How 10 minutes a day of minimalism in your daily routine can create a life of freedom.
It's easy to see how minimalism appears like the most daunting task of your life, even if it is the best thing for you.
When I first heard of the concept of minimalism, it sounded exactly like the missing piece of my "life" puzzle. I was thrilled to find a better way to live that included not just my closet, but the entire home. Including my kids' rooms!
But, I was also terrified.
I was busy and I didn't have time to stop my life and go through all the items. Particularly, my whole house. After nearly 15 years of marriage back then and two kids, things had piled up.
I'd heard for years that the typical American home contains 300,000 items. While that may be on the exorbitant side for us, odds are good my home had items in the 100,000 thousand plus range, particularly when I factored in each of our rooms. The four of us had a lot of stuff.
But, as it turns out, pairing down the whole house is not hard to do.
So, how can we minimize our lifestyles on the fly? If we don't have days or weeks to set aside for this task, how can we become leaner meaner versions of who we're meant to be without having to take a week off?
It all has to do with ten minutes a day. And it also has to do with the smallest, simplest, and most unassuming parts of our lives.
Those ten minutes a day for a year add up to six days! That's basically the missing week you are looking for.
So here are 10 easy ways to take 10 minutes and minimize everything in your home.
Paperwork: Paperwork is the enemy of our house! I despise it because it ends up in every room. What to do? When you get your daily mail, sort it right then and there. Keep what you need and trash the junk. Go through your files. Take a fat file folder and throw away or shred what you no longer need. Do a file folder a day and your paperwork will disappear. Choose not to bring in flyers, leaflets, brochures, and pamphlets in the house all because someone gave you one. It's okay to recycle those.
Junk Drawer: Admit it. We all have one of these. A drawer for all the errant small things in our lives: rubber bands, pens, magnets, ketchup packets. Take ten minutes and toss or donate everything in there you haven't used in six months. Your junk drawer will thank you. And it will have more breathing room for future "necessary" items (that you don't use).
Clothing Closet: Your closet may be the most difficult part to organize. For me, it was my shoes. I love shoes and hated to have to pair them down. But can I just tell you how good my closet looks now? Take ten minutes for each section of your closet i.e. shirts, pants, shorts, and separate into three piles: keep, donate, and throw away (some items do need that). Do this for a week, and your closet will be a respite rather than an eyesore.
Kitchen Cupboards: Take one cupboard a day for ten minutes. Pull out the items you never use and donate them. Do a cupboard every day for a week or two. You may have to drive to your local thrift shop to donate the items several times that week, but your kitchen will be spectacular - and simple - when done.
Knickknacks: To each their own, I suppose, especially when it comes to decor. But how many of us have knickknacks in an area that shouldn't have them? Or perhaps they all need to be grouped together rather than spread out over the house? Pick up random decor and doo-dads that you feel don't need to be in your visual space. Take a different room in the home every day, grab a bag, and piece by piece put items that don't serve the space into the bag for donation. Declutter your space, free your mind.
Coat Closet: I happen to love jackets. But, our coat closet was overstuffed with numerous coats each of us never wore. One day, I took ten minutes, and pulled out coats I stopped wearing and asked my kids about theirs. Half of their coats neither of my boys fit anymore! We donated a good chunk of the closet. Now, when we have company over, there's space to put their coats in... the coat closet. Imagine that.
Books: I love books. I dream about owning a bookstore; I want candles that have a bookstore smell. But my bookshelves can get out of control. Nowadays, I tend to only purchase e-books. I can store more that way without running out of room! I went through my bookshelves a while ago and only kept the books I loved and would reread. Everything else, I let go of and donated or gave to friends who wanted them. I still buy a random book every now and then, but it's very intentional. Go through your bookshelves and find homes for books you no longer want. Take ten minutes and find ten books you want to give away.
Desk: Have you looked in your desk drawers lately? Or are they so stuffed you can't even open them? Take ten minutes and go through one drawer at a time (next to a garbage can). What value does ten minutes of going through a desk drawer have? It's priceless. Now, your desk can function like it's supposed to rather than the extra junk drawers it had been relegated to.
Bathroom Cupboards/ Drawers: Ladies, I know I'm speaking to you here. I wrote about having a minimal beauty regiment on No Sidebar and it's been a game-changer for me. Specifically with my time. When you choose to use fewer beauty products, you'll be amazed at how simple the health and beauty routine becomes. Life is easier, and the products become very intentional, which means there's more time to focus on things that matter. Take ten minutes and toss ten items. Eliminate everything you don't use or items you have doubles or triples of (remember, makeup and other beauty products have a shelf life).
Garage: Talk about overwhelming. The catch-all for the entire house ends up being the garage. But don't fear that. Instead, take ten minutes and devote yourself to one cupboard or closet, shelf, or drawer. And bit by bit, one cupboard at a time, they will be looked at, the contents assessed, and either saved or tossed. In a month, your garage will be the holy grail of garages: clean, neat, and perhaps the best part of all, you will have the ability to park your cars in it! (That is the intent of a garage. Just an FYI.)
Amazing things happen when we work on things in small increments.
As pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenburger once said, "You can accomplish anything if you’re not in a hurry." This is also true for you and minimalism. Take every part of your home in small amounts. Take ten minutes in those chunks of pairing down. And don't be in a hurry. Enjoy the process of going through each item and deciding if it belongs in your life. You may have to go through the whole house a couple of times just to get it to where you want it to be.
But by the end of a year, your home will be unrecognizable and it will have become the minimalist sanctuary you've always wanted.
Book Pairing: The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life by Joshua Becker.
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