I was watching a Youtube video of Lucy Fink last week of her trying minimalism for five days. I had heard of the concept, but always thought that it was too much work. But the more videos I watched of Youtube stars talking about the minimalist challenge, the more it sparked my interest and I finally decided to start making some changes myself. The idea of decluttering your home didn’t take the forefront until the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo hit shelves. The book, which goes in depth about how to transform your entire house, was an instant hit, with millions of copies sold. What people started realizing from this book was that they simply had too much stuff. This technique makes people question what is important to them, and what items they were holding on to ‘just because’.
According to Allison Fallon, a blogger who has joined many in the minimalist movement, says that there are other benefits as well. The act of decluttering can improve your mindset. There is a direct connection between feeling overwhelmed and having a messy space. She goes further with this concept and says that minimalism can improve your health as well. Fallon makes the argument that if your house is cleared of unnecessary items, then your work schedule should follow the same trend. Cutting out unimportant tasks can make room for what you really prioritize in your life.
If you want to start living a minimalist lifestyle, I would recommend going to experts Joshua Fields and Ryan Nicodemus. Their website called The Minimalist have helped over 20 million people cut down their worldly possessions. They put an emphasis on the freedom from the consumer lifestyle that is integrated into society. Fields and Nicodemus’s definition of a minimalist lifestyle is “…a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important–so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.” They also say that the transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It might take you an hour to clean out those old textbooks and notebook paper, but the key is to not replace the stuff with more stuff. This is what separates a minimalist from everyone else.
Paige Smith put together a beginner’s guide on her blog which breaks down the process of decluttering into bite-sized pieces. She claims that the hardest part is getting started, but then you will start to feel relieved working in a clean space. One of the biggest challenges people face is they don’t know what to keep and what to toss. Smith says that the simple first step is to get rid of any duplicates. I have three different sets of measuring cups in my apartment (don’t judge), and I have a bad tendency to buy a backup for a product when the first starts to get low. Next is the items that you don’t use on a regular basis. I have about twenty pairs of fuzzy socks in my drawer, but I only wear a good eight to nine pairs. A side effect that I have found, however, is the guilt of the clothes I threw out. I somehow feel like I shouldn’t have thrown out so many clothes because I might need it one day. One of the most important aspects is to detach yourself from that guilt and remind yourself that if you hadn’t worn the item of clothing in the last three months, you probably aren’t ever going to wear it.
This idea of minimalism can be scary for some. Throwing out worldly possessions can be hard at first. But it’s also important that you don’t feel bogged down by the sheer number of items you own. Plus, putting some of these tips to use means that you have less stuff to move into your new apartment in August!