3 Easy Steps to Live a More Minimalistic Life
At the start of the year I shared with you a guide to (sustainably) decluttering your life. Today, we are going to take a look at what minimalism is and I’m going to give you 3 Easy Steps to Live a More minimalistic life.
To start and, for those of you who don’t know, minimalism is a lifestyle where people rid themselves of things that they don’t need in order to live a life more focused on only owning what is necessary. As Marie Kondo puts it, it’s living a life where you only own and buy what sparks you with joy.
Ok, but how can minimalism be relevant in my life?
Let’s picture this scenario: you have a jam-packed schedule for this week, you know you have a test by Friday and, somehow, you need to find time to study for that same exam. What do you do?
You look through your schedule and you clear out all the things that you can either postpone or not do at all. Basically, what you are doing is cleaning out what you don’t need in order to focus on what is really necessary.
Once you start to recognize the things that you don’t need, you start to live a life that is more focused on what is necessary.
In my journey to a more minimalist lifestyle, I was able to use this concept in order to be more financially sustainable. Once you start to be more aware of what you need and what you don’t, it also starts to be more clear to you the money you could be saving.
Using a minimalist way of thinking helped me to, so far, save enough money to pay a year of college tuition in just 6 months.
So, it can be really helpful!
Right, can you tell us the 3 Easy Steps To Live a More Minimalist Life now? I’m super eager to change to a more sustainable lifestyle!
Of course, I can!
So, we don’t drastically change our lifestyles from day-to-night. Like Donkey says in Shrek, change “is like an onion, it has layers’’. That applies to minimalism as well.
There are different ‘’layers’’ that you go through when you opt for this new way of living. And, today, I’m going to share with you what the 3 Easy steps to Live a More Minimalistic Life are!
Step 1: Set your rules for minimalism
I know that it sounds odd that you get the chance to choose the rules for your minimalist lifestyle, but it’s very important that you do.
Minimalism can have several different levels and, if you don’t set the rules for yourself, you can feel trapped and unhappy living like that. And that can lead to you switching back to your old habits.
So, you should start by deciding what you are willing to let go of, while always having in consideration that the idea of being more minimalistic is to be more sustainable.
It’s also important to understand that sustainability is not only about the environment. Being sustainable is also about living a life that you are able to sustain over a certain period of time.
Step 2: Decluttering (sustainably)
For those of you who don’t know, decluttering is the act of ridding ourselves from the things that we don’t need.
Decluttering is the second step to a more minimalistic lifestyle because it helps you let go of all the things that you don’t need. It’s basically a great way to let go of that extra weight that is pulling you down from being more focused on the things that make you happier.
But there’s one thing that you need to have into consideration: sustainability. Decluttering can be very unfriendly to our environment if you just throw out all of the items you don’t want anymore.
If you want to learn a little bit about how to declutter sustainably, you can click here and read a complete guide to do just that.
Step 3: Revamp and Re-use
I know, it sounds weird that revamping and reusing items can actually help you have a more minimalist life. But it does!
Revamping and re-using are actually great ways to help you give a new life to things you already own, rather than buying new ones.
This is also a great way to reduce your clutter and waste, which ultimately helps decrease your footprint. And this is a great thing for our planet.
Now that you have the three steps to become a minimalist, I think there is one question left to answer.
How does having a more minimalistic lifestyle help the SDGs?
I’m glad I get to answer this question.
Minimalism is all about being more mindful of our ‘’stuff’’ consumption. It’s about knowing when to recognize what we really need and what we don’t. Being mindful that what we consume has a huge impact on our planet.
For example, the more mindful we are about the food we eat, the easier it is for us to reduce our food waste.
According to the World Food Programme, 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted in the world. That’s enough food to feed all the hungry people in the world.
A world where we don’t waste food is a world where we are working towards SDG 2 — No Hunger, that aims to end hunger and ensure access to safe food to everyone, all year round, by 2030.
Being mindful of our clothing choices has a huge impact on SDG 12 — Responsible Consumption and Production.
I’ve talked about this before here, but it takes approximately 20,000 liters of water to produce just one pair of jeans and a t-shirt. That is a lot of water.
SDG 12 aims to achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.
Can you imagine the impact that changing to a more minimalistic lifestyle and opting to reduce your clothing consumption might have on SDG 12?
Besides that, as you know, the SDGs are all connected. For example, both these SDGs have an impact on SDGs 13 — Climate Action. And, SDG 2 alone, can have a huge impact on SDG 4 — quality education and SDG 10 — Reduced Inequalities.
The truth is, everything we do has an impact on the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. That’s why switching to more sustainable and minimal lifestyles is important.
Being in tune with what our planet needs is a very brave way to ensure a better future for us and the next generations. Be mindful and remember that we are in this journey together, every step of the way.
