Have you ever looked around your home/ apartment and think to yourself, what is all this? Living a minimalist lifestyle might be the solution to this problem. One might wonder, how do I start living a minimalist lifestyle? In fact, living a minimalist lifestyle might seem easier said than done.
America has a consumption problem, it is established that the average move for an American family weights over 8,000 lbs. This is due largely on the fact that many people often times buy what they don’t need or in excess. There are so many things in our lives that is increasing the amount of clutter and weighing us down. This is the perfect time to reevaluate your life and see what is necessary.
Minimalism isn’t just a change but a complete lifestyle change, one that requires you to change all aspect of yourself and life. Living a minimalist lifestyle have become so popular int he past couple of years, which many people opting to live in smaller homes, using multipurpose products, switching to clean products or cutting down on unnecessary purchases.
The aim of living a minimalist lifestyle is to not live in excess, thus making the term less is more effective. Living a minimalist lifestyle isn’t just about your living situation but also your mind and body.
What is minimalist lifestyle?
Minimalist have different meaning to different people and can depend on circumstance. Minimalist living is the art of eliminating unnecessary clutter in your life, while focusing on what really matters, by doing this it frees up your time to focus on other things. Incorporating a minimalist lifestyle applies to all aspect of your life and shouldn’t be one dimensional, however the first start is at home.
What is your vision of minimalist lifestyle? One thing that comes to mind is empty rooms with no furniture with all white walls. This can be true for some people, but the art of minimalism is more about getting rid of what you don’t need, if that means having minimal furniture or organization your living space so that it maximizes that space.
Minimalism involves all aspect of your life, which can also mean your career. This doesn’t mean to quit your job instead it is finding that job that makes your life less stressful, which is something you need to get rid of in order to live a minimalist lifestyle. Living a minimalist lifestyle is about living a stress-free lifestyle that won’t make you feel guilty, while advancing your abilities.
This is the time to do some inner self- reflection, this will give you time to focus on your needs, if that means changing jobs, then do it. Downsizing then do it, eliminating as many expense as possible then do it, there isn’t a manual or perfect way to live a minimalist lifestyle. This is based solely on how you feel and what changes you need to make in order to make it happen.
What are the benefits of living a minimalist lifestyle?
There are many benefits to living a minimalist lifestyle, ones that will improve your standard of living but also your quality of life. Overall the benefits will be greater in the long run:
- Time- You will have more time to spend on yourself and things you like to do. With fewer items in the house to clean and organize it offers you more time to enjoy other task. This is the time to learn something new whether it be a hobby or enjoying things you never had the time to before.
- Money- Living a minimalist lifestyle would cut your spending altogether. Getting rid of and not buying things you don’t need will save you a whole lot of money in the long run, that money can be spent on other things. Such as picking up a new hobby or traveling, it is a good idea to practice the philosophy that less is more and you cannot take anything with you.
- Go Green- Going green means using products that can be used for many different purposes, or ones that are easily recyclable. Living a minimalist lifestyle involves implementing actions that will enable you to be socially responsible.
- More mindful- When we are aware of the things around us, we are able to make better decisions. Living a minimalist lifestyle makes you more appreciative of what you have and learn to accept it, rather than living above your mean.
- Learning time- Take this time to learn about yourself, minimalist living isn’t just about your home but also about you. Learn to meditate, while doing that also journal and practice self-care.
How to live a minimalist lifestyle?
All the things discussed above will give you an idea if the minimalist lifestyle is for you. Everyone lives it differently and you should incorporate it to how you see fit.
1. Think about it
The first thing you want to do when deciding if you want to live a minimalist lifestyle is to first think about it. Do you research, it’s not difficult to see what it entails or what you will need to do. Often time we enter into something thinking it will be easy and won’t realize what we are sacrificing in order to live a certain lifestyle.
Living a minimalist lifestyle is not the same for everyone but do require some self reflection to see if this is for you, list all the pros and cons and what you will be giving up. I can assure you that the pros will outweigh the cons, which will lead you to wanting to live a minimalist lifestyle. This is about self reflection to evaluate your life and to see what you are capable of living without.
2. Make a list
After you evaluate your life and what you want, make a list. The list will help you determine what you need and what you don’t need, this list is a visualization of the things you can afford to get rid of. This is a great way to establish grounds and will help you decide if you need to downgrade, especially if majority of the clutter in your life is taking up space.
Establishing boundaries will enable you to see what needs to be done and a plan you will take to establish it. Focus on the big stuff first, when you can see them it’s easier to decide what goes and what stays, follow that up with the smaller things.
3. Declutter your life
When you decide to declutter, make sure to only keep things that you need. There is no need to have a room full of stuff that you don’t use or just takes up space. Go room to room and analyze what your needs are, then decide what needs to go, this doesn’t mean to have an empty room but the aim of decluttering is removing as much as possible.
Why doing this answer these questions, do I need it? What is the purpose of this in my life? Will my life change if I remove it? Or am I benefiting from it? If these items have sentimental value then those you keep. However, if there are items you feel you need the sleep on it, if it’s still on your mind then keep it, if not then get rid of it.
4. Do not buy more
After removing all the clutter from your household, keep it that way. Do not get the urge to want to fill the gap of something that is missing, don’t go spending money buying more stuff. Defeats the purpose of what you have accomplished so far, instead use this time to do something else. This is the time to limit your television consumption, as well unsubscribing to any product services, this will reduce any temptation you might have.
Even though you are living a minimalist lifestyle this is also a time for you to discover new ideas to incorporate in your home decor, incorporating minimalist styles that will fill the gap of what is missing.
5. Finding you
The best part or the biggest lesson from this is to find out what you like. This is the time to learn about yourself, take the time to do things you have never done before such as learning a new hobby or spending time with yourself. This is the time for you to meditate, and find what is important to you in life.
I included a link to a mental health challenge above, this is filled will different things you can do each day that will challenge you. Each day should be a different activity and if you repeat an activity, wait a week before trying it again. This is also the time to reflect on other aspects of your life such as family, spend time with them and worry less.
Also figure out your career path, if you need to change it then do so as this is the time to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. Apart of this is to reduce stress from your life, do all you can to reduce it.