My life has certainly changed ever since I embraced minimalism as a way of living. Having less stuff has brought me freedom and I just feel happy that I don’t have to waste my time trying to maintain and clean all the stuff. By getting rid of all the unwanted stuff in my home, I’m now able to appreciate what remains more than I ever did.
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The benefits of living with less stuff are enormous and I sometimes wish I had done it sooner. The fact that you are reading this right now indicates your desire to start living a more minimal life by having fewer possessions. You might have been looking to cut down on the distractions in your home and have more space for what really matters to you.
There can be many reasons why you may choose to live with less. Maybe you are moving out to a new home that is relatively smaller than the one you currently live in and it doesn’t have enough space for all your stuff. Or maybe you just want to prioritize other important things in your life rather than dealing with all the excess stuff you have.
It’s not easy to be a minimalist. Minimalism requires you to evaluate your relationship with the things you own and detach yourself from everything that isn’t serving a purpose in your life. But no matter how hard it is, living with less is very much a possibility if you are willing to change your mindset and be more intentional about your priorities.
Here are some very powerful tips that have made it a lot easier for me to live with less:
1. Know Why You Want To Downsize
Before you start decluttering your stuff, figure out why you want to live with less. Are you hoping to have a more clutter-free space that is easier to clean and maintain? Are you hoping to take control of your life from the possessions you own? Are you moving to a smaller home and wish to take along only the things that are important?
Having a clearly defined reason for why you are looking to declutter is important to make sure that you don’t lose your focus.
2. Think Of It As A Journey
Minimalism isn’t a thing that can be adopted in just a day. You can’t just get rid of half your belongings and call yourself a ‘minimalist’. It’s rather a journey that sometimes take years to complete.
As you work on living a more minimalistic life, remember that it took you many years to collect the things in your home. To expect yourself to get rid of these things in a day or a week or even a month is unrealistic. Give yourself time to figure out what’s important enough to stay and what should go.
You can choose to declutter just a few objects per day for the next few months instead of trying to get rid of it all in one go. If your home has too much stuff and you want to bring it down to just half, try decluttering 5 objects per day or even less. Take baby steps because it can be harmful to declutter on a whim.
3. Do Not Compare Yourself With Others
As much as I support minimalism, there’s also a need to admit the fact that many people think of minimalism as a thing of fashion. It’s not uncommon to see decluttering experts downsizing their lives on the internet that makes many of us want to copy them. If you are one of these people, stop right now.
The needs of your family are different from the minimalists you see online, and it’s never a good idea to go on a race with people whose lives are totally different from yours. This is not a race. Take your own sweet time to get rid of things slowly and steadily, and make sure that you think twice before discarding any object from your home.
4. Having Less Doesn’t Mean You Lack Joy
Modern times often forces people to place their happiness in the things they own. You may find yourself being caught in the rat race of who has more, and the mere idea of minimalism can make you feel that you would be left be nothing if you adopt it as a way of life.
Remind yourself that minimalism doesn’t require you to get rid of it all. You just need to choose the items that truly make you dance with joy and add value to your life. You are simply choosing the most important things to stay in your home and letting go of what isn’t that important.
5. Holding On Is Hard. Letting Go Is Easy
Clutter comes with a cost. You need to spend your valuable time and money in maintaining, cleaning and organizing the stuff that isn’t even adding value to your life. Everything that you hold on without a reason takes away your attention from the things that are actually useful. So if you think that letting go of stuff is hard, let me tell you that holding on is way harder that that.
6. Focus On The Intangibles
There are chances that you will find yourself missing some of your stuff after you’ve gotten rid of it. If and when that happens, remind yourself of the many intangible benefits of living with less that are so much more important than having a house full of possessions. Remind yourself of the sound sleep that you will now be able to get during the night and the space that you will now have in your house to move around.
It may take you a while to get used to having less stuff in your home but once you do, you’ll realize that there’s nothing more freeing than detaching yourself from the material possessions. Less stuff needs less maintenance which in turn saves time, money and energy that can be spent in other important areas of your life.
Are you a minimalist too? How do you make it easier for yourself to live with less stuff?