How to Embark on a Minimalist Life

Here are some top tips to help you to launch your new, simpler way of living.

• Set an end goal. It’s important to know what you want to achieve when you adopt a minimalist way of living. This will vary between individuals. While some people want to truly embrace minimalism to its furthest degree by cutting down their possessions to an absolute minimum and shedding the trappings of the 21st century completely, others are simply interested in cutting back on frivolities and to free up some space and time in their lives so they can enjoy themselves and have better overall well-being. Neither of these approaches is wrong, but you need to think about what really matters to you before you embark on the process. This will enable you to take a focused course of action that makes sense for your end goal.
• Set yourself a timeline. Once you’re aware of what your end goals are in adopting a minimalist way of life, you need to set yourself a timeline to work through. When do you want to have completed the process of eliminating the clutter from your life? Again, there’s no right or wrong answer to this question, and there’s no need to feel pressured into rushing through the process. It’s important, however, to set a timeline which is realistic for you. Set yourself small targets to work towards – for example, to declutter one room in your home every week – so that you can experience a positive sense of accomplishment every time you tick another item off your list. Try to speed up the process and it’ll only add more stress to your life and increase the risk of giving up at the first hurdle.
• Think about changing your home. The first changes that you can make will take place in the home. It’s usually easier to start with physical clutter rather than mental or emotional clutter. Look around your house or apartment and determine how many of your existing possessions you want to keep and how many you’d prefer to get rid of. Start with one room then move on to the next once you’ve finished. This will help you to feel as if you’re accomplishing something worthwhile. Run an objective eye over each space and think about how you can make changes. Are your counters covered in appliances? Are your bookcases overflowing? Are there toys on the floor which need to be picked up every time you vacuum? These are all possible areas for decluttering that, when cleared, will free up space and time.
• Begin decluttering. Once you’ve planned your strategy and determined the areas in your home which need to be focused on and decluttered it’s time to begin the physical process of getting rid of all the excess possessions and items that you no longer need, value or want. It’s important to acknowledge that this can be a difficult process. Not only is it hard to decide which items need to be eradicated, it’s equally difficult to make the commitment to getting rid of them. We naturally want to hang on to the things that we have, even when we know deep inside that we neither want them nor need them. It’s important to get over those feelings and push on with the process of decluttering. A cluttered home means a cluttered mind, and a cluttered mind cannot be truly appreciative of all the positive things that surround it every day. So, be brave and take the plunge! While the process may be a challenging one, it’ll be well worth it afterwards.
• Reduce gradually over time. It’s rarely a good idea to leap straight into eliminating all the clutter in one go. For some people, this would be practically impossible due to the sheer volume of possessions which would need to be dealt with. For others, the process is more of an emotional challenge. Making the decision to get rid of the things that you’ve accumulated over time can be difficult and you don’t need to rush it. Start slowly. Start by getting rid of the items which you won’t miss then work up to weighing up the value of the more contentious items. Once you get into the habit of weighing up the importance of everything you own, it’ll become second nature and you’ll find it becomes easier to make decisions about whether an item should be kept or removed from your life.
• Reuse and recycle. Although the minimalist approach involves getting rid of clutter and items that are of no value in your life, that doesn’t mean that you should throw them away. In fact, that’s contrary to the eco-friendly aspect of this kind of lifestyle. Reusing and recycling are two key components of minimalist living. Think about how each item that you own could be used for several purposes. Could an item be upcycled and used for something else rather than thrown away if it isn’t needed in its current form? Could someone you know benefit from your unwanted items?

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