A minimalist lifestyle may not be for everyone. Letting go of things that you value and being contented with the bare essentials, could scare most people. Have you ever imagined not being with, at least, two smartphones? How about giving away your prized state-of-the art television set? Have you considered getting rid of you third part-time job for robbing you of your adequate sleeping time? Living minimally starts with being contented with what you have while enjoying life to the fullest. It goes beyond decluttering and could improve numerous facets of your life. If you want to start living with more freedom and less worries, start living minimally.
What Is A Minimalist Lifestyle?
To the uninitiated, a life lived with more freedom means focusing on the things that really matter: your relationships, health, passions, self-fulfillment, and growth. A minimalist lifestyle doesn’t stop at keeping oneself from buying things that lead to an ostentatious display of home decors. It focuses on assigning function rather than value to material things.
It prompts you to be aware of what you hope to achieve in your life, for instance, peace of mind and happiness and to conservatively keep the tangible and non-tangible resources to obtain these goals. Minimalism also involves removing other things that impede you from reaching your objectives. So, how does one start? Here’s a run-through of the steps you can take to obtain a minimalist lifestyle.
Identify Your Values And Objectives
Start by knowing which things give meaning to your life and how you feel about them. Have a list of what you have: material possessions, job, relationships. Make an inventory of what you want to achieve, what the current status of each aspect is, and what you can do to make it better. List down your objectives on each important element of your life and come up with short, mid-, and long-term actions that help you achieve these goals. Make your goals specific to make the process more effective and realistic. Minimalist living doesn’t prompt you to totally turn away from your current lifestyle. But, it’ll most often urge you to make difficult decisions.
Assess Your Lifestyle
One of the benefits of minimalist living is to have a lot of time for introspection. When doing this for the first time, for instance, before taking the big leap, it’s imperative to look at things in an objective manner. Do you find you’re having difficulties spending quality time with your loved one? What can you do to make it right? Maybe you need to reduce screen time from eight to one hour. Or maybe you need to get rid of the extra TV in your bedroom. Either way, a minimalist lifestyle focuses on removing excesses from your lifestyle, whether material or intangible.
Start Decluttering (And Do It Often)
It’s tempting to get freebies and buy things on sale even if you don’t need it at the moment. Often, you’d rather keep your appliances with minimal problems than have it repaired or get rid of it, especially if it has an attached sentimental value. No matter the reason, your living space shall have accumulated things that you can live without. Begin the decluttering process by making an inventory of the stuff you have at home. Classify them as “for repurposing or recycling”, “for donation”, and “for disposal”. For the latter, you can look here to experience the fast, efficient, and affordable services of a rubbish removal company. Declutter every quarter if you’re new to adopting a minimalist lifestyle. You can reduce the frequency once you’ve practiced it for quite some time. Material possessions are not the only ones that you can streamline.
A minimalist lifestyle also touches on these factors:
Goals
Work on up to three doable goals at a time. Once an objective is done, you can move on to the next. Don’t take on too many things that you know you can’t do.
Tasks
Running around doings tasks that you can delegate or are not urgent can lead to stress and anxiety.
Commitments – Like doing too much tasks, saying yes to every event pushes you too much. Learn how to say no and always practice self-care such as setting aside time to take some rest or meditate.
Worries
It’s normal to worry, but do it reasonably. But, don’t let it affect you too often, or your mental health will also suffer.
Debt
If possible, limit credit card use for major purchases. Always use cash for buying groceries and other stuff.
Food consumption
Part of practicing contentment is knowing when to stop eating when you’re full.
Screen time
Spending too much time in front of electronic devices—binge-watching TV series and movies, commenting and posting on social media platforms, shopping for new stuff—these take a toll on your personal relationships and time spent for other more important activities. Establishing a minimalist lifestyle requires a running audit of how you live your life and how you’re spending your time on a regular basis. It takes a long time before you could turn it into a habit. The key is to re-evaluate and make changes as often as you can manage.
Donate To Feel Better
Donating items from your home is highly fulfilling. Some people find happiness in sharing with others. If you belong to this group, gather all the usable and functional items in your home and send them to charities. This can be a challenging task to others, especially those who own luxury items. Here’s one secret: The key to letting go of material possessions is considering function (need) versus value (i.e price tag). If you bought a designer gown that you wish you can wear one day, why not give it to your sister who’ll attend a ball in the coming weeks? If you think you need to keep your pricey second pink wool blanket because it matches your room interior better than the black one, how about giving it to the homeless who doesn’t even have one? Of course, you can make money out of your “clutter” by organizing a garage sale or posting these items on an e-commerce selling platform.
Join A Community Of Minimalists
Taking on a minimalist lifestyle is not easy. Without the support of others who practice or fully understand it, you may find it easy to go back to your old, pre-minimalism days. This is especially true for parents who have small children or partners who aren’t supportive of the cause. Hence, it might be better to look for a group that practices minimalist lifestyle near you. This way, you can swap stories and tips, share your struggles, and try to overcome them as a group.
The Bottom Line
To most, adopting a minimalist lifestyle can be highly daunting, as it requires a shift in long-held beliefs and perspectives. Perhaps the most difficult stage is starting out. But, with enough motivation, you’ll be more conscious of what to do to improve your life.