The 5 Day, 5 Things Minimalist Challenge

I’ve always considered myself a semi-minimalist. I’m very rarely tempted to buy things and my collection of material goods isn’t very vast. I probably spend less than $150 on new clothes every year. That being said, I don’t have a completely empty apartment either, with nothing but floor space and sleek, sharp-angled furniture. I’m somewhere in between. The grey area of minimalism.

I was reading The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau and his words inspired me to get rid of some things, so I created a challenge for myself. Nothing crazy like having to sell everything but the shoes on my feet. I wanted to make something achievable but give me the feeling that I was contributing to the decluttering of my own life.

My challenge: get rid of 5 things for 5 days. That’s it.

By the end of the five days, I wouldn’t have had to change my entire lifestyle or give up my sentimental possessions. I would merely have 25 total items out of my way. I’m sure we all have at least that many things that we don’t use on a daily basis.

In order to show you just how easy this can be, I have documented my five days of minimalizing below:

Day 1

• 2 pairs of socks.
• 2 pairs of underwear.
• 1 old high school soccer shirt.

Day 2

• 1 pair of socks.
• 3 pairs of underwear.
• 1 work shirt.

Day 3

I told myself that I needed to get out of the closet for today and look at stuff other than clothes.

• 1 chess set I haven’t used in nearly twenty years.
• 1 hairbrush.
• 1 book on mixology basics.
• 1 pack of hair ties (I recently cut my hair from being chest length to a mid-length cut.)
• 1 travel toothbrush (I have a bad habit of holding on to these and don’t use or replace them until my next trip.)

Day 4

• 1 baking sheet that is still in the original packaging from when I bought it in 2014.
• 1 pair of extra bands for my medical bracelet.
• 2 martini glasses
• 1 belt.

Day 5

• 1 mandolin slicer.
• 1 electric bass guitar. I have tried so many times to learn an instrument (percussions, acoustics, electric, digeridoo) and I have come to terms with the fact that I do not possess musical talent.
• 1 dull chef’s knife that has sat under my good, sharp knives.
• 1 pair of shoes.
• 1 shirt that I used to wear all the time but haven’t in the past 12 months.

Here I am, five days later and I didn’t have to change anything about my life, but I feel much better. What are your thoughts? Do you have some clutter in your life that you can finally get rid of? Let me know in the comments below if this inspired you to downsize just a tiny bit.

P.S. I included my new logo concept at this post’s featured image. What do you think? It’s a first draft that I’ll look to polish up in the coming weeks.