Are you wondering why you don’t have any space to store your clothes and you are constantly searching for storage containers to pack your items? If you are not sure how to organise your life, don’t worry it’s easier than you think. If you are living in chaos, continue reading to find out how to organise your life, free your mind and soul from the constant stress of clutter in your home and mind.
The idea of living a minimalist lifestyle is that you don’t need so many things to be happy, it’s more about freeing yourself from the constant stress of having to keep up with everyone else just because they have the latest iPhone, shoes or car and the list goes on.. Living a minimalist lifestyle is about prioritising experiences instead of belongings. Having a lot of stuff that you don’t need in your house can feel overwhelming and too many physical possessions can weigh you down. We live in a consumption-based society and people think that owning things is a competition to see if they have the latest product to compare with everyone else. Just to clarify my opinions here; there is nothing wrong with buying non-essential items, however problems can develop when people think that buying things will bring them happiness or security. Your environment is a mirror of your inner world and this can impact all areas of your life. Nothing can make you happy, until YOU are happy with yourself first.
HOW TO GET ORGANISED AND DECLUTTER YOUR SPACE
The important thing to remember is that nothing lasts forever in this world and everything is temporary. When you buy something it is only meant to serve you for a limited time and you never really own anything forever. Millions of people are trapped in the cycle of buying MORE in the hope that they will feel better with a new phone, a new car, a new home and the list goes on, only to realise that they are increasing their debt to make themselves happy. The happiness experienced from these items is only temporary as you can lose yourself in the rising debts and anxiety. I used to be one of those people trapped in the ‘BUYING MORE’ culture as I thought buying more clothes would somehow make me feel happier in my life. I realised that happiness comes from within, I started to believe that I deserved better and everything else in my life started to change. No one is perfect and some days will be worse than others, but the real gift is learning how to manage the problems within so that we don’t need to buy happiness. The change won’t happen overnight, it is a gradual process to declutter your life, but what matters is that you just start, one step at a time.
A MINIMALIST LIFESTYLE CAN CALM YOUR MIND
We live in a fast paced society and we need to maintain our busy schedules and to keep up with the things that we have accumulated over time. This can feel overwhelming as we constantly have to deal with the house chores, the cleaning and storing the items we have accumulated. The ‘to do’ lists continue to grow trying to fulfil every obligation life demands. The more stress we create and bring into our experience the more stimuli our brain has to endure. This can cause a tremendous amount of stress as our brain is constantly focusing on everything around it. If you are able to reduce the clutter in your life or remove yourself from a stressful situation and create a calming environment, the brain will have less to process to help calm your mind. Living a minimalist lifestyle means that you are living in the ‘now’ and not worrying about your future. If you are always living in the future, you cannot appreciate what you have NOW. Living with less items can increase our mental energy and create the space to focus on what really matters, such as family, health, relationships and whatever makes you feel happy.
MINIMALISM CAN BE APPLIED TO ALL AREAS OF YOUR LIFE
The great thing is that minimalism can be applied to all areas of your life, it’s your choice how to organise your life and the areas that are not working for you. It could be that you want to let go of toxic relationships, learning to live a simple life with less social media and more time or find ways to reduce your spending. The process can seem overwhelming at first, don’t worry just choose an area that you want to change or declutter and continue at your own pace.
Living a minimalist lifestyle can help you:
- Save time on cleaning and shopping
- Save money as you only buy what you need
- Improve relationships as you will have more quality time to spend with family and friends
- Buy quality over quantity
HOW DO YOU LET GO OF THINGS THAT ARE NO LONGER SERVING YOU
The first stage to living a minimalist lifestyle can be decluttering your house, I have found the easiest way to start is with the bedroom, closets, wardrobes and ask yourself the question, “do I really need all this stuff?” Start going through the clothes that you have not worn and if you don’t think you will wear them again say “goodbye” or as Arnold Schwarzenegger said in the movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day, “Hasta la vista, baby.” Make yourself a cup of tea and congratulate yourself for starting the process to living a better life with more freedom and time. Once you have decluttered the wardrobes, closets the process becomes easier and it won’t feel so scary getting rid of what no longer serves you. Remember that it’s only material things and we don’t take anything with us when we leave this planet. It is better to have more time to create beautiful memories with the people we love and care about the most.
Set a schedule every month and continue to declutter the rest of the rooms to maintain your new lifestyle and prevent things from accumulating. To prevent clutter in the future, buy the essentials and think before you buy, ” will I need to use this item in one year?” If you are still storing the unwanted gifts from last Christmas consider donating them to charity if you don’t use them. Be patient with yourself as you are changing your lifestyle and forming new habits take time. When you go shopping, start thinking about what items, products you use and if you won’t be using an item in the future then you probably don’t need to buy it. For example, if you don’t cook fancy meals then you probably don’t need all the utensils for the kitchen and instead of buying 4 pairs of shoes, choose the 2 pairs of shoes that make you feel comfortable.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you have stayed with me so far, congratulations, you are serious about changing your life. If you are not happy with any area of your life, you always have the choice to change it. You can start with making small changes to your environment, if you are not happy with the way you have organised your home, you are probably not happy with other areas of your life. Take the time to declutter and organise your environment and it will improve your happiness and confidence. Living a minimalist lifestyle takes time, decluttering is a process, start with one area first and as you start to feel more organised it will help to free your mind and soul from the constant stress of clutter in your life.