Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Living with Less

 

All our life, we’re always told to pursue more. Every advertisement we see plastered on the radio, TV, billboard, and online influence us on a daily basis that more is better. We live in a society that prides itself on the accumulation of stuff; we eat consumerism, material possessions, clutter, debt, distraction, and noise. As a result, we work long hours so that we can spend countless amounts of money purchasing the biggest homes, fanciest cars, trendiest fashions and coolest technology.

 

But we all know, deep down, that happiness cannot be bought—more is not necessarily better. And what if, in reality, there is actually more joy to be gained in less? That truth would change almost everything about us. It would change the way we spend our time, energy and money. It would free us up to pursuing the things in life that we most value. It would be a life-changing and life-giving realization.

 

Unfortunately, for many, the word ‘minimalism’ or the idea of intentionally living with fewer possessions has a negative connotation. They believe that being a minimalist you are sacrificing things; that you are not taking advantage of all the modern conveniences that are available in the world today. It’s an approach to life they have never been introduced to or have never had the chance to explore. They imagine living in a cabin in the woods without electricity, a wood burning stove and a bathroom you have to go outside to use. While there may be some people who are living like this, not everyone who is embracing minimalism has to take it this far.

 

The sheer size of the minimalism challenge can be quite overwhelming in the beginning, but with minimalism, it’s important to simply just start. If you are a beginner or are interested in your journey to simplify your life, read on to find out how you can start.

 

What is minimalism?

Before we get into the details of a minimalist lifestyle, let’s take a moment to clearly understand the concept of minimalism. Minimalism is about living intentionally with only the things that you absolutely need and getting rid of all the dross that has accumulated in your life. It is having and being surrounded by fewer material items, so you can make room for things, people, and experiences that add true value and meaning to your life. It is a way to put a stop to the gluttony of the world around us.

 

Minimalism can actually mean you have more of what you need. You are able to enjoy everything you have and are not worried about what you don’t have. All of that can help make living life a lot less stressful and make it more fulfilling. In this sense, minimalism is not about self-restriction—it’s about liberation. It’s not about getting rid of the clutter in your life because material things are “bad and evil.” It’s also not about denying yourself certain experiences that add joy and happiness to your life. Quite the contrary, it’s all about learning to be happier with less. If you’re more comfortable with having less, you’re less likely to feel a deep craving for the pursuit of more. A simple life can help us free ourselves from the tight grasp material possessions exert on our lives.

 

The great thing about minimalism is that it is a choice. Being a minimalist is a state of mind, and not a set of rules. People’s values are different; there are no right and wrong ways to downsize a life. You can decide how much of a minimalist lifestyle you want to lead. You can do it in stages as well. Over time, you’ll be able to pare your life down to a much more minimalist lifestyle.

 

The benefits of a minimalist life

There are a few obvious benefits of minimalism such as less cleaning and stress, a more organized house and more money on hand, but there are also a few deep, life-changing benefits. We don’t usually realize that living a minimalist life will benefit us in a lot more ways we may not be aware of. Consider just some of the benefits of leading a minimalist life:

 

1. Freedom in decluttering

The accumulation of stuffs ties us down. We are always terrified of losing all our stuff. We often hold on to things because we are afraid of losing those things that we think we might need in some distant, hypothetical future. When you start to let go of all these stuffs, you are going to open up more space in your home and there will be more room to breathe and move around in. More importantly, you will experience a freedom like never before: a freedom from the past, greed, obsession and rampant consumerism.

 

2. More peace of mind

When you have a lot of stuffs, your focus can be all over the place. You stress about working enough to pay for all the stuffs and you spend your time trying to look for or put away all the stuffs in your home. By simplifying your life you can worry less about all these distractions that are lying around, and create a calm, peaceful mind. The less things you have to worry about, the more peace you have.

 

3. More happiness

All the stuff we surround ourselves with is merely a distraction; we are filling a void. We are bombarded by the media presenting promises of happiness through materialistic measures. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy comfort. After the initial comfort is satisfied, that’s where our obsession with stuffs end. We are lost when it comes to true happiness. When decluttering your life, happiness naturally comes because you gravitate towards the things that matter most. Living with only the bare essentials will also provide superficial benefits such as the pleasure of a tidy room or being more efficient.

