I Tried This Decluttering Challenge and Got Rid of 100 Things in an Hour

I’m big on decluttering, yet it always seems like things pile up again and again. I’ll often go through weeks where I’ll commit to cleaning out and reorganizing one drawer per day. Like with all things, if I can break it into small chunks, then the process becomes more approachable. 

That’s why the Decluttering Burst method from Be More with Less immediately caught my attention. Her approach is simple — you set aside one hour and go through multiple spaces in your home to ultimately get rid of 100 items within 60 minutes. 

These items don’t need to be big. It can be as simple as throwing out expired medication or clearing out trash from your car. The goal is just to commit to the hour, and let those 100 things go without a second thought. I gave it a go, and here’s how it went.

I decided to commit to eight spaces: a desk drawer, the linen closet, my dresser, my entryway table, the fridge, the bookshelf, my car, and the shed. 

The advice from Be More with Less is to commit to 10-20 items in each space. These don’t have to be large items. A pen that no longer works or a moldy block of cheese counts. This isn’t necessarily the time to stress over whether you need to keep that painting you inherited from your grandmother. Leave the emotionally charged decisions for another time. This is simply getting rid of the items that clearly no longer serve you.

My desk drawer was easy. I knew I could get to 20 items without a second thought. I quickly tested all my pens and discarded three that didn’t work. I tossed a few notebooks from previous lives and resigned myself to accepting I’ll never be someone who uses stickers in my planner. Less than eight minutes later, I was 20 items in.

I moved on to the linen closet, which doubles as a medicine cabinet, and I threw away several expired medications and got rid of four lipsticks. After that, 10 more items came easily. My dresser was high on my list because I knew my drawers had worn-out socks and stretched-out tights lurking in the corners. I figured I could get at least 10 more things to toss here, and I did.

My entryway table had loyalty punch cards for coffee shops I’ll never visit again, along with business cards I plucked from the front door, keys with no destination, and random items like nails and rocks. I trashed expired items from the fridge, and chose 10 books from my bookshelf to drop off to the Free Little Library in my neighborhood.

The car meant getting rid of straws and plastic utensils I know I’ll never use, along with the dreaded trash that just somehow ends up in the pockets of the door. The last big space to clean was the shed. I knew I could get another 20 items here, easily. Spray paint from past DIY projects, paint-covered nails I won’t use again, seed packets that are long past their shelf life, and empty paint cans that need to be properly discarded. In 10 minutes, I easily got rid of 20 remnants of projects past.

It did take me a bit longer than an hour, mostly due to switching from spot to spot, but the sense of accomplishment can’t be overstated. I literally feel lighter watching all these items go.

While I could have absolutely gone through one space, the biggest impact comes from touching multiple spaces within that hour. First of all, it’s easier to find the low-stakes items when you’re committing to getting rid of just 10 items in a space. If you go beyond 10, it becomes a deeper clean that might involve more time and energy to thoughtfully figure out what you need or don’t need anymore.

Second, there’s a sense of accomplishment that comes from cleaning out your medicine cabinet, your desk inbox, and your entryway dump spot all in one fell swoop. Sure, a perfectly organized closet is satisfying, but there’s more instant gratification from spotting organized corners everywhere from the bathroom to the kitchen. And, as you walk around your home and see your newly clear spaces, you might just be motivated to dedicate one more hour to decluttering.