5 Simple Steps For Becoming A Better Minimalist
Spoiler: throwing away everything you own isn’t one of them
I was in high school when I first encountered the idea of minimalism. it seemed simple enough, and The Minimalists, in their stellar Netflix documentary on the subject spoke to me in so many ways. Ever since then, I’ve been attempting to live the minimal life — and, quite literally, have failed every step of the way.
“Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” — Thomas a Kempis
I remember packing up to return to college, when my mom examined my belongings and all I was taking with me and promptly commented on how I “wasn’t a minimalist”. As an aspiring simple lifer, this hurt. Ever since then, I’ve been rethinking whether minimalism is even worth it, and discovering what it was supposed to be about in the first place.
Minimalism is, ultimately, about holistic and effective life design.
Minimalism isn’t about only owning what you can put in a duffel bag, or traveling the world in your tiny home, or selling everything you have to live with nothing. It’s about having what you need, what makes you happy, and living a life that is unencumbered by belongings — and instead, aided by them. It’s about intentional selection, careful design, and making sure our belongings are serving us, not the other way around.
Here are some suggestions for how to do these things that I’ve tried myself that don’t require you selling everything you own or moving into a tent:
1 | Curb your spending habits to better life gear
I know, I know. Everyone wants to tell you that you’re spending too much money and that you need to do better about sticking to a budget. But I’m not that person. I actually find myself at an interesting cross roads. I am definitely an impulse shopper, and have certainly used “retail therapy” more than I care to admit. My main issue, though, is that so often I come back from Target in a moment of weakness with some really cool stuff.
“Simplicity involves unburdening your life, and living more lightly with fewer distractions that interfere with a high quality life, as defined uniquely by each individual.” — Linda Breen Pierce, author of ‘Choosing Simplicity’
After looking back over my shopping trips and what I was spending my money on last year, I took note of what was a worthwhile purchase and what wasn’t. I realized that there were some things I needed to get an opinion on before purchasing. For instance, I spent a lot of time and money for my hair when I decided to embrace its natural curliness. Instead of doing research or asking my mom what she’s used on her curls for decades, I decided to experiment on my own, often buying a new product every time I went to the store.
All I have to show for that is a wasted $200 and a lot of unused shampoo.
But there are other things, like my backpack, and my duffel bag, my shoes, hiking boots, kayaks, and favorite office supplies and journals which have been worth every penny and more. This is where minimalism and living simply come in. It’s less about the number of items you have, and more about the quality and value of those things for you and your life.
When you spend money, look to buy things that you know will bring the most value, joy, and utility to your life. After all, this is the gear that you’re traveling your path with. You want it to hold up, be easily accessible, and exactly what you need as you hit snags along the way.
2 | Choose your “One Thing” habit
In ‘The ONE Thing’, author Gary Keller proposes a simple idea — pick the important thing, and then put all of your attention wholeheartedly into that thing. Let’s apply that to morning routines. What if, everyday, you woke up and just did one thing that you deemed the most important? For many high performers, this is their workout. They workout for an hour or so, take a shower, and then start work.
“It is not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do , it is that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have.” ― Gary Keller, ‘The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results’
Apply “the ONE thing” to your morning routine.
This seems monotonous and ineffective, and yet sets them on a great path for the day and fills their cup. Why? Because it’s their “one thing”. For you, this could be reading a book, writing, going on a 5K run, reading philosophy or religion, or volunteering. Whatever it is, it should be the most high impact routine for you — the one that makes you feel the best.
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” — Socrates
I think this is also interesting to look at in light of different environments. Throughout the years, when I’ve been on vacation at the beach, this “one thing” has been getting up to watch the sunrise and hear the ocean first thing in the morning. While staying with family out of town, it would be getting up, reading, and drinking coffee before everyone else woke up. These were perfect routines, that left me not needing the hustle and bustle of a 24-step ritual before I started my day.
While this doesn’t exclude other things you might want to add to a morning ritual, it sets the tone — and instead of giving you a hurried list of everything you must do for your “morning routine”, it helps you settle down and center yourself with a singular routine that leaves you ready and excited.
3 | Maintain a wardrobe of your favorites
One of the biggest benefits I’ve gained from growing in my knowledge of minimalism and how people use it today, is a better wardrobe. Learning about minimalism released me — it released me from the idea of the bigger and better closet. I don’t want 27 pairs of shoes, or the nicest dresses, and the best outfits for every single day. What I wanted is simple, neutral colors, that give me endless combinations for all sorts of situations.