 

4. Saves money

When you make a commitment to owning less stuff, you’re less likely to splurge on new clothes and gadgets every time you pick up a paycheque. When you have fewer things you can use your money to pay off debt and that will eventually free up even more money.

 

5. More time

If you have less stuff, you’re not going to spend as much time dealing with all of the extra things in your life. You can focus your time on the things you need and create an opening to do the things you love. And if your house is less cluttered, you’ll waste less time trying to find things too. It’ll also be easier to clean the place because you won’t have as many possessions to get in the way.

 

6. More energy

Too often, when we purchase an item, we only look at the price tag. But this is rarely the full cost. Our purchases always cost more in the long run (i.e. small fixes and maintenance), and they also require ongoing energy and focus. Without all of the clutter, all of the energy that is spent dealing with it will be available for other activities. People without the burden of a materialistic lifestyle are healthier and stronger as a result. Minimalists say that it’s about spending more energy on living, less energy on having.

 

7. Better relationships

Ultimately, when you can stop competing with your friends and your family to have the nicest car of the biggest house; when you can stop trying to impress people with materialistic possessions and just begin to connect with them, it shouldn’t surprise you that your relationships will improve. Great relationships are not built on guilt or competition. They’re built on shared experiences and great memories.

 

8. Minimalism is eco-friendly

The basic principles of minimalism are surprisingly in tune with the eco-friendly way of living. By making a conscious choice to only purchase what is absolutely needed, you’ll naturally consume less. Buying less means wasting less; the fewer purchases you make, the fewer boxes, bags and packing materials end up dumped in landfills. When you produce less waste, sorting through it for recycling and composting purposes is far easier and more efficient too. On top of that, virtually everything comes with a carbon footprint, even if it’s just from transportation. More often than not, high-end consumer goods come with a hidden cost for the environment. If you don’t really need something, why burden both yourself and Mother Nature?

 

How to live a minimalist life

It feels liberating to finally have made the decision to become a minimalist. You know that you’re going to trade in chaos, noise, and hectic for peace and mental clarity. Now that you’ve met the decision to live a more simplistic life, you’ll be confronted with the question how you’re going to approach this huge task. The complexity of minimizing your life is terrifying and can be overwhelming. There are so many things to get rid of, you may not even know where to begin. You can certainly get on the path to minimalism with a huge, dramatic leap by giving away everything you own. However, in minimalism, it’s important to take small steps towards the right direction, and not so much on reaching the destination immediately. Take small steps and start doing one thing after another. Get rid of one unnecessary possession at a time. Eliminate one distracting activity after another. Minimalism is a journey; you can work on seeking it more gradually. The following will present you the essential steps you can take to simplify your life and to live more intentionally.

 

1. Evaluate your life

At the root of becoming a minimalist lies an analysis of your life. It’s the first and perhaps most important step towards simplifying your life. The goal in analyzing your life is to identify what is the most important and valuable to you. Find out the elements of your life that add the greatest value, happiness and meaning to your life. By doing so, you will have a clearer understanding of what’s truly important to you and help you set your priorities straight. It’ll make the process of minimizing much easier. Without this kind of understanding, it’ll make it harder for you to let go of the unimportant things you’ve grown accustomed to. For example, if you want to stop watching TV, you might have a difficult time when you don’t know why you’re doing it for. However, if you understand that giving up TV means more time to do the things that truly fulfills you, you’ll be more likely to be fine to let it go. You can start assessing your life by making a list of the most important things in your life and concentrate on these first. Focus on gradually making more room in your life for your priorities.

 

2. Evaluate your possessions

After you’ve set your priorities, it’s time to get rid of everything that is not essential and does not add value to your life. As easy as this sounds, this can be quite a complex process. For this reason, it’s helpful to split the entire process of minimizing your life into easier steps that can be addressed one after the other. Think about everything you own and find out if these things are necessary to have in your life. It’s often too difficult to admit, but the evaluation of your possessions may highlight that you own far too many things that add little to no value. These stuffs may be fancy or “nice-to-haves” but deep down you know that they don’t add significant meaning and purpose to our lives. Compile a list with all your possessions that are redundant and no longer of value to you. Start slow by eliminating one or two pieces per day.

