Download your FREE 2023 November Decluttering Calendar (plus two bonus pages!) to ensure this holiday season is organized, decluttered, and stress-free!
How to Use the Calendar:
For my November Calendar, I really focused on preparing for Thanksgiving! If you do not celebrate American Thanksgiving, consider replacing my “Thanksgiving-themed” days with different decluttering categories. Pick a small category of items, and spend 15 minutes decluttering. For a few ideas to get started, check out my article How to Declutter by Category here. For the other weeks, I themed them by paper clutter, digital clutter, and decluttering by category. Here’s the overview:
- Week 1: Paper– Let’s tackle those bulky manuals!
- Week 2: Digital – declutter our digital photos
- Week 3: Pantry and Meal Prep
- Week 4: Focus on Thanksgiving activities and time with family
- Week 5: Categories– fall decorations, kitchen utensils, and puzzle/games
***Note*** I follow my Sunday planning routine each weekend to help organize and make the most of my time each week.
Here are a few reminders for the November Decluttering Calendar:
- Remember, each daily task is designed to take just 15-20 minutes.
- You can always dive deeper if you like, but the goal is to keep it manageable.
- Decluttering and organizing are personal journeys, so make it work for you.
- I recommend reading my article, “Choose Your 15 Minutes a Day,” before you begin to create the right mindset.
Grab your Free November Decluttering Calendar here:
Tackle Paper Clutter
- Day 1: Gather together all the manuals from appliances, electronics, etc.
- Day 2: Rip off the front page of each manual and toss the rest of the booklet (no, I’m not kidding!) If there’s a page with the QR code, just keep that page
- Day 3: File each page in your home binder in a plastic sheet. If it’s just the QR code, label it so you know which appliance it goes with.
- Days 4 & 5: Enjoy the Weekend and Plan your upcoming week!
Declutter your Digital Photos
- Day 6: Make sure your photo cloud system runs the way you want. If you do not have your photos backed up to a cloud system, install one immediately! 😅
- Day 7: Delete duplicate and unwanted photos
- Day 8: Create Albums for your photos (the key is to create albums for easy retrieval. Start with big themes, and then you can go to smaller categories from there. Apple Photos and Google Photos are already very good at this.)
- Day 9: Start categorizing photos
- Day 10: Keep working on decluttering photos
- Day 11 & 12: Enjoy the Weekend and Plan your upcoming week!
Week 3: Focus on Home- Declutter Pantry
- Day 13: Clean out and declutter canned goods
- Day 14: Take stock of baking supplies. Are things expired? Do you need more flour?
- Day 15: Throw out anything expired. Make a plan for what to do with unwanted canned goods (so many food drives happen around Thanksgiving. Churches and food pantries would be happy to have them!)
- Day 16: Create your Thanksgiving Meal plan. If you are not making the entire meal or invited to someone else’s house, ensure you know what you are expected to bring!
- Day 17: Create your Thanksgiving Meal Shopping List
- Day 18 & 19: Enjoy the Weekend and Plan your upcoming week!
Thanksgiving Week Preparations- Week 4
- Day 20: Prepare cookware. What will you need to cook the meal? Is it all cleaned and ready to go? Do you need extra serving dishes or silverware? Do you have enough containers for delicious leftovers?
- Day 21: Prepare any special table settings. I know I always have to dig out my special napkins and make sure they are ironed and ready to go- or I just make sure to buy fancy paper ones!
- Day 22: Start preparing anything for the meal ahead of time!
- Day 23: Happy Thanksgiving! Feast and enjoy your family. We always like to decorate for Christmas on this day, too!
- Day 24: Rest, Relax, and Get Outside
- Day 25 & 26: Enjoy the Weekend and Plan your upcoming week! Take this week to start making a few lists: Christmas cards & Christmas lists. The earlier you knock this out, the happier you will be!
Declutter By Category & Amazon Prime Day!
- Day 27: It’s Amazon Prime Day! Get a jump start on your Christmas lists, or find something amazing for yourself! Check out my Amazon Christmas Idea lists here!
- Day 28: Take the time to declutter your Fall Decorations. If there’s anything that you chose not to display during the fall season, it’s time to donate it.
- Day 29: Take 15 minutes and declutter any old, broken, or unused kitchen utensils.
- Day 30: Make room for more puzzles and games. These can make great Christmas presents for families who may not be able to buy them new. Think about donating your gently used puzzles and games to thrift shops, retirement homes or even schools!
Free bonus calendars:
Ok, so I need to know how this goes for you! I’ll be jumping onto my Instagram stories to tell you my progress, but if you have any questions or want to share your success, please head over to my private Facebook group Organizing Tips and Tricks.
12 Responses
Great schedule for getting on top of all things November! I just went through my pantry… initially, because I had bugs in my rice, but it got me motivated to go on and door more.
I think doing a little each day is a great way to enjoy the holiday without feeling completely overwhelmed.
My pantry is not overstuffed yet, because we just moved but I definitely need to stock up. Thanksgiving foods are not as easy to find here, so I need to start now. 😝
These are really good organizing tips! I am a fan of doing just 10 or 15 minutes at a time. Have you seen the deck of cards Jonda Beattie and I created: Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time?
Oooh… I need to check those out. Sounds like we think about things very similarly!
I love this organizing list, thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Janet!
What a great way to help people overwhelmed by the onslaught of the holiday kookiness all the way through November. Each of these will allow people to approach November with a greater sense of control.
Thank you Julie! yes, I agree… the holidays are crazy town, and without a little guide or prompt each day it can get very overwhelming!
I love the tips and format. It is an easy to use tool to make decluttering fast and fun.
Thank you so much Julie! I’m having a lot of fun making them. 😊
This decluttering calendar is a God-send. I only wish I found it earlier in the month haha but I am going to continue it through December to help prepare for Christmas. I did a huge declutter on my house during the summer that included renting a dumpster. That really only included big things we needed to get rid of, so it will be nice to have everything organized in the cupboards and such. Thanks for this great calendar!
Rachel, thank you so much. You don’t even know how much that means to me. I’m working on my December calendar right now so be on the lookout! It’s incredible that you took the step to rent a dumpster- I’m sure that felt so freeing. Thank you again for your kind words. It makes my day to hear that something I created has helped you!