“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” — Coco Chanel
Now, I’ve never been happier with what I get to wear everyday. And, an added benefit, when I shop, I know what I’m looking for. I’m able to look at something, identify it as something I would’ve wanted in the past, and realize that it no longer fits my style — and I save money and energy as a result. It also means that I get rid of a lot less clothes, and cycle through things much less.
I’m less concerned about what I have in my closet because I know it’s all stuff I like, and it makes the process of picking out what to wear every morning so much easier. This doesn’t mean you have to only have thirty items in your closet or that you can’t have crazy patterns, it just means that you have permission to wear what you want, get rid of what you don’t wear, and not just buy because you feel like you should. It slows down your shopping habits, makes you realize what you love, and helps you tailor your clothes down to what makes you feel the best.
4 | Block your time intuitively
Time blocking is one of, if not the most important things I’ve learned about scheduling my life since becoming an adult. Time blocking is when you set out hours of time for different tasks in your life. I do this often in GoogleCalendar. Not only does it help me make sure I have time for everything, but it looks really nice on my desktop, and helps me see what I should be doing at different times during the day, in large, manageable, and editable chunks.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucious
In college, this is helpful to block out six hours of studying time each day, as well as the time it takes to get to campus. I’ll also block out lunch, leaving a block that says “Lunch” between noon and 1:30, or some other similar interval. I use this often as a placeholder. Sometimes, when I get to campus, someone wants to get lunch, or on some days I’ll make plans with someone. I tell them that I’m free for lunch between noon and 1:30, and when I know I want to meet with them then, I can change the event to say “Lunch with Caroline” or “Lunch with AC group”.
Use blocking to structure your week and find time for everything.
Finally, I also use this to label project time. If I have a goal of writing three chapters of my novel this week, I know that that’ll require at least six hours of writing. I’ll go ahead and create six events labeled “Writing” that are scattered throughout the week, and I can rearrange them as needed depending on what’s going on on different days. I can find where they fit best. I’ve already blocked the time, but I can move that block as needed.
“We all know our money isn’t infinite, yet we end up treating our time and energy and attention as if they are.”- Shane Parrish
I’ve found that this is the perfect mix between structure and flexibility, and allows for me to be productive, but to also respond to the needs and fluctuations of the day, all while moving towards my goals and spending each hour semi-intentionally. This is a really great minimalist habit because it slows you down. Instead of rushing from task to task or hustling to get certain things done, you have a schedule that’s helping to rule your day, something you’ve given it permission to do.
You can visibly see that there’s time for the few elements of the day you’ve included, and you know that if you have school tasks, there’s time for them. If there’s work tasks, there’s time for them as well. Everything has a place — which is such a core element of the minimalist and simple life.
5 | Drop what doesn’t fill you
I’m going to throw a wild idea at you. What if you thought of your life as a list of subscriptions? Every YouTube channel, Instagram account, Twitter account, friend, family group, friend group, weekly commitment, team, project, hobby, habit, and belief system is a subscription. Either intentionally or unintentionally, you’ve become subscribed to it — you’ve opened up the flow of information and attention between you and that entity.
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” — Lin Yutang
If you think of things that way, you’ll most likely realize how many subscriptions you have. When I shifted to thinking that way, I realized not only how much I was tying myself to, but how much I needed to let go of. As a college student, the unsubscribing is often the hardest. For me, that’s looked like leaving a GroupMe for a group I know I don’t have time to invest in, or leaving a GroupMe for a leadership opportunity and messaging the coordinator that I need to step away because I don’t have time.
The idea here is to leave what you love, and to step away, or blatantly unsubscribe, from what isn’t filling you and contributing to your big and beautiful life. Think of the projects you’ve committed to, the weekly recurring events on your calendar or in your mind, and the people you feel obligated to see at a specific interval of time.
“We go on multiplying our conveniences only to multiply our cares. We increase our possessions only to the enlargement of our anxieties.” — Anna C. Brackett
Question those commitments, those subscriptions. Do an audit of where you’re spending your time, and what you’re committing your attention to. An important thing to remember here is that when you commit to one thing, yet another thing, you are taking away time and attention and resources from something else. Make sure you know where your priorities lie, and select the most important, beneficial, and life-giving activities, groups, channels, and patterns for you to stick with as you go through life.
We weren’t made to live life at a full out sprint. Far too often, we forget that it is quite acceptable, and sometimes even the most efficient and effective, to live life at a stroll. We can eliminate the hurry and the clutter from our life, and leave space for what we need, who we want to be with, and what we want to accomplish.
I wish you the best of luck in finding where you most want and need to spend your time, what you need to subscribe and unsubscribe to and from, and what items you need in your life to truly live it to the fullest.
