Minimalism 101
What is minimalism?
People see minimalism as am extreme clean freak lifestyle or a pretty instagram aesthetic but it is so much more than that. Minimalism is purposeful. It’s living with less to make room for more. It’s intentional living.
Minimalists identify the essentials and let the rest go. We collect experiences rather than things, and experiences are what help us grow as an individual.
What about the having less things part? Yes, that is a big part of it. Why? Because money and material possessions do not equate to happiness. A minimalist knows this, in fact, most people know this but it is hard to break the habit of consuming new items, especially in a society where you are always being told that you need to have the latest fashion or latest gadgets in technology, etc. . .
A minimalist practices this ‘less is more’ lifestyles by letting go of the non essential things. This includes material possessions, toxic relationships, bad habits, etc. Letting go of attachments is hard, especially when it comes to cutting relationships. Mental clutter can weigh you down just as much as physical clutter and if you want to live a life of quality then you need to be physically and mentally healthy.
So, to sum it all up: clean your house (declutter), go out and make memories, & don’t have relationships out of convenience.
A Good Place to start: Decluttering
The Famed decluttering. . . The downsizing of your life. This can be the most fun part, and also the most stressful. I personally find it very therapeutic to watch my home become more and more organized and less and less heavy. It also makes moving so much easier.
There are 3 commonly used methods to this madness: The KonMarie Method, The Packing Party, and the Minimalist Game
The KonMarie Method
By Mari Kondo, the most common method and also the most messy. You basically start by taking all of your belongings, putting it in the center of your of your home or your bed or wherever and start putting items away that you are going to keep & put the items you are not going to keep into a box to be donated. You can do this with your entire household all at once or with a different category whenever you feel up to the task. Say you do your clothing one day and then the kitchen on another.
The Packing Party
Grab a couple of friends, plenty of boxes, and literally pack up your entire house. Place those boxes and your furniture neatly in a corner of your home and as you start to need things, pull them out. Whatever if left in the corner collecting dust in 90 days gets donated. For seasonal items such as heavy winter jackets, snowboards, surfboards and such I like to keep them until the season in which they would have been used passes and if I hadn’t used them then clearly I never will and can be tossed.
The Minimalist Game
The game begins on the first of every month. On the first day of the month you get rid of 1 item, on the second day you get rid of 2 items, on the third day you get rid of 3, and so on and so forth until at the end of the month you would have gotten rid of 496 items. However, if you miss a day, say the 4th day, and you start again on the 5th, you need to get rid of 9 items. In this way the game can get a little overwhelming if you start missing days so make sure you can commit!
Minimalism Can Also Be Eco-friendly
Going digital is the easiest way to keep your life from cluttering and it can also be eco friendly as well.
Books to e-readers: I bought my first ipad when I was in college and downloaded the google play and kindle app and I gotta say it made life so much easier, not to mention lighter. For digital reading you have an option of e-readers specifically for reading or tablets with a number of apps you can download books from such as the kindle app, apple books, google play books, zinio and magzter for magazines, and any newspaper you like to read likely has their own app as well.
Notebook Planner to Planner apps such as google calendar or apple calendar or for the very advanced planning folk we have Things 3 and Task manager
Paper and pen notes to digital note taking with apps like Goodnotes, Notability, Evernote, or even just your pages or Microsoft word years of notes can easily be consolidated into a tiny tablet or laptop. and if you use the tablet apps with a stylus you can create B E A Utiful bujo style notes.
Transitioning to digital can be challenging & takes time. it took me almost 2 years to completely switch over to my kindle. Don’t get me wrong, I still buy physical books, but I only buy the stories that yanked at my heart strings. Other stories can stay on the kindle.
Becoming a minimalist doesn’t happen over night, it takes many months or even years to get to where you want to be and even then it is a lifestyle that requires consistency but it is a well worth it.
Where to take your items
Make sure to dispose of your items properly. We have enough in the landfill already.
If you are looking to make some money from your decluttering you might want to try taking your clothing items to a consignment shop.
Places like Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads trading Co., 2nd street, and others will pay you for your gently used clothing items & accessories. My personal favorite is Buffalo and Crossroads.
As for your home items, I have yet to find a consignment shop, but I usually take my items to the local Goodwill or try selling your items on OfferUp.
For old electronics & wires: recycling is free at Apple. They take any brand and any peripherals you might have & you could get some trade in value for apple products.