaching “the season of stuff.” Notorious shopping day Black Friday is just around the corner and Christmas will be here before we know it, which means that many homes will be crammed with more superfluous things in an effort to feel like we’ve celebrated the holiday season adequately.

This is tragic because so many of us hate clutter. It feels oppressive in our homes, it wastes hard-earned money, and creates a massive, unpleasant job when we finally become frustrated enough to deal with it.

A better option is to nip it in the bud. Tackle your excess belongings now, before the holiday season begins, and purge your house of unnecessary stuff. Not only will your place look and feel better, but it will serve as important motivation for keeping stuff out during the holidays. Decluttering now will remind you of the importance of saying no.

The authors of The Minimalists blog and books, Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus, have one really great idea for making this happen. It’s called The Minimalism Game (#MinsGame on social media) and it goes as follows.

Find someone to play the game with you. You will hold each other accountable when the going gets rough, which it will by the second week “when you’re both jettisoning more than a dozen items each day.”

Start at the beginning of the month. (I know it’s November 4, but it’s close enough to the beginning that you can catch up!) On day one, get rid of one thing. On day two, get rid of two. On day three, get rid of three, and so on. This adds up to 465 items cleared out of your home by the end of the month. Whoever keeps going the longest wins, or you can both win if you complete the challenge.

“Anything can go! Clothes, furniture, electronics, tools, decorations, etc. Donate, sell, or trash. Whatever you do, each material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day.”

I am playing the Minimalism Game this month and will report at the end of it. Who wants to join me? It’s OK to start late; you’ll just need to box up 10 items today in order to make up lost days, or continue into the beginning of December. I have a feeling it’s going to change my life – at the very least, my home.