Have you often found yourself being obsessed with shades, watches, clothes, stationary and going berserk collecting them? Well this means that you value those materialistic likings way more than the purpose they serve. It could also happen in a situation where you might hoard pens or gadgets just in case your primary choice of those fails to fulfil its purpose. With that said, it’s good to have a backup but not like a gazillion backups for the backup, that’s where consumerism peaks harming the society and its resources through hastened depletion, causing pollution and has a negative impact on the morals of the community that promotes a materialistic society and neglects other merits leading to undervaluing human resources and potential, relationships , personal growth and development. The right way to curb this at the bud, is to drift towards minimalism.
So What Is Minimalism?
Minimalism is an instrument that aids you to live life in a simple yet mindful manner where you only consume what you require to go on with your daily life . It’s a concept that gives you a sense of freedom from materialistic captivity. It makes your life in the moment and helps you lead a purpose driven life. It could help you see through the core of several issues within yourselves and channel inner peace by understanding your core nature completely that’s often distracted by the materialistic trap that we’ve put ourselves in.
How Do I Start?
A Checklist
That’s right! A minimalist checklist. This will be your go-to handy journal that will help you start with minimalism. You could target each department separately, day by day, noting down what you want to keep and what you may want to forego. You can concentrate on kitchen and pantry essentials, one day. Move to clothes, vanity and footwear the next and continue similarly with every other type of utility you possess at the moment. You can even break the above into smaller categories and sort them out, in case you own a lot of stuff or depending on the time you have for this activity. The best part is, whatever you may want to forego can be donated, lighting up somebody else’s life.
Declutter Declutter Declutter
This is the most challenging part as this is what makes you practice minimalism, consistently. Take time apart for this activity, preferably at the end of the week, where you reassess whatever you might want further on from what you have right now. Simply put, decluttering your fridge, groceries cabinet and other food related possessions might include making a list or noting in your memory , what you might use out these for the coming week, what you might need additionally, what you might not go back to and how you would want to let go of the same.Plan your meals, and ration your groceries accordingly which cuts down on waste and helps you live more mindfully at the same time. You could follow the same pattern for other utilities too. Another efficient way to do this is to give yourself a budget and try to stay within it or even save out of the same if you feel in real time that it’s in excess.
Pick Might Than More !
So when you start being a minimalist, you’ll notice that you’re spending less and saving more. This would allow you to spend on essentials. Say in, your work bag and laptop sleeve is torn or not usable, you could just possibly buy a high-end laptop bag with a section that could help you store the laptop and give you some space to store work essentials at the same time. And this time, the price won’t burn a hole in your pocket.
Let’s Do Some Digitisation
If you’re a total bookie or a movie buff, consider taking your collection in a digital format. You could probably use the kindle with the possibilities of reading a thousand books with no time between your reads or a similar device that would help you access the pdf versions of the books you’d like to read. But if nothing beats the feeling of physically turning over those pages,then a book club or library might just do the trick.
Re-use Re-use Re-use !
Selecting products that can be refilled or reused is a great step when it comes to minimalism. When you buy a shampoo or a body-wash or any utility, look for ones with a reusable body such that every time you finish the product, you just have to buy the refill pouches and they can go easy on your pockets as well. Make sure you have a go-to bag for groceries and meat and this way you can avoid hoarding the departmental stores’ grocery bags.
Put Them Where They Should Be !
When you create spaces for things you need, it just becomes easier for you to later reflect back when something is out of place, on whether you need them or not. This practise would help you stay organized and vigilant with your minimalistic routine and gradually reduce your consumption of what you don’t actually require.
