Decluttering with Intention: Using Lent as a Prompt to Simplify Your Home
Lent is here—a beautiful 40-day season of reflection, sacrifice, and renewal leading up to Easter. It's also the perfect time to create more physical and mental space at home. Decluttering during Lent isn't about aggressive purging or creating the "perfect" house—it's a gentle, intentional practice of letting go of excess so we can make room for what truly matters: peace, gratitude, family, prayer, and contentment.
A lot of us respond well to challenges, especially when there is a time limit. I’ve created a checklist and 3 challenge options that you can use this season of Lent to practice decluttering excess and creating order. At the end of this post is a link to a 40 Day Tracker you can print and use to track your progress.
Here are 3 different challenges to consider:
1. The Classic “40 Bags in 40 Days" Challenge Commit to filling one bag (trash bag, grocery bag, or even a small tote) of items to donate, recycle, or toss each day for 40 days. Focus on one area at a time and approach with the mindset of releasing what no longer serves you to pass on to someone else in need. Donate all usable items.
If it’s trash or recyling, you’re clearing out to bring mental and physical clarity. And doing so responsibly to care for our environment.
2. A Gentler Version: 40 Items in 40 Days If full bags feel too much, release exactly 40 items total—one per day (or batch a few). Each day, ask: "Does this serve me, do I need it, do I love it, can I live without it, would I pack this if I were moving?”
Target easy wins: expired pantry items, unworn clothes, duplicate tools, old paperwork, outgrown kids' toys.
3. 40 Mini Sessions Commit to 10 minutes of decluttering and organizing for 40 days. Set a timer. Declutter or organize a specific space. Ding. You’re done. Check the box. (actually it’s a heart on the tracker)
**Bonus** Digital Declutter Extend the theme beyond the physical stuff: Delete 40 unused apps, unsubscribe from 40 emails, delete 40 extra photos or organize photos into albums for 40 minutes.
Pro tip: For the 40 days, turn your phone screen to black and white to minimize the attraction to colorful apps, mindless scrolling, online shopping, etc. Turn notifications off for frequently used entertainment apps.
Decluttering during Lent is not a replacement for prayer or fasting. It’s another way to prepare our hearts by preparing our home: making room, bringing awareness, and hopefully leading to letting go that which we really do not need.
Click here to download your 40 Day Tracker.
Eager to hear your thoughts.