A fun "Reverse Advent Calendar" Will Help You Declutter

Wellbeing Words

Organizing and decluttering our homes is an important element of self-care and wellbeing. It’s often true that when our space is tidier, our minds feel more focused or relaxed. But life doesn’t always allow for us to spend hours of time deciding what to keep and what to let go of.

Enter: The Reverse Advent Calendar!

This December, I’m setting up a box in the corner of a closet for this.

It’s simple in execution.

Just add one thing to the box to donate every day in the month of December!

Then donate the items in the box (or boxes!) at the end of the month.

It’s also ok perfectly ok to donate the items before the end of the month, especially if they are things that people can use, like warm clothes or items people can regift for the holidays.

In fact, right now is a GREAT time to go through your holiday decor and decide if there’s anything you want to let go of. Families who have rehomed or don’t have a budget for holiday decor would likely LOVE to get your decor during Hannukah or before Christmas so they can actually use it this year.

I’ll be donating some items (like ones in the categories above) during the month and will donate the rest in early January!

If you get inspired, you don’t have to limit to one item a day, but the challenge is a wonderful invitation to make letting go of things a regular habit!

I’ll be donating my items:

via Buy Nothing (find your neighborhood Buy Nothing on their website, if you aren’t a part of yours yet).

I’ll also be donating to Mary’s Place in Seattle, a wonderful organization that provides safe, inclusive shelter and services that support women, children, and families on their journey out of homelessness. They have a partnership with Goodwill, so are able to trade items they don’t need with Goodwill for credit, so they can get their folks in need more of what they need. I recommend finding small orgs near you like this, to help support even more people than donating to Goodwill directly.

*For folks who celebrate Christmas, you can also do a reverse advent calendar counting down to that holiday, but I’m choosing New Year’s as counting down to the new year (while gifting things that will be new-to-others) resonates more for me.