This year for me has been all about living with less–eliminating the excess to get back to the essentials, removing my dependence on acquiring things, and instead putting my focus and energy into building relationships and making memories. For the most part, I’d say my decluttering efforts in the apartment and my reduced shopping habits online are both on the right track toward living a more intentional, less materialistic life. And while I am proud of all the progress I’ve made over the past 5 months, the decluttering process is far from over. You can’t spend your entire life acquiring things and then expect to get rid of everything overnight (at least I can’t). But now that I’m headed to Maryland for my summer work tour, it’s looking like I will have to put my downsizing efforts on hold until I get back in August. I may have preferred to keep my momentum going over this summer, but such is life, right? This journey is a marathon, not a sprint. And I am content knowing that I have made some serious progress over the past few months and have a strong plan to continue moving forward when I get back. And who knows? Maybe I will be even more motivated to do good work when I get back after taking a little break from things.

So resigned to my fate of putting my minimalism journey on hold, I began to pack a few things here and there for Maryland. And as I started to set things aside for the trip, an interesting thought occurred to me… Could I use my 10-week work tour in Maryland as an opportunity to try out a mini challenge in minimalism? Just because I won’t be in Colorado to deal with my clutter, perhaps there was another way I could flex my “living with less” muscles and practice contentment with the things I owned. This was right around the time I starting reading Dave Bruno’s book The 100 Thing Challenge, in which Bruno downsizes his life, gets rid of nearly all his possessions, and lives more simply with only 100 items for an entire year. So I was curious…Could I live with only 100 things this summer? Would it even be possible?

I immediately opened up a spreadsheet and began planning what I would need–from self care basics like a toothbrush, underwear, and pillow to everyday work things like professional attire, my computer, and a backpack. And while I started out with far too many items, I slowly whittled down the list to a more manageable number, taking care to include only things that would either be necessary on a day-to-day basis and especially those that ewre versatile enough for both work and weekend situations. And soon I realized that undertaking The 100 Thing Challenge this summer was totally doable!

Fast forward to today and I’m so excited to finally share with you those 100 items I decided to bring with me to Maryland, and to give you a tiny glimpse into the process of starting a 100 Thing Challenge yourself!

Traveling across the country to live and work for an extended period of time requires me to make decisions about what is truly necessary (and what will fit into my 2 checked bags on the plane :P). Ten weeks is long enough (and Maryland far enough) that I can get a realistic sense of how living with less can feel, while also short enough (and less permanent) than would be an entire overhaul of my apartment. To me this 10-weeks summer work tour seems like the perfect opportunity to try the 100 Thing Challenge!

So before we get into what 100 items I chose, let’s quickly go over the specifics of what the 100 Thing Challenge is and what rules I’m following.

The Challenge…

The 100 Thing Challenge is essentially a minimalism challenge whereby you choose 100 items and only live with those things for a set amount of time. These items should include everything you use from clothing to books, to self-care and entertainment. But here’s the deal…the parameters and rules of the challenge are ultimately up to you! It is YOUR challenge. So you can make this challenge as strict or as loose as you want–it’s all about what you want to get out of it. The important part is that you spend time in the beginning, before you start the challenge, really defining what you hope to get out of the exercise and setting up a clear set of rules to follow during the challenge that align with this vision.

As an example, before starting his challenge, Bruno decided that only his personal items would be included in his 100 things. So shared items like the couch or bed or kitchen supplies would not be counted toward his list. But things like clothing, camping gear, and self-care items (toothbrush, razor, etc.) would be counted. He also defined his library of books as just a single item, rather than counting each individual title. And while some people may view this as “cheating”, I think it’s completely justifiable. Yes this challenge is about living with less, but it’s not about stopping life all goether. And if books are something that bring you joy and help you live a more fulfilled life, then you shouldn’t be punished for having them (so long as they get regular use, of course!).

There is, of course, a fine line between justifying a library of books and then justifying your entire apartment full of items, thereby circumventing the purpose of the challenge. But again, this challenge is your own and you get to decide what your goals are and how you want to go about accomplishing them. In this sense, leaving the rule making up to the individual is essential because only you know what is truly needed on a day-to-day basis in your life and what areas could use some work in restraint.

So using Bruno’s list and thoughtful groupings as an example, I set about making my own goals rules for my 100 Thing Challenge.

My Goal…

For me in this challenge, I definitely want to practice contentment with what I have, break my addiction to shopping, and prove to myself that I can live with less without compromising my personal style or day-to-day activities. I’m also curious to see if I can not only live with less, but thrive with less. Meaning, wouldn’t it be interesting to find that I can actually be happier with less than with more? So I’ll be testing out this theory as well. When things inevitably end up getting tough this summer, these are the motivating goals I will come back to remind me of why I’m doing this challenge!

