Less 365 Project Progress Report: Falling Behind

As you might guess from the title of this post, I've fallen behind with my decluttering project, Less 365.

I hit the halfway mark at the end of December so, if I'd managed to stick to my "declutter one thing a day, every day for a year" challenge I'd be nearly finished by now... but sadly, this is not the case. On my decluttering calendar I'm only up to 16th February, and in the real world it's nearly June already! Eeek.

So far this year I have decluttered...

Three almost-broken bracelets, a bangle I loved but haven't worn in at least a decade, two books of cartoons I haven't read for just as long, two now-empty storage boxes, a pair of heels which looked amaaaazing and were super comfy but (like all heels do) still made me fall over, a notebook that was so fancy I was too scared to actually write in it, a hardback copy of a book I owned in paperback, three exercise books I don't need, a cardigan that shed mohair fluff everwhere...

 

... a smart cardigan that I panic-bought to wear to a wedding but which turns out to be super itchy, two craft magazines I'd finished with, thirteen craft books I've reviewed but which I'm honestly never going to make anything from, twelve DVD box sets I'm not going to re-watch, a pile of fabric squares that never made it into my patchwork quilt (and which weren't nice enough to be worth keeping)...

... four pairs of shoes which I never wear because they don't actually fit me very well, a vintage plate I don't really love, and a pack of cute drawing pins which I don't need (because I own another identical pack and approximately a gazillion normal drawing pins, and only have one smallish pinboard!).

As always, some things have been gifted to friends and family, some sold on Ebay, some taken to the local charity shop and others thrown away or recycled. 

 

This is my second year attempting a Less 365 Project (you can read about the first year here) and I knew it was going to be a challenge when I started, especially as (of course) the more stuff you declutter the harder it becomes to find things to clear out, and the harder those "yes, I definitely don't need this anymore!" decisions become.

I am very pleased that I have managed to clear these things (and the previous six months worth of decluttered bits and bobs) out from my space where they were sitting un-used, un-loved or no-longer-needed... but it's still a bit frustrating to have hit a wall like this.

The joy of self-set challenges though is that you made the rules, so you can change them! Hurrah! So, my Less 365 Project will be continuing... just a bit more slowly. Instead of feeling like I'm falling behind, or failing at my challenge, I'm just going to keep on going gradually until I've hit that "365 things" target.

I love how this challenge is helping me look long and hard at all my "stuff" (like lovely-but-uncomfortable shoes which are not magically going to become comfortable or magically turn back into the money I paid for them), to make long-overdue decisions like "do I finally mend this or get rid of it?" and to clear some space to better display and enjoy the things I'm keeping. A delightful side-effect of thinking a lot about decluttering is also that it's also helping curb my spending on buying new "stuff", which is great for my bank balance and saving me some more pennies to spend on wonderful Nice Days Out.

These are things that are worth doing, no matter how long the "challenge" takes!

I have no clue how long it will end up taking but eventually I will have cleared out all three hundred and sixty-five things from my space... and I'll let you know when I get there. Wish me luck! :)