Going the Minimalism Route

Some find minimalism scary where others find freedom in it! Your journey of embracing a decluttered life will be dependent on how easily you adapt to change, make decisions and follow them through. You can explore the world of minimalism slowly and at a manageable pace giving you time to get used to the idea of having less.  It can significantly impact your life. 

Leaders in Minimalism 

There are a few leaders in our midst that we can learn from.  One of the most popular minimalists of our century is of course none other than Marie Kondo a world-renowned Japanese decluttering guru, bestselling author of the book Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and star of the hit Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.  

There are also several other YouTube and website bloggers that will help you to research this topic further.  To name just a handful, these include:  

• The Minimal Mom offers amazing tips and tricks to simplify quickly.  
• Ann Le sharing insights on living mindfully.  
• Natalie Bennett shares how she copes with minimalism and motherhood. 
• Darci Isabella is a minimalist mama!  

The Mind Block of Minimalism 

You might believe that you can benefit from simple living and minimalism but you don’t want to get rid of all of your stuff and then regret it.  Watching a Marie Kondo episode on Netflix is inspirational, but opening your own closets and throwing away or selling heirlooms and memories is a whole other tall order.  It is super scary and puts most people off, but what if there are steps to grow to be able to do this? 

Test Drive before Commitment 

The Minimal Mom shares 5 Easy ways to test out Minimalism, let’s look at these: 

Step 1 Clear off Kitchen and Bathroom Counters 

The aim is Visual Simplicity.  Remove all the stuff from your kitchen and bathroom cupboards.  Leave only one or two that you use regularly.  

It has been observed that it is stressful (more so for women than men) to even just see clutter.  It stresses you out because you are responsible for it.  The simple act of clearing your space will give you breathing space, making you feel better and improving your anxiety levels. 

A good example is for instance to leave your coffee machine out being used 4 or 5 times during the day.  In the bathroom aim to put all those nasty looking toothbrushes and pastes, creams and bottles away in a cupboard. Rather enjoy a green plant that will give you joy. 

Step 2 Simplify your Wardrobe 

At one point or another we all feel that we have nothing to wear, with a full closet of clothes. The goal is Limited Decision Making.  There is something magical that happens when everything in your closet is a legit option! 

It is a better option to have 5 sets of clothing pieces that you love than having 25 that you don’t! So how do we do it?  Place your possible unwanted clothes in quarantine for 3 months.  This will give you that sense of security, in case you do want to wear them again.  My guess is you most probably will easily be able to get rid of those quarantined clothes after 3 months.  

Step 3 Limiting Dishes 

The aim is No More Piles!   

Highly simplify your everyday dishes and it will be physically impossible to stack a pile of dishes, forcing you to wash the dishes after every meal.  It also of course allows for everything to fit in! If this is a scary step for you, follow the same quarantine rules you will follow with your wardrobe. 

Step 4 Highly Simplify One Room 

Let’s start with one easy room like a guest bedroom or study and take it down to the bare bones. The aim is to Have Nothing on Top!  

Just keep the items in the room that it needs to serve its purpose.  You will find yourself gravitating to that room.  Why?  It is now a functional room with less chaos. You have turned it into a retreat and haven. 

Step 5 Highly Simplify Toys 

Kids do not need many toys to be happy. How often have you bought a birthday or Christmas present that was tossed aside a week later?   

The aim once again is Visual Simplicity.   Change the way we play and rather spend time with your kids by baking or finding garden treasures and making mud cakes or holes! Follow the quarantine rules if you are unsure.  

Marie Kondo again speaks of these 10 top organizing tips in her book: 

1) KonMari Method 

2) Organise items by size 

3) Store by frequency ofby use 

4) It will get worse before it gets better (sorting phase) 

5) Pile things Up (putting things in perspective) 

6) Thank your home (emotional / spiritual) 

7) Give every item a home 

8) The KonMari folding method 

9) Use Clear Boxes – Vertically 

10) Makes sure each item sparks joy 

How to Get Rid of Stuff 

A few guidelines to help you get rid of things are: 

• Go through your house systematically to make it less overwhelming. 

• Sort your stuff into 3 piles: Yes’s, Maybe’s and No’s.  Box up the maybe’s and quarantine, them for 3 months.  After 3 months, do not open that box and just get rid of it. 
• The best way to deal with buyer’s remorse is to throw them out quickly.  It happens to all of us, but keeping it will only remind you of the bad choice you made! Get rid of it and get rid of those feelings.  It has no use any way other than taking up space in your house.  
• Use the buddy system where you get a friend to sort with you by asking you questions.  Find the list of questions on The Minimal Mom blog. 

Purchase Less 

To stop those impulse buys, follow the easy 30 Day Wait List method.  Keep a list of items you would like to purchase over a certain amount of time. If you still want to purchase it after 30 days then you can proceed.  99 per cent of the time, you do not need or want it anymore! 

Secondly, pay with cash and not credit card!  If you can’t afford it now, you most probably won’t be able to afford it down the line.