 

3. Evaluate how you spend your time

Becoming a minimalist is not only about decluttering your material possessions, but also about getting rid of time-wasting activities. This step is all about figuring out how you spend your time. Question yourself if the activities you do daily add value to your life. Doing so will help you spend less time with unproductive or even time-wasting activities and allow you more room to do more activities you truly enjoy. List down these purposeless activities and note how much time you spend doing them. Once you’re aware on how you spend your time, try to reduce the time you spend doing. Start slow by addressing the activities one at a time.

 

4. Evaluate the people you spend your time with

Much like you want to be minimalistic with the items you possess, you want to be minimalistic with your relationships in your life too. The people you spend most of your time with have a great influence upon your life. It’s therefore only logical that you want to nurture relationships with positive and encouraging people. At the same time, minimalism is about identifying people who are toxic. People can make your like on Earth heaven or hell. Identify those who drain your energy and waste your time. Make sure you take enough quality time with the people you really love, and offer each other mutual support and encouragement.

 

5. Evaluate your goals and ambitions

We all have goals. They motivate us to get up each morning to continue the pursuit of our dreams. Our goals and ambitions greatly shape the lives we are living, but not all goals are beneficial. Therefore, it is important to assess if your goals are still in line with the priorities you set in number 1 of this list. Give yourself time to reflect if the goals truly add value to your life. At the same time, it is also important to reduce the amount of goals you pursue. Don’t clutter your life with a wide variety of goals that you pursue only halfheartedly. By doing this, you will pursue these few goals with your utmost attention and priority. It will also help you reduce stress.

 

6. Stop multitasking

Regardless of how adept a multitasker you are, humans have a very limited capacity for simultaneous thoughts. Scientific research has shown countless times that the human brain is not capable of multitasking. While it may seem like multitasking enhances efficiency, in fact, studies have found that the habit can reduce productivity by 40 percent. Multitasking doesn’t only hinder productivity; it reduces your capacity for creativity by preventing extended concentration on performance. Don’t clutter your workflow and life by pursuing various activities simultaneously. Instead, focus on doing only one thing at a time. It increases your concentration and will have an impact on the output of your work.

 

7. Limit screen time and media consumption

The time we spend on technological gadgets adds unnecessary distraction to our lives. Similarly, the thoughtless consumption of media adds more complexity rather than simplify our lives. The more time you spend with media, the more influence it will have on the way we think, feel and act. It can greatly affect your beliefs and general outlook on life. The problem however, is really understanding how media influences your mind. This is especially difficult if your thinking is still greatly influenced by media. Try by consequently eliminating media consumption from your life, and sooner or later you’ll be amazed of the difference digital detox can make.

 

8. Set limits

We all have activities we do regularly and simply cannot get rid of. For instance, you may need your phone to make important calls, or internet access to write emails and stay informed. Similarly, you may still be interested in reading informative articles or listening to inspiring podcasts. The key to all these activities to set clear limits and don’t let these activities eat up much of your time. Focus on engaging in these activities only during specified times. For example, limit checking your email to three times a day. 

 

9. Learn to say “no”

A key element of leading a minimalist lifestyle is knowing how to say “no” to unnecessary meetings, urgent requests that are not your responsibility, social obligations you’re dreading, or any other tasks that don’t add value to your life. If you aren’t able to say “no” to things, you may never have time or energy to focus on the things that are important to you. This will slow down your productivity. To say “no” effectively, say it politely but firmly without beating around the bush. One trick to say “I don’t” instead of “I can’t”. Using the word “don’t” serves as a self-affirmation of one’s personal willpower and can put you in a position of power and leave less room for debate.

 

10. Ask yourself: Does this help to live more minimalistic?

You can greatly contribute to the minimization of your life by making decisions that are more in line with a minimalist lifestyle. For instance, think twice before you buy a product and ask yourself how the product will add value to your life. Reconsider buying the product if it does not contribute to a minimalist lifestyle. When you keep on doing this, thinking twice when buying things will be second nature in no time. You’ll then realize how your buying habits will greatly change for the better and will help you avoid decluttering your life in the first place.