Minimalism…what exactly does that
mean? If you do a quick search on Google you will get an answer along these
lines: the promotion of the things we value most and the removal of everything
that distracts us. I would say this is an accurate definition of minimalism;
however, many people think minimalist cut out all material possessions but this
is simply not the case. Minimalism is all about taking control of your life and
cutting the fat. Our lives get so cluttered with physical things and social
media that it is important to cut out everything that does not add value to our
lives.
I want to address a common
misconception about minimalism. You do not have to get rid of everything you
own. Minimalism is about cutting out the things in your life that prevent you
from doing the things you love. For me I love to read and learn so I have a lot
of books, which are a nonnegotiable for me. However, things like clothes,
shoes, paperwork, magazines, etc. really stress me out. Since I know these
things stress me out I try to make it easy for myself. My wardrobe is really
neutral so everything goes with everything. Also when I get a new piece I get
rid of an old one. I try to do paperwork daily so it does not build up. These
are just a few of the things I do to help myself feel like I am in control of
my life.
Now the same strategy may not
always work. You are continually growing and changing and your strategy needs
to do the same in order to be effective. Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed
and bogged down so it is time to reevaluate my strategy. I have found that I
have been getting extremely distracted by my phone when I need to be working on
other projects. The first thing I did was go through all my emails and
unsubscribe from ones that are not bringing me value so I do not get so many
notifications. I turned off all my notifications by turning my phone on
airplane mode. The idea is to do this until the task is done or I have
completed the amount of time I wanted to work on the project. I also realized
I spend a lot of time on unnecessary apps so I went into the settings and
limited my time on them…yes these are the parent settings, laugh all you want
but it is helping me get the task that I need to work on done and I highly
recommend it. I have also made adjustments to my nightly routine: I read at
least one business article from my magazines, read at least one chapter in my
book, and then the rest of the time is mine to do with as I please whether it
be social media, writing, etc.
As you can see minimalism is not
about getting rid of all your belongings. Minimalism is all about taking
control of your life and living it to the fullest. I hope you received a lot of
value from this post. Have you tried the minimalism strategy? What techniques
have worked for you? What is one of your nonnegotiables?
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