My Rules…

After taking a look at Bruno’s list, my preliminary list, and my overall lifestyle and goals for the challenge, I came up with the following set of rules/parameters that define what items will count toward my 100 things and how to deal with “new” items that come into use. Developing these rules was definitely a process and took a couple weeks to flesh out the specifics. So if you are thinking about trying this challenge out with me, I’d definitely make sure to be patient and plan some time for the process to happen organically.

Rule 1: Disposable products like toothpaste, soap, makeup, lotion, etc. do not count as any of my 100 things. However to keep the overall number of things I use this summer down, I won’t buy any new products until an old one is used up–only replacing what is gone. This category of disposable products also includes work office items like post-it notes, paper, pens, pencils, and highlighters.

Rule 2: Travel and organizational bags such as suitcases, duffles, and toiletry cases are not counted towards my 100 things. But bags used on a normal basis, such as my work computer backpack, mini weekend  backpack, and crossbody purse are counted. Carrying cases and charging cables for my cameras and computers are also not considered separate items, but are instead counted with the items they are associated with.

Rule 3: Since it is entirely reasonable to acquire new items over the course of the summer (between a birthday in June to traveling to new places nearly every weekend), I think it’s important to decide how I will deal with any new items that come up. For me, since I am not making this challenge permanent (it’s a 10-week travel challenge), I think it is totally reasonable for me to swap in new items if I swap out old ones I’m not using. I can put the old items back into my suitcase and save for a time when I can transport them back to Colorado. But for all intents and purposes, the old items are out of commission so that I’m not using  more than 100 things at any one time. Also, once an item has been swapped in/out, it cannot make the transition again. This will keep me from swapping in/out items regularly (like a bottomless closet) and instead help me to make more mindful decisions about the items I’m deciding to use.

Rule 4: Group items that would otherwise deter myself from leading a life of less waste. This means that my Lunch Kit, which includes my lunch box, silverware, reusable rags, and glass tupperware will count as a single item. Otherwise I would use 10 of my things for just one purpose and it would discourage me from using it at all. Why should I be punished for using 10 reusable items that help the environment when others might not count any of the single-use plastic items that end up hurting it? Finding the right balance between counting what you are using but not punishing yourself for living responsibly is the key here.

Ok, now that we know what won’t be counting toward my 100 things, let’s find out what does count!

My Items…

To be honest, I think the hardest part of the challenge isn’t necessarily the living with less part, but more likely the figuring out what your 100 things are part. Trust me! For the girl that likes to have options and be prepared for anything, this was a tough thing to do! I tried to list out individual items (sans grouping) as much as I could, but sometimes it just made more sense to group things like books, underwear, hair ties, and my lunch kit into single items. For me this process took many revisions to get my list to where I felt it was balancing what I needed to live comfortably this summer without sacrificing too much. It is definitely a process (and one that continues to evolves). So be patient with it and view it as an opportunity to grow and learn something new about yourself in the process.

Looking at my schedule this summer, my 100 things needed to accommodate me for work 5-days a week in a business casual setting, but also needed to provide me with supplies for vacationing/traveling somewhere new nearly every weekend. I also wanted to bring a few comfort items to Maryland (like picture frames, essential oil diffuser, etc.) that calm me and remind me of home since I’ll be living across the country in a new place by myself. So each of the 100 items listed below serves one of these purposes–daily self-care, weekly work, weekend travel, or long-distance comfort. And it was helpful to remind myself throughout the process what purpose each item served before I physically packed it, to insure I wouldn’t bring lots of extra things I didn’t need or use. It’s funny, when the number of things you’re allowed to have is limited, you quickly realize just how useful (or not useful) items are.

If you are thinking about doing your own 100 Thing Challenge, my recommendation to you would be to use a spreadsheet to keep track of all your items. It’s definitely a lot easier to set up a spreadsheet to count up your items rather than counting them all yourself every time you make a change. I’d also recommend breaking up your items into categories to make it easier to see where you might be able to cut back. For me, it was definitely the clothing category (big surprise there! haha!). In my defense, it can be hard to know what I will need over such a long and dynamic period of time in a new-to-me location. But I think I got it figured out (finally!).

Ok, ready to see which items I picked for my 100 things?! I grouped things into four main categories–Self-Care (7), Electronics + Entertainment (10), Miscellaneous (16), and Clothing (67). The clothing is by far the largest category, so I further broke up this category into Work Clothing, Weekend Clothing, Outerwear, Shoes, and Lounge/Workout. So without further ado, here are my 100 things!

