Minimalism is simply having less stuff so you can live a happier and calmer life. Ready to simplify your lifestyle? Here are our dos and don’ts of Minimalism!
The main idea behind minimalism isn’t to throw away everything you own. It’s to reduce the amount of accumulation that naturally occurs when we continue to buy things. When you have too much stuff, it takes up mental space in your brain which can be exhausting and make you feel anxious. Even if you forget everything that’s in your junk drawer, it still takes up some of your mental energy. And the more clutter we accumulate, the more anxiety-inducing it can be. So the thought behind minimalism is to simply have less stuff so you can live a happier and calmer life.
“Simply” is the keyword there. Minimalism is simplification. You do not need four toenail clippers. If you know where you keep the one pair, that will suffice. If you know you have several pairs scattered all over the house, you’ll never know where they are.
So, are you ready to simplify your lifestyle, here are a few dos and don’ts to get you started:
Do:
Minimalism Made Simple’s Tips for Beginners suggests knowing your zones. Decide where to put things for these groups: keep, toss, recycle, give away (to someone you know), and donate. If you keep having to move piles and redesignate zones, that makes your efforts more frustrating and less productive.
Declutter one room at a time. Start with the one that bothers you the most.
If it’s broken, get rid of it. If you were going to fix it, you would have already. (This also applies to socks and underwear that have holes.)
Get rid of doubles. Like the aforementioned toenail clippers, you probably don’t need two whisks, two corkscrews, or toasters. Serving spoons, sure, maybe you can have two or three.
Toss out expired stuff. Yes, food often is good far past its expiration date. But if you’ve let it expire by a while, that begs the question of if you’ll ever get around to eating it. Other things that expire: medicine, makeup, and batteries. (Though batteries may have decreased performance after their expiration, they’re likely to work a while past that. But if you have some obscure battery for something you don’t even remember and it expired in 2018, you can go ahead and let that go.)
Pretend to move. This one’s a bit more extreme, but if you’re really trying to see what you need, put it all in boxes. Unpack things as you need them. If you haven’t needed it in three months, chances are you don’t need to own it.
Don’t:
Get addicted or competitive with this lifestyle. Nobody else can tell you what you need or enjoy having around. If you make it too much of a challenge, you’ll end up getting rid of something you actually wanted. Try to be practical and honest with all of your decisions.
Eradicate every hint of personality in your space. If everyone’s house looked like Kim K.’s, the world would be a very boring place.
Expect minimalism to solve all your problems! In this list from Simply + Fiercely, the author reminds us that while minimalism can leave your living space looking more Instagrammable, and it can certainly leave you with newfound sense of space and peace, it is not going to pay your bills, forgive the person who last slighted you, or play the role of therapist. Minimalism is a practice, not a solution.
Another tip from Simply + Fiercely is to not use your minimalism clean-outs as an excuse to buy more stuff. While it can be a good idea to replace items that are no longer functional with ones that are, don’t fill the space you’re creating in your home with more meaningless stuff.
If you nee more minimalism tips there’s no shortage of media surrounding minimalism. The Minimalists have a hit podcast (which, ironically, has really long episodes), a Netflix special, and a book. “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” took the pre-pandemic world by storm with her method of getting rid of everything that does not spark joy. (Excluding directly useful objects. Your vacuum cleaner may not spark joy, but that doesn’t mean you get to throw it out.) Good luck in your simplification endeavors!