Challenge One - Week Four and a Bit

A number of interesting lessons came to light completing this 30-day challenge. On the 15,000 steps, this proved to be more difficult than expected, largely because of the home working situation. If we were still undertaking our normal day-to-day commute to the office we would likely achieve this much more easily, but whilst at home, you have to make a concerted effort to get in the steps. However, we did still achieve, even if one of us (not me) had to walk laps of the living room up to 11.30 pm!

As you can see, one of us (again, not me) also took the description of a 30-day challenge very literally and basically refused to move on 31st August, which coincided with a bank holiday here in the UK.

Moving on to the 1 item a day, I still think if I do it again I would simply blitz it all in one day. Basically the rip-off-the-plaster approach, and remove any BS excuses to keep stuff. Most of the items I got rid of were just taking up needless space, so some were easier than others. But when it came to clothing, that was a little bit more difficult due to (unexpected) emotional ties. This might have something to do with the average age of most of my clothes being about 10 years!

For the final week, my lady decided not to cheat and actually did get rid of some belongings. She has definitely found this side of the challenge easier than I have, having already completed a couple of minimalist challenges in her late 20s and early 30s.

So what have we learned from this first 30-day challenge?

The 15,000 steps a day challenge is a simple thing to do if you plan your time wisely. If you don't plan your time, it can get away from you quite quickly, and you find you have to catch up with your steps late into the evening. If you are organised or take opportunities as part of your normal day, you can get it done quite quickly and simply. We think we will carry on this challenge next month to embed it further into our lives.

For the 1-item-a-day minimalism challenge, as I said early, I would prefer to do this all in one big day and repeat 3 months in a row to really properly cleanse the unnecessary items. We aren't going to do that next month, but we might start again towards the end of the year.

Will we do another 30-day challenge in September?

Yes! It is my lady's turn to pick, so stay tuned...