Let’s talk about minimalism
In the last few years there’s been a growing theme in my life: consumerism and excess. I have never been a shopaholic or one to impulse buy, in fact I feel I really think things through before spending my money. What got me thinking about excess and minimalism was the amount of time I was spending cleaning my house. What has cleaning got to do with minimalism? Hold on, I will get to it.
Saturday morning is when the cleaning happens in my house. Cleaning is not a fun activity for me, but I don’t really mind doing it as it results in a dust-free, organised house. Nevertheless, the process used to be highly frustrating due to the high amount of small items around the house, getting in the way. I may sound like a drama queen, but I am sure a lot of busy mum’s out there know what I mean.
That’s when I decided to do a little research about how to achieve a more minimalistic lifestyle, a life that contains only the essential, the things that bring me happiness, all the rest was just getting in my way.
I am no someone that gets easily attached to things so declutering was easy, the hard part was convincing my husband of this new philosophy as he is the type of guy that saves things “in case we need it in the future”.
The solution:
1) I did a lot of reading on minimalistic lifestyle, blogs The minimalists and Becoming minimalist are essential reads. I also recommend Marie Kondo’s book to all who are thinking about changing your living space. It’s perfect.
2) Declutter! This has been my favourite part, but for many it may be a sad task. I felt good throwing/giving away things that I don’t need. The best way to tackle this is to divide things into categories, then hold each object and ask whether it is essential for you to have it, whether they bring you happiness. There is no point in keeping an object “just in case” when the last time you used it was 2 years ago
3) Whilst decluttering make a throw away, a sell and a give away pile. Remove these items from your house as soon as possible so that they don’t end up back in the cupboards. Giving things away is hugely fulfilling, not to mention that the stuff you can sell means extra money in your pocket
4) Minimalism is a way of life, after you are done decluttering, put on your minimalist hat on before you think about buying things. Ask yourself: Do I really need this? Is it something useful?
Obviously this is a brief introduction to the topic, minimalism is a long process achieved in more complex ways than the simple steps above. But if you have a look around your living space, or even your desk at work, and suddenly feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff surrounding you, keep hold of that feeling, it’ll motivate you to change.
I am not one for sayings, but definitely agree that a cluttered house means a cluttered mind. I bet a lot of people can remember before sitting down to revise, organising the desk in order to concentrate better. Place 20 toys in front of a kid then 3 in front of another, the kid who wil start playing first will be the one with 3 toys, it shows we get brain overload with too much. Less is more!
Our house is far from being minimalist, but we are well on our way and it makes us feel so much better. It’s also great to see that now it takes me half the time to clean the house, leaving me with more time to do more enjoyable things.
Have you ever thought you house had too much clutter? What impact do you think minimalism would have on your personal life?
