Last month I took part in the challenge the minimalists call out every month, the minimalism game. In this challenge you are supposed to get rid of stuff every day, one thing on day one, two things on day two and so on. It gets harder with every day.
The Minimalists are a Duo from the United States who tour to spread the word about intentional living. Some might know them from their documentary on Netflix. Here is their original post about the challenge:

A new month is approaching—let’s play a game together:⠀ ⠀ We call it the 30-Day Minimalism Game.⠀ ⠀ Here’s how it works…⠀ ⠀ Tag a friend or family member in the comments: someone who’s willing to get rid of their excess stuff. This month, each of you must get rid of one thing on the first day. On the second, two things. Three items on the third. So forth, and so on. 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.⠀ ⠀ It’s an easy game at first. However, it starts getting challenging by week two when you’re both jettisoning more than a dozen items each day. Whoever can keep it going the longest wins; you both win if you can make it all month. Bonus points if you play with more than two people.⠀ ⠀ Win or lose, we’d love to hear about your game on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram: #MinsGame.⠀ ⠀ Ready? Go!

A post shared by The Minimalists (@theminimalists) on Jul 31, 2017 at 7:44am PDT

So how did the challenge go? The first days went as planned, but then real life kicked in. I wouldn’t say that I failed the challenge, but I definitely noticed that I am not that steady-but-small-steps kind of person. Having to sort out a certain amount of things everyday felt somehow forced and limiting. I was far more successful when I ignored all the rules and just started going through one corner after the other. I think I had like two or three week nights and one weekend in the last month, where it just bit me and I got rid of thousands of items that were no longer needed. Decluttering galore!

With my cleaning out hauls, I definitely over exceeded the number of items of the #minsgame challenge. So in the end it was a good challenge to take on, because even though I didn’t follow the rules, it did give me an incentive to get started.

Nevertheless, here are some pictures of the process, of sorted out things. There were so many things like papers and empty or old cosmetics, which I simply threw away without taking pictures. In the end they filled about two garbage bags, but I’m not going to show you pictures of garbage bags. 😉

So, lesson learned – I am not the kind of person for those kinds of challenges. But it was a good experience, I learned something about myself and in the end I was able to gain some momentum in cleaning out the apartment. I want to keep that momentum and use my new mindset to continue having those days of cleaning and sorting out. At the end I always feel so much better. The feeling of accomplishment after such a decluttering session is awesome.