7 Days to Minimalism: The Taste of a Decluttered Life
Happiness is not something we can purchase or possess. It is simply not a noun but a state of feeling and being.
No matter how much you pursue material possessions, you will find no long-lasting solution to bring joy or contentment by acquiring. The effects of a new purchase wear off quickly and before you know it, a new pursuit for the next bright and shiny solution begins. But here’s the answer:
Did you know that you can find more happiness by taking control of your life simply by being mindful and minimal?
What if you could save more money, time and energy just by being present in the moment in a clear space. It would change us fundamentally. We would be free to learn to value the living experiences in our lives rather than the inanimate objects. Is life not about being active and alive?
Appreciation and gratefulness is what brings us more happiness and this comes for free, with a bit of conscious practice of course. However, we need to clear the way first, literally!
Why not play with the following programme and see if it has a positive affect on your life.
7 Days to Minimalism
Day 1: Decorations - A lot of clutter, particularly on open shelves and worktops hold no value and gather dust. Decorations are typically for aesthetic reasons or to represent to others what we are about (or aspire to be). They actually have little practical value. If you truly value your decorations, try only having one feature item per room and put the rest in a box and store it. You will be surprised how this feature item draws your eye without it being lost by the distraction of all the other decorations vying for your attention. You can then decide whether you wish to donate the other decorations or keep them in storage and cycle each as your feature item. Too many decorations create visual clutter, and you will have trouble seeing the wood for the trees.
Day 2: Surfaces - We have many surfaces in our houses and they are often used as transition points between fully putting things back in their place. Tables, shelves, windowsills, entertainment units, sinks and countertops all attract stuff. This makes it difficult to dust and clean and gradually, these surfaces attract further objects until we are completely overwhelmed by visual clutter. Take the day to return all the objects on your surfaces to a proper home such as a cupboard, closet or drawer. Leave one feature decoration in each room like you did on Day 1. Your surfaces may seem bare at first, however I guarantee that you will begin to appreciate your space and the aesthetic it creates.
Day 3: Clothes - Most of us wear very few of the clothes we own. Many of our closets are filled with clothes we have outgrown, clothes that are worn out, clothes that don’t fit us properly, colours and styles that don’t suit us, clothing that feels uncomfortable, clothes that we dislike, and clothes we haven’t worn for at least the past year. Step too far into your closet and you might emerge in Narnia! Make dressing in the mornings easier by doing a cull and donating to charity what you no longer wear within your usual week. To start the ball rolling, lay out all the clothes from one category, such as your jeans. In front of a mirror, try them on and start to whittle them down to one or two pair/s that you feel fit the best, look the best and feel the best. If you feel inspired, continue to further sort through your clothing. Let some new light into your closet.
Day 4: Kitchen Utensils - I used to watch my Grandma cook the most amazing meals with just a pot, a pan, a spatula and a sharpened knife. She used to quickly peel with the back of the knife, remove eyes from potatoes and cut and slice all sorts of shapes with that one knife. These days, there seems to be an implement for everything, but do they just save time or reduce our preparation and creative-cooking skills? All I know is that there is more washing up and maintenance. Implements and utensils clutter our kitchen cupboards and shelves. Coffee machines, waffle and pancake makers, avocado peelers etc. are the lazy way of cooking and are not necessities. Get back to being a skilled cook. Learn how to sharpen a knife, pour a good coffee and make your pancakes and meals from scratch. Go through those utensils and decide what you don’t really need. If you are wavering, try putting everything away out of site except for the very basic kitchen tools and enjoy preparing and cooking food on clear countertops. In a week, decide if you really need the excess gadgets and gizmos.
Day 5: Televisions and Screens - Children and adults spend up to 6 hours a day on average on one form of screen or another. TV’s, tablets, smart phones, desktops and laptops are consuming our lives. As a result, sleep patterns have become disrupted and digital clutter has physically and mentally reduced our ability to concentrate. Drawers full of cables and power cords, tangles of wires around the house, and old tech lying about and taking up space in our cupboards, is becoming more and more common. It is time to unplug ourselves from the matrix, for when you think about it, you are being held hostage to advertising and influence every single time you switch on a device. Focus on getting rid of old tech and duplicate cables to start. Really consider whether you need more than one TV. Try reading a book or listening to music, the radio or just silence for a full day without being tempted to switch on any screens.
Day 6: Toys and hobby equipment - Children are resourceful and so too are adults. You do not need as many toys, equipment and tools as you think you do. What you really need is to exercise your ability to be resourceful and use your imagination in order to engage in play or your hobby. There are simply too many toys that our children don’t play with and many hobbies that we and our family have abandoned. Often, we play out roles or fantasies of how we think we would like to aspire to be, but these roles just don’t suit us or lose their appeal. Children and adults grow out of things but often keep all the related stuff ‘just in case.’ Most of these items can be replaced on the cheap if we really ever take an interest in them again; in the meantime, they are consuming space and gathering dust. Today, be rid of 3 or more items you have grown out of.
Day 7: Furniture - This will be possibly the hardest day as it will involve some physical effort. When you have fewer physical items in your life, you need less furniture. First look through and do an inventory of your furniture. Do you have excess in the form of duplicate items, near functionless furniture such as plant stands, unattractive or broken furniture, tired or clashing pieces?
Designate a room (if you have the space) to put the less functional or unattractive items in and see how this brings space to your other rooms. See the possibilities of featuring your good furniture and reducing your stuff that clutters your drawers, cupboards, closets and surfaces so that you ultimately need less storage. If this is too difficult, focus on reducing the furniture in one room by putting pieces in another. This will give you the experience of what one clearer room can look like and how it can inspire a feeling of calm.
Reducing your things takes time and thought. Once the process is in action, you will be surprised with how addictive decluttering can be. Eventually, (sometimes it can take years) you will get to a point when minimising and decluttering your stuff just becomes an occasional maintenance routine. Enjoy your space and make room for the time and energy to enjoy active experiences.
To learn more about a minimalist life and how to live it, check out my book, “Mindful Minimalism” here.