Tips on how I started living like a Minimalist

I have a confession to make: I’m a hoarder at heart.

As a teenager, I remember going through rubbish as if looking for a lost winning lottery ticket, tears rolling down my face, trying to rescue things that mum had thrown away without my consent. Fast forward a decade and there I was instead, before moving overseas, throwing away most of those ‘precious’ things I’ve latched onto for so many years.

Travelling pushes your boundaries, makes you reassess things and in my case, also left me with little choice other than keeping my hoarding tendencies in check. But don’t be fooled! My lifestyle is faaaar from minimalist (thanks, T.K.Maax!) and I am not the decluttering ninja I thought I was becoming.

I recently visited my parents and I was taken aback by the amount of things I still had stored there. The result? A full day’s work filling many big bin bags – with mainly paper – dating back to my childhood.

Shocking, I know.

I do have a hard time letting some stuff go but as the time for another adventure approached, so did the time to bid farewell to things, material and immaterial.

How did Minimalism pique my interest?

One day I was browsing Netflix and the Minimalists documentary caught my attention so I pressed the play button. Minimalism has become such a buzzword in recent years and little did I know that it no longer refers to just a type of design.

I must admit I didn’t go crazy about the documentary but it resonated with me in some aspects that align with my values, current life choices and erm, big midlife crisis questions. I’ve been observing the rationale behind my own cluttering habits for a while now but a quick search on Google could easily summarise some of my findings to you:

‘There are many reasons behind the need to hold onto objects: sentimental value, indecisiveness, thinking that the item will be useful or valuable in the future or that it will help you remember an event or a person you would not otherwise.’

Tick, tick, tick and tick.

Another thing is that, in our capitalist society, we are constantly led to believe we need things we don’t. Sure thing it’d be great to have a Mana-tea infuser in my cupboard but I can live perfectly without one. We are so spoiled for choice, blinded by bright red sales signs and consequently making very impulsive decisions at the counter.

I do love a good bargain but I equally hate buying something and letting it go to waste, especially when so many don’t have such luxury.

Yeah, we have every damn right to treat ourselves after working hard every day – in a job we probably don’t love – and try and fill in that void in the fastest way available. But the question is: Is this consumerism trap making us any happier? Instantly, yes. Perhaps not in the long run.

‘There are many reasons behind the need to hold onto objects: sentimental value, indecisiveness, thinking that the item will be useful or valuable in the future or that it will help you remember an event or a person you would not otherwise.’

How can you get started?

‘Ok, let’s get to the point then: how many items should I get rid of in order to claim my Minimalists Club membership?’

Steady on, my friends!

Let’s think of minimalism more as a mindset rather than a fixed set of rules or as, no less than the Minimalists themselves have nicely put: ‘Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom.’

As the concept applies to all areas of life where we need to make space for more meaningful things, it is less about what or how many you will dispose of but why.

In order to do that, it helps to get clear about your values and things that make your heart sing: relationships, activities and also possessions.

If this may put you off because it sounds like hard work, trust me, it’s not and it’s very liberating.

What’s in it for me?

Here are some benefits that might help convince you:

Clarity of mind

A cluttered space is strongly linked to a cluttered mind so clearing up your environment can have a much positive effect on your headspace too.

More time

Owning less things mean you automatically save more time tidying up but it can be also about how you manage your time. Are you on full FOMO mode RSVP’ing Yes to every invitation you receive? Or are you spending more time on things that you actually want to do?

Better health

You will be able to rest more, eat well, take better care of yourself and be more mindful overall once you reclaimed those extra hours spent going to drinks with office people you don’t actually like. Your body will thank you.

Money saving

If you decide to sell your things in websites like eBay or Shpock, you can make some extra cash.

Doing good

Alternatively, you can help someone in need by donating your items to charity.

Environmentally friendly

When buying less, reusing or recycling, you’re doing your bit towards reducing environmental impact which, let’s face it, won’t be sustainable for too long should we continue at this pace.

Empowerment

You’ll be the one in charge of making better and more informed choices for your own life. You’ll be able to own things and not be owned by them.

Less stress

You’ll be freed from the need of buying or achieving certain things due to pure peer pressure and the stress from holding onto these things with fear of losing them.

Better relationships

When you create more space in your life and stay true to your own needs, you’re better able to connect with people and build more authentic relationships.

Gratitude

I don’t know about you but I personally tend to feel very grateful while I’m sorting through things. Objects can evoke memories which consequently make me contemplate about my life and how generous and abundant it’s been to me so far.

‘Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important— so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom.’

The Minimalists

Convinced yet?

If you’re willing to give it a go but don’t know where to start, don’t fret!

Unfortunately there isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule book but there are some hacks that might help you:

• Start with a desired outcome in mind and break it into smalls steps.

• It does help to separate the items by category – e.g. clothes, books, tools, etc.

• Start with relatively easy items that won’t evoke emotional memories.

• Create three piles: ‘Keep’, ‘Donate’ and ‘I’m not sure’.

• If you do get stuck move onto something else, as long as you keep going.

• You don’t need to do all in one go unless you want to.

• Try to schedule regular clean ups to make the process easier every time.

I put together the flowchart below with my own decision making thought process that helps me get unstuck most times when decluttering. I hope you find it useful.

Also remember to always go digital where possible: upload photos and files to a hard drive or your preferred cloud server and swap your books, CDs and DVDs (does anyone still own them? jokes, we still had loads!) for Kindle, Spotify, Netflix or Amazon Prime just to name a few. Just watch out not to clutter your online world instead though!

These are some resources that can help you get started:

• The Minimalists: Documentary and website – It can be a good starting point so keep your heart open.

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: This book is, well, about tidying up. Brace yourselves though! Marie Kondo’s methods are not for the faint-hearted but some of her tips are quite useful. You can also see her in action helping families declutter on the latest Netflix release ‘Tidying up’.

• Becoming Minimalist: Another great website, particularly an inspiration for families, from the writer of ‘The Minimalist Home’ Joshua Becker.

• The Little Book of Tidying: There is nothing little in this quick read by Beth Penn that shed some powerful insights and tips on decluttering.

• The Practical Stoic Podcast #12: This isn’t a podcast about Minimalism although there are many parallels between minimalist concepts and Stoicism philosophy. In the first half of this short episode, the presenter Simon Drew poses some important questions on how to maintain a clear vision and understand the reason behind our aspirations and things we pursue which I find very useful for life in general but it can be especially helpful in this process.

There are also some great apps that can help you in the process and you can learn more about them here.

Be playful and most importantly, do what works for you and your lifestyle. If you start feeling guilty or frustrated, just remember that there isn’t an end goal nor right or wrong to this process. The secret is taking baby steps rather than a radical shift. Slow and steady, they say.

I can’t wait to hear all about your experience so please do share tips or insights but, right now, I’m off to empty some more draws.

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