11 Ways Minimal Living Will Improve Your Life
By Mary Grace
Living minimally is a method of living that eliminates unnecessary things in your life. It prevents objects from claiming ownership over their users, costs less, and can create happiness and focus. Whether you want to dive into extreme minimalism or simply want to put away a bit of your clutter, here are 12 reasons; you should take try elements of minimalism.
1. Less Housework
Less housework means spending less time dusting, scrubbing, or on dirt. A life spent scrubbing up your own lost skin cells isn’t worth it, living minimally means less to clean, easier to clean areas, and a life spent beyond the dust.
2. More Room
A huge, comfy couch that no one ever uses isn’t pulling the weight of the space it’s taking up. Eliminating large pieces of furniture in your home gives you a lot more space. Have you ever moved out of an apartment and glanced back at the wide space that seemed so tiny with all your stuff in it? This may be a sign that you have too much stuff.
3. Costs Less
Living with less doesn’t just cost less to maintain, it straight up just costs less. You can use your de-cluttering as a way to make money, whether it’s tax-refundable donation to a thrift shop, or selling on eBay and investing in your 401K. Getting rid of junk will not only save you money, it might make you some too.
4. Better for the Environment
More free time and room, at a lower cost, the only thing that could possibly sweeten the pot are the super awesome kick-ass benefits living without offers to the planet. There is less waste, less accumulation, and eventual disposal. The average person drops 68 lbs. in textiles every year, reusing or reducing the amount of clothing you have will have huge impacts. Sixty-eight pounds is a lot of waste that could be repurposed into blankets or rags.
5. Can Find Everything
While there is a certain joy in having a dresser full of things that you love, if you curse all of the trash in your house when digging through a drawer looking for stamps, you may want to consider something different.
6. Eliminate Clutter
Clutter is the worst. No one likes clutter. This is a case of use it often, multi-purpose it, or lose it. A giant table in the middle of your home is nothing more than a blockade when covered in mail, and the shelves on the walls seem to press in when lined with tiny figurines. If you can’t get rid of it, or find a use for it, store it away for now; there are a plethora of things that are hard to give up at first, but the physical and mental effects of clutter are now, pressing and urgent. If you don’t go to retrieve it within the year, you may not need it.
7. Recognize Importance
Not everything can be gotten rid of, or stored away, some things truly make you happy. Keep these things. A funny bowl or a painting of your mother, minimal living helps you recognize what is really important to keep. It will help you savor those items that make you happen, allow you to focus on them, and linger on the love that radiates from them. Some things are important, and buried amongst everything else, they don’t shine like they should.
8. Funnel Energy
Living without means you can funnel your energy into the things that exist. A wide white room can feel endless, and inspire a world of imagination to leap forth from your brain. When the room is blank and your work is laid out on the desk, it’s easier to dive into it knowing that there are no other distractions.
9. Clear Your Mind
There are huge spaces in your mind, can you remember the last time you held a single thought clearly, without fear motivating it, or a driving force that wasn’t externally driven. Giving your mind space to breathe will help you. Take a hint from beauty branding, with clean, modern design, that is functional, and offers room to move and sit without compromising function or mobility. These designs can be a great jumping off point for someone who doesn’t know where to start their minimal home.
10. Freedom
While hating everything in your cluttered house offers its own brand of freedom (burn everything and never look behind), it’s better to love everything in your home. Appreciate it for its usefulness. Appreciate it because it is pretty, or makes you feel great, or if you just need it. There is a freedom is not needing more things, and being comfortable with your material goods. It’s freeing.
11. Increased Happiness
The best part of living minimal, is how happy it can make you. Living with only what you need means freedom from objects, it means that your possessions don’t own you, you don’t need more, and that the world you live in is full of space. It’s the high point of a deep breath, that will help you mentally and physically.