3 People with Extra Body Parts

Packing Party
by Joshua Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus
Today is the day we take real action. Massive, immediate action.
Today is the only day on your entire journey that you will need to set aside an
entire day (i.e., take off work, don’t plan any other activities, etc.). It took us about eight
hours—including a one hour break in the middle to eat some soup and salad—to
complete our Packing Party.
Why a packing party? Well, the idea of turning this difficult event into a
“party” (much like how Colin Wright had a Breakup Party when he amicably parted
ways with his girlfriend). For our party it was just the two of us, but you should invite
some friends over to share the “fun” if you can.
The Packing Party concept is simple: pretend you are moving and you have only
one day to pack all of your stuff. We also got a bunch of used empty cardboard boxes
from a local retail store for free (they were going to throw them out anyway).
Then we got started.
We packed the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the family room, all
three bedrooms (yes, Ryan lives by himself, but his condo has a family room and a
separate living room, as well as three bedrooms, two of which he now realizes—after
embracing minimalism—are very, very unnecessary), including several very cluttered
closets and overflowing drawers in each room.
For any items that we couldn’t box up (e.g., large furniture and appliances), we
placed a sheet over those items (ideally making them unusable). Even things like Ryan’s
living room couch and coffee table were covered at the end of our Party.
The idea is to pack everything (including things you know you will use, like your
toothbrush and deodorant and kitchen utensils), and then only unpack things (over the
next seven days) as you really need them. So, if you need your toothbrush later today,
then you will need to unpack it. After a week, you will still have a bunch of stuff packed,
and then it’s time to make some interesting decisions (more on that later in our
journey).
At the end of the day, we had one room filled wall to wall with boxes and trash
bags and big blue storage bins, and we also had a bunch of empty rooms and empty
cabinets. Ryan felt liberated. A fresh start.