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If you’re just learning about the concept of minimalism, you may think it means just getting rid of all your stuff and living with less. However, there is actually a lot of intentional thought that goes into creating a minimalist space. At its heart, minimalism promotes the intentional enjoyment of things you truly value and the removal of things that distract you from that joy. Most people who adopt a minimalist lifestyle find that shedding the extra baggage of excessive possessions allows them to live a simpler and happier life.
Clutter can be detrimental to our mental health in a variety of ways.
- It distracts us from things we want to focus on.
- Clutter causes unnecessary guilt and anxiety, because we’re constantly feeling like we need to solve the problem.
- It inhibits productivity and creativity by taking up space that could be used for problems solving and idea generation.
- Clutter forces us to spend more time locating things that we need.
- It makes us feel as though we can’t relax because there’s always something that we should be doing to get rid of the clutter.
An improvement in mental health is just one reason minimalism has been increasing in popularity. Minimalism also saves money, increases free time, and overall, makes people feel happier in their space. You can expand minimalism to all areas of your life, but most people choose to start with their homes.
How Can you Get Started with Minimalism in your Home?
1. Reflect
Before you start giving away all of your possessions, it’s important to spend some time reflecting on minimalism and what you want it to mean for you. For some people, it’s more about organizing and streamlining. For others, they really decide to let go of old things, as well as old mindsets and expectations. It can really mean anything you want, so it’s important to decide how you want to approach it before you get started.
2. Pick a Starting Place
The idea of decluttering your entire home can feel very overwhelming, so you should pick one room to start. Not only will that be less overwhelming, but it will help you refine your system and your process before you move on to other spaces.
3. Create a System
Decide ahead of time what categories you’re going to sort items into. For example, you might decide on a “keep, donate, trash” system to choose what to do with each item in the room. Try not to rush through the process and really spend time considering which items are truly of value to you and which things you might be keeping for some imagined scenario. Be honest about what things really are important and you’ll find it much easier to part with things that don’t add value.
You’ll also want to consider your system for bringing new things into your home. Once you’ve spent the time to clear out all the old stuff, it’s important to ensure you aren’t just filling that space back up with new stuff. Consider implementing a replacement system, where you only buy new things when something old is worn out and needs to be replaced.
4. Go Digital
One great way to eliminate physical clutter in your home is by going digital with as many things as you can. Can you replace CDs and DVDs with digital music and movies? Can paperback books move to digital copies on an ereader? Do you still get paper copies of your monthly bills that get piled up to be thrown away later? Go paperless with as many vendors as you can and you’ll reduce the junk mail that probably piles up on flat surfaces all over the house.
Of course, there’s no requirement that you make everything digital. If you really love listening to music on vinyl, or you enjoy the feel of holding a real book in your hands while you read, then you don’t have to switch those things to digital to free up physical space. Just consider which things are most important to you and remember you don’t have to keep doing things the same way you’ve always done them, just because that’s how it’s always been. Minimalism is meant to help you challenge your current actions and habits and develop a new way of moving forward, but you don’t have to give up things you truly enjoy to embrace minimalism in your life.
With people spending more time at home these days, many of us are able to take on some of those projects around the house that we’ve been putting off for “someday.” If you’ve been meaning to adopt a more minimalist lifestyle, then there’s no time like the present. Decluttering and organizing even a small part of your home can have amazing benefits for both your home’s aesthetics and your mental health.
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What parts of your home need to be decluttered the most? What do you hope to gain by embracing minimalism in your life?
