Last Updated on December 12, 2023 by The Smetz Files
I’ve been reading more blogs and articles recently about the minimalist lifestyle. It’s prompted me to reevaluate all the stuff we have. While we cannot be accused of being pure minimalists, Jay and I have always endeavored to strive for necessities. Regardless, between our primary home and our house at the beach, we have accumulated a lot of stuff.
Our attention to reducing the extra stuff was magnified when Jay’s grandfather passed away earlier this summer. Since the funeral his parents have cleaned out his grandparents home to sell. It got me thinking about all the stuff we have and how to be happier with less.
It was time to declutter.
Start small
I read one of the best ways to begin adopting a minimalist mindset was to start small and declutter a room a day, and then repeat the process until you had cleared out all the extraneous items. This philosophy made sense, so I started in my closet.
My closet
My closet was stuffed with clothes. I am definitely one of those people who get a rush from shopping, especially online shopping. I love the thrill when a package arrives! Since the pandemic it’s become increasingly easy to shop a great online sale from the comforts of home. Once the item is delivered I can try it on, again from the comforts of home, and decide if I want to keep it. If not, it’s easy to print a shipping label and return it.
While this process was easy, it had filled my closet on top of the professional clothes I had mostly neglected since before the proliferation of athleisure wear during the heyday of the pandemic. I still need dress clothes for in person meetings and church, but with a more relaxed, business casual tone, long gone are the days of needing to dress to the nines each weekday.
The keep test
I was mindful of the tips I’d read to declutter my closet. Does it fit? Is it in good shape? Is it my style? Is it comfortable? Have I worn this in the last year? If I answered no to any of those questions I took the item off the hanger and put it in the donate pile. I didn’t find this process too overwhelming.
After an hour or so I had worked through most of my hanging clothes and had a decent donate pile. Usually it’s the what to do once I’ve decided to donate items that stresses me out, but our church has an outreach center that sells clothes and household items with the proceeds going to local missions. So, that’s a win win! I read about selling pre-worn clothes online or consigning, but I am not interested in spending a lot of time haggling and making those decisions.
Benefits
Part of my efforts to attempt minimalist practices is to reduce my mental load. It was true, once I had spent one afternoon decluttering my closet, I felt lighter. Having more physical space in my closet freed up mental space. I could easily see my clothes. I had taken care to organize the items I kept. I felt better, as if I had more energy.
Since then I have repeated the process in various spaces around the house. I worked on decluttering my work space. I spent time clearing out the pantry and kitchen drawers. I went through my shoes. I even tackled the ubiquitous junk drawer where we toss anything that doesn’t seem to have a home.
Cleaning is one of Jay’s things. He loves a clean space, free of clutter. He periodically cleans out the garage and purges it of random toys, broken or outgrown. I naturally do this with the kids’ clothes and shoes seasonally, as they’re still growing out of things while they’re still practically brand new.
Maintenance
Decluttering felt good. I think I’ve even changed my approach to shopping. Beyond cleaning out what we had, I don’t feel the need to replace it with new stuff. I like the open space. I like things being organized and tidy. I found that once I started the process of decluttering it became easier. And I started seeing more things that were unnecessary, so I’m more likely to maintain the minimalism, as opposed to waiting until we had so much stuff it was stressing me out.
To maintain my minimalist approach I decluttered my inbox. I began unsubscribing to online sales and stores I no longer shopped. This step was freeing because I spent less time scrolling new items. And it gave me more time to see the messages I actually wanted to read.
One thing I haven’t reconciled is letting go of sentimental items. I find I still want to keep certain things I know my grandparents gifted me or items that belonged to them. I know I have the memories, but I still feel compelled to keep some of these physical items.
I was expecting the relief decluttering provided in the sense that I was getting rid of items that didn’t fit or didn’t work for us anymore and donating them to be repurposed for others. I was not expecting to feel so much lighter mentally. I also wasn’t expecting to feel so accomplished. I was proud of myself for doing something I initially dreaded, despite the fact I felt stressed and kept putting it off.
What are your tips for reducing your stuff in an effort to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle?
