What is minimalism? You might think of
it as a lifestyle for millionaires who own high-rise condos, live in
stark white rooms, buy expensive art and eat at fancy restaurants. Or
maybe that it's for austere monks who don't own any material
possessions at all … Either way, you might think it's just not for
you. But you'd be wrong! It's not just for millionaires and monks.
Minimalism is actually a simple philosophy and lifestyle that anyone
can practice. Leo Babauta
from Zen Habits describes minimalist living as:
“... a way to escape the excesses
of the world around us — the excesses of consumerism, material
possessions, clutter, having too much to do, too much debt, too many
distractions, too much noise. But too little meaning. Minimalism is a
way of eschewing the non-essential in order to focus on what’s
truly important, what gives our lives meaning, what gives us joy and
value.”
In other words, that just means
uncluttering your space, buying less and doing less. In return, you
get more time and less stress. It sounds pretty simple, and it is –
but it takes time to develop new habits. Here are some easy ways to
get started (no high-rise or fancy restaurant reservations required):
Define your priorities
First, identify why you want to
simplify your life. Maybe you never get to see your family because
you're too busy trying to keep up with the culture of “too much.”
Maybe you don't have time or space to do your favorite hobbies
because you have too much stuff. Maybe you want to travel more but
you have too much debt. Write down your reasons for wanting to
embrace a more minimalist lifestyle, whatever they may be, and keep
them in a visible place as a reminder of your priorities and goals.
Purge your possessions
Spend a day (or several days)
de-cluttering and downsizing your possessions. Use whatever
organizing method works best for you – If you don't have one, try
the four box method. Essentially, when you start de-cluttering a
room, keep four boxes on hand at all times: trash, donate, keep, and
relocate. Every item in the room must be placed in one of the boxes,
and nothing gets passed over. As soon as your donate and trash boxes
are full, take them to the garbage bin or to your car so you aren't
tempted to pick anything out. You
can also check out more organizing methods here. Do whatever
works best for you!
Discard duplicates
Take your purge one step further by
going through your home and making sure you don't have duplicate
items – For instance, you might have more than one copy of the same
book or DVD, or have too many pairs of scissors or measuring cups in
the kitchen. While you might need some of these items, you don't need
duplicates of the same thing.
Buy less
The simplest way
to stay organized and live a minimalist lifestyle is to not
accumulate too much stuff in the first place. Next time you go
shopping, remember the priorities you identified – Spending more
time with your family, traveling, or paying down debt – and ask
yourself if the items in your cart are in alignment with your goals.
Start a capsule wardrobe
Keeping up the
whims of the fast fashion industry inevitably means you'll have more
clutter and less money. In contrast, a capsule
wardrobe is a made up of select, versatile pieces of high-quality
clothing that you love to wear. By creating one of these wardrobes,
you'll learn you can actually live with a lot fewer clothes and still
look put-together. You'll also have a lot more time left over from
not stressing over what to wear, and not shopping as often.
Similarly, you
could also try Project 333. Invented by minimalist
Courtney Carver, Project 333 challenges people
to wear only 33 items of clothing for 3 months. Like the capsule
wardrobe, this challenge is a great way to learn how to live with
less!
