Friday, August 22, 2008

Focus Challenge – Month 6

Can you believe that we are at the halfway point? Wow! Awesome! Yay!

H a p p y ~ M o n t h . 6 ~ A n n i v e r s a r y !

How would you describe your journey so far? In what ways have you grown & changed in a positive way by accepting and staying true to your challenge? Are there areas where you feel that you still struggle and, if so, how can we help you through those? What are your proudest moments about how your decluttering journey has improved your life?

For me, my decluttering journey has taught me that I can indeed do something routinely. It has also shown me that clutter is much worse than everyday dirt & grime, in that clutter has the biggest impact on making my home look dirty or relatively presentable. I would have never come to that realization without accepting my own 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge.

My biggest area of weakness is feeling alone in my challenge. I *know* there are many 365 Challengers out there. However, that doesn't help keep me motivated since you are all virtual friends. You can't stop by and declutter with me. You won't know if I *really* am staying true to my challenge....and for some of us, I know that the lack of accountability is something we struggle against. And, since many of you are not posting a comment on the blog every now and again, sharing your successes & struggles, I feel alone. If you find yourself with a minute, I would greatly appreciate you taking a moment to post a few thoughts to us all. I bet I'm not the only one who would get a motivational boost from it!

My proudest moment is the change in my perspective, by learning to define clutter and to realize that I need peace more than stuff.

So, how would you describe your journey so far?

For a really special anniversary such as this, I gotta give you all a HUGE gift...a la Focus Challenge! To keep our fun spirit of adventure burning and to even bring out the kid in all of us, let's do a Scavenger Hunt. Here's a fabulous list of possible clutter hiding in your home, that is just hoping you'll never find it with your newfound decluttering eyes!

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Edited to add...

I put the Scavenger Hunt list in Word so that I could use it to keep track. I'm shading the square in purple and changing the font to white. I know, I'm a little ehhhh, LOL! Anyways, it looks pretty with the 2 colored squares that I've got right now and it will be fun to see more purple than white squares eventually!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's what I propose:
  1. Print the list.
  2. Alter the list, if needed (for example, making a substitution for sippy cups if you don't have children).
  3. Review the list each day to choose an item to find and declutter.
  4. Find it. Put it in your Donation Station or do as usual for your regular decluttered item of the day.
  5. Mark the spot--put an X on the spot, apply a sticker, color it with a highlighter, etc.
Now, a SH can be as easy or as hard as you make it. We are fun-loving and adventurous people, who love a little challenge, are we not? ;-)

Just don't let perfectionism frustrate you because you don't find every single thing. If you find yourself feeling that way, I want you to turn that attitude around and pat yourself on the back for every single item that you do find. Promise?

As you make your way through your Scavenger Hunt, you can even post "I found 5!" and we will celebrate right alongside you. And on it goes as you post "I found 10!", "I found 15!", etc., with a final post declaring your Scavenger Hunt grand total.

Enjoy your Scavenger Hunt Focus Challenge! I wish you all another awesome and successful 6 months of your 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge!!

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5 comments:

  1. This is a great idea! I was just wondering about the new challenge.
    I have grown a lot from this, you've encouraged me to post about it.

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  2. I am not halfway, I have only been decluttering for 22 days. But I can already say that this is a changing point in my life. I have lived with clutter for 35 years, I am now slowly getting rid of it and it makes me feel empowered and free. I have gained confidence that I can do this. I discovered www.flylady.net a couple of days later than this challenge, and I do them both. I think this is just what I need to turn my life around, it is exactly the kind of rigid scheme that works for me - rigid in a positive way :-)

    Be sure I read and appreciate your blog everyday (I have learned so much from reading previous posts). Thank you so much for contributing to changing my life.

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  3. Anna: Thanks. I'm happy that you were looking forward to the next Focus Challenge, as well. ;-)

    You're doing great. Keep going strong.

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  4. Vibeke: Congratulations on beginning your own 365 Days of Decluttering journey!

    I'm so proud of you for taking this babysteps towards evicting the clutter from your life. It won't happen overnight but rather than only keeping your eye on the end goal of Day 365, please be sure to notice the good stuff along the way. Such as the pride in your accomplishment of staying true to your challenge and decluttering that one item, even on a day that you'd rather brush it off, etc. Those little moments will group together and inspire your future actions...conversely, the negative stuff does too, which is how an "all-or-nothing attitude" becomes nothing too much of the time.

    I admit that I stopped writing here on the blog because I felt like I was writing to myself. I post a lot on the Delphi forum where this challenge began. There are also a lot of posts from other challengers there, if you'd like even more motivation and support!

    I have written notes for future things to write. I think you have helped to inspire me to post some more motivational stuff for the rest of our challenge. Thanks :-)

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  5. Oops, having a 3 year old throwing a fit next to me didn't help with my concentration this morning. I goofed on the link for my comment above.

    "Delphi forum where this challenge began" should have linked to the FlyLadies & More Forum. :-)

    ReplyDelete

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