On Minimalism

 

Minimalism to me is a combination of reducing clutter, cutting down on non-essentials and screening new things that is brought into my life in order to try keeping things out that will not have a positive impact on my life in some way. 

It can be done in small steps if you don't want to make drastic changes and it is a sort of mindset, rather than a fixed book of rules. Hence, there is no way of cheating or any expectations to be met. Do it for your well-being. 

I decided to break it down into some themes, as it can be applied to multiple areas of your life.

Mental minimalism 

I could easily write something about meditation or mindfulness when it comes to clearing the fog within our mind. We can become mentally clogged with things to remember or problems that we can't get rid of. Obsessions and addictions running on autopilot.

Each little thing takes valuable space, mental resources and attention. By clearing out what you find to be junk you get the opportunity to think about things that are more beneficial to you.

Digital minimalism 

Let's talk about cleaning up your digital life a bit.

In the modern day era you are bombarded with advertising, both invited and uninvited it distorts your focus and take up mental space.

Yet at the same time, you might want the free things and are okay with advertising, so called freemium, in order to listen to music for example. But is it justified to pay to get less advertising from the minimalist point of view? It depends if you value the economic freedom or mental freedom more. If you are better off financially you can pay away certain problems, if paying isn't an option for you can in the best of cases use adblockers for example. Adblockers whenever applicable will grant you points in both economical and mental minimalism. Digitally it might be a hassle to set up and be a one time investment of time that in the long run will pay off.

Using notifications might be useful in some cases. We are however notified several times per hour each day. Imagine what that does to your focus if you constantly have to redirect your attention elsewhere. Multitasking in the sense that you consciously do two or more things at the same time is not a thing. You simply switch between the tasks rapidly. Turning off your notifications for non-essential apps will reduce your micro stressors, giving your brain less of a burden and you can focus on the important notifications.

You probably have a lot of photos and videos on your devices and storages, yet are they all important to you? Can you live without many of them? Reducing the amount of overly abundant media files of low quality will increase the average quality of your images. Taking less photos will also force you to live in the moment instead of living the moment through your camera and screen.

Storing less files makes administration easier and you know that the files that you keep are more important. It's an exercise in prioritization. Take help of the guiding questions:

"If I lost this file forever, how much of an impact would it have on my well being?"

"When did I last use this file?"

The last and more advanced step would be to automatizing your life, so that you have to spend less time doing basic things that a robot could do. For example turning lights on and off, this can be done with simple and analog control units in your electrical sockets. Perhaps including an automatic restart of your wireless router in the middle of the night when you aren't using it.

Last but not least, most technical devices can fill many different roles - a computer can make a call, a phone can replace a computer. Do you need both?

Economical minimalism

Step one when it comes to the economy is to perform an overview. You want to know what you can work with. Use a free spreadsheet program if you need a good way of organizing the numbers.

Start with establishing the reliable/recurring income you have. That is, don't count the one-off bonus or tax return in this kind of monthly budget. Focus on the kind of income, such as salary, that you can forecast.

Second step is to forecast your monthly expenses. List your rent, internet, phone bill and other things that usually have a fixed price. Make an estimate on the things that tend to vary such as electricity.

Do the math and you will see the theoretical amount of money that you have left in the end. This is what you can invest, save or spend. All nice and easy.

Last step is to look over your expenses, see what you can reduce. Perhaps you use streaming platforms with a monthly fee or entertainment services that could be cut out. Downgrading your phone bill and using your phone in a smarter way is one way of cutting costs. Perhaps you are paying for a better internet speed than you actually make use of - cut this out too. 

Essentially, analyze where your money goes and see if you can make improvements. You can reduce your spending and the sheer amount of bills to pay. For example, while you are automatizing your digital life why not add more bills to automatic payment?

Social minimalism 

Even your social circles can be optimized, people around you affect your actions and thoughts. Make sure to surround yourself with good people that doesn't add too much stress in your life if possible.

Social activities also take up your time and money, simply consider if all of them are worth the investment or could you perhaps spend the time somewhere else where you would be happier?

Obviously it can be difficult to control all parts of the social life, but wherever possible there might be some small gains to be made.

When is it too much?

Perhaps you wonder if you should exclude all that you enjoy in life, or somehow live in a cave and live the life of a hermit. Quite the opposite, done right the minimalistic approach can improve your quality of life. 

Don't hamper your life or remove the things that really mean something to you. For example a certain book might not mean much to one person and thus it is right to donate it. To another person it might bring a lot of emotional value - then it won't make sense to get rid of.

If you are in the forest with your bag, don't fill it with sticks and leafs if you only like the mushrooms that you pick. Focus primarily on what matters to you and leave the rest, and if you already have more items than your really need - then look at removing the excessive things.