The word "minimalism" is more often than not accepted as stripping something to its bare essentials.
From art to music, from design to film, from architecture and music, minimalism can be adapted to many areas and facets of human life. After decades of high consumerism, hoarding, and single-use items, minimalism as a lifestyle has gained a lot of momentum as of late.
Minimalism is one of the lifestyle choices that millennials have embraced which not only has a positive impact on the environment but also has a huge aesthetic value which is important in an era of social media.
On the other hand, minimalism can also be applicable to the use of social media or the internet as a whole. Nonetheless, this is a great way to do our part to preserve the planet and lessen garbage being sent to landfills or incinerated.
Minimalism to those who practice it is more than an act of decluttering.
It is merely the first step of letting go of things. From having a life centered on material success, it is regaining control of your life and redirecting your efforts towards the things that really matter. One example of this is our health. Americans are known to be hardworking and driven and in any industry, we choose a career in, this is what is expected of us.
However, at some point in the success, this innate characteristic has given us it has at some point become detrimental to our health. We tend to overcommit ourselves to responsibilities outside our scope for a greater good, a quota or objective that must be fulfilled. However, with minimalism, you have to cut back on these commitments and tie up that time to something else like improving nutrition, physical fitness, sleep, and lessening the causes of stress in our lives.
Usually, when we get sick it’s the only time we tend to reassess which matters most to us. At times relationships, connections and friendships are created around the perceived necessity of networking to further ambitions or careers. However, these are the same set of people who would not be by our side when we need help the most.
With time connecting, impressing people in the hopes of gaining ground and being accepted in a social circle we think would benefit us, we take for granted our families and other primary people in our lives.
Another thing that minimalism secondarily addresses is the financial aspect of this lifestyle. Because we no longer put emphasis on buying things to impress people with the hopes that this will pave for an opportunity to build real wealth, more money is saved than it is spent. No longer will there be a need to buy things in every color and then eventually not use them regularly. Or collecting and buying impulsively which in turn would just take up space and collect dust in our homes. That money would be spent on building something we truly desire, a passion project we were holding back for when the time is right, or creating a kind of life with little to no worries.
Getting started on minimalism could be a difficult emotional task for some people.
But once we have gotten over that, it will get easier as we go along. The main problem is that we have formed an attachment to things or a desire for a certain lifestyle that brought no rewards or benefits for us. It takes strong willpower and conscious effort towards simplicity and bare necessities. But eventually, we will reap the benefits that it entails.
First and foremost it starts internally and with your own mindset. Explore the real reasons why you have aimed for material possession or status. Is it to gain validation or acceptance? Meeting expectations or low self-worth? What are the things that you think you can reroute these desires to which will be more beneficial for us as a person and the life we would like to lead? When you are self-aware, you would find the answers within yourself and logically move towards what is best for you.
Physical clutter is the next thing you need to tackle. When letting go of things, remember that quality matters more than quantity. One is better off with a slightly more expensive pair of shoes that would not go out of style nor would not be usable in 5 years and for some brands, even 10 years. The trick here is not to think of your whole house just yet, but one part and one room each.
Check which ones are trash, which ones you could sell with a garage sale or online. If you don’t have the time nor patience for that, you can donate it to your local charity organizations. There would be people in need that might find your stuff usable for their everyday life.
After that, check your finances and see where you can cut back. Subscriptions you rarely use nor have any needs for. Those credit card purchases you could have paid in cash for. All the things that are a serious waste of money, it needs to go too.
Living a minimalist lifestyle is also cutting back on where we are spending either time or money on. For most this would be social media and the Internet. Of course, the Internet is needed for everyday life and work. But if we lessen the time we spend on it unnecessarily, it would be good for our sleep cycle, mental health, social life, and safety.
That minimalist chic can do so much for the aesthetic of one’s home. You would be able to move around, do yoga, clean with less time and hassle. For minimalist office space in your home, you could opt for FlexiSpot’s Fixed Height Table FD1 -47” W. It is affordable, designed to last, and very sturdy for computers. It is also spacious and easy to assemble. It is also durable with its steel legs and could be used in any other part of the house as it is multifunctional and can hold a weight of up to 220 pounds. This desk spells minimalism in its design but is a very versatile piece of furniture. Check on this product now. It’s just a click away!