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My 100 Thing Challenge List:

 

1. Essential Oil Diffuser

2. Bedding: Sheets, Blankets, Pillows

3. Back Massager + Heating Pad

4. Self-Care Tools: Nail Clippers, Tweezers, Zit Tool, Razor

5. Toothbrush + Retainer

6. Brush + Comb

7. Hair Ties + Barettes + Clips + Bobbi Pins

 

8. Phone

9. Work Computer

10. Travel Computer

11. DSLR Camera

12. Point-and-Shoot Camera

13. External Memory + Flash Drive

14. Tripod

15. Headphones

16. DVD player + DVDs

17. Books

 

18. Work Backpack

19. Mini Backpack

20. Crossbody Purse

21. Wallet

22. Blue Light Glasses (not shown)

23. Fun Sunglasses

24. Running Sunglasses

25. Running Watch

26. Necklace

27. Bandanas + Scarves

28. Framed Pictures

29. Stuffed Bear

30. Lunch Kit: lunch box, reusable rags, glass tupperware, sliverware

31. Water Bottle

32. Hot Coffee Tumbler

33. Iced Coffee Tumbler

 

Work Clothing (23)

Work Tops (9)

34. Cream Dot Sleeveless Blouse

35. Navy/White Stripe Tank

36. Pink Dot Sleeveless Blouse

37. Liberty Floral Sleeveless Blouse

38. Periwinkle/Navy Dot Blouse

39. Light Blue Blouse

40. Periwinkle/Navy Floral Blouse

41. Black Dot Sleeveless Blouse

42. Black Tank

 

Work Bottoms (3)

43. White Pencil Skirt

44. Navy Ruffle Pencil Skirt

45. Navy Wide Leg Pants

 

Work Dresses (11)

46. Navy/White Floral Dress

47. Pink/Purple Floral Dress

48. Blue Ruffle Dress

49. Fuschia Wrap Dress

50. Yellow Eyelet Dress

51. Green Eyelet Dress

52. Navy/Pink/Orange Dot Dress

53. Navy/White Shift Dress

54. Black/White Stripe Dress

55. Black/White Pattern Dress

56. Black Floral Dress (not shown)

 

Weekend Clothing (18)

Weekend Tops  (12)

57. Bright Side Pink Tee

58. Red Tee

59. Orange Tee

60. Yellow Tee

61. Light Blue Tee

62. Black Tee

63. Gray Tee

64. Red/Blue Stripe Tee

65. Blue Yellowstone Tee

66. Red/White Stripe Button-Up

67. Golden Paisley Top

68. Light Blue Linen Tank

69. Navy/Pink Floral Blouse

 

Weekend Bottoms (3)

70. Dark Jeans

71. Jean Shorts

 

Weekend Dresses (3)

72. Navy/White Stripe Tshirt Dress

73. Red/White Stripe Tshirt Dress

74. Chambray Dress

 

Outerwear (10)

75. Red Cardigan

76. Orange Cardigan

77. Yellow Cardigan

78. Green Cardigan

79. Light Blue Cardgian

80. Dark Blue Cardigan

81. Periwinkle Cardigan

82. Purple Cardigan

83. Denim Jacket

84. Rain Jacket

 

Shoes (7)

85. Black Flats

86. Black Mules

87. Tan Sandals

88. Black Sandals

89.Waterproof Sandals

90. Nike Sneakers

91. Running Sneakers

 

Lounge/Workout (9)

92. Swimming Suit

93. Running Outfit

94. Running Outfit

95. Running Outfit

96. Underwear: Bras, Panties,  Socks

97. Lounge Outfit (yoga pants + sweatshirt)

98. PJs

99. PJs

100. Night Layers (sweatshirt + sweatpants)

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So those are the 100 things I will be using this summer! Did any of them surprise you? Overall I already feel like I could have made a few more cuts (in the wardrobe department especially). But at a certain point in the process, you just have to say it’s good enough and start already! Which in my case was Saturday, May 19th at 7:50am, determined by my flight out to Maryland for the summer. 😛

At any rate, I will be tracking my daily outfits throughout the 10-weeks (pictures may or may not happen), and I am planning to give you a 1-month and 2-month update on how the challenge is going–including new lessons I’ve learned, overall thoughts on the challenge, and what my most used/least used items are. So until then, wish me luck and here we go!

What about you? Would you ever try the 100 Thing Challenge?

You might also like…My Favorite Books on Minimalism and My 10×10 Wardrobe Challenges.

Thank you so much to Noah Berg for helping me style and take these photos!! (He is a rockstar!)