Decluttering is an Event Minimalism is a Lifestyle
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Video Summary
AI GeneratedThe speaker emphasizes that while decluttering is a one-time event, minimalism is a lifelong discipline. To avoid falling back into mindless consumption, one must consciously maintain a countercultural lifestyle. The video provides ten practical tips to sustain a clutter-free home and a focused life, shifting the priority from material accumulation to intentional living and meaningful experiences.
I first found minimalism 17 years ago, and decluttering the possessions for a family of
four was no easy task. In fact, it took Kim and me nine months to work through each room in our home.
Three or four years later, we moved into a smaller house and got rid of even more. But since then,
I've learned the challenge of too much stuff doesn't necessarily end with the last box of
donations out the door. It requires discipline and intentionality to maintain simplicity
in the long run. Decluttering may be a one-time event, but minimalism is a lifestyle.
Of course, the benefits of owning less are amazing, but it's still easy to fall back into
old habits of mindless consumption if we don't make conscious efforts to sustain
the countercultural lifestyle. And the greatest benefits of minimalism are experienced when we
live it out long-term. So no matter where you are on the minimalist journey, today I want to give
you 10 quick practical tips to help keep our lives clutter-free and focused on things that matter.
Number one, set clear boundaries in your home. Decide which items are necessary for your lifestyle
and purpose, and then set firm boundaries for what you allow into your space to help keep your
possessions at that optimal amount. This can be accomplished numerically, 33 articles of clothing,
one set of dishes, for example. But I found physical boundaries to be the most helpful.
Books in this bookcase, arts and crafts in this bin, Tupperware has to fit on this shelf.
When we don't choose boundaries for our possessions, we tend to collect more and more.
Number two, embrace empty spaces in your home. Don't feel the need to fill empty spaces in your
home. It's our tendency, I think, as humans to try to fill all the empty spaces in our homes
with more and more stuff. Unfortunately though, as house sizes increase, that just means we buy
and care for more physical items. There are two solutions for this. Number one, you could buy a
smaller home with less unused space, an idea with lots of benefits by the way, or you could just
leave some spaces unfilled. I'll let you decide which is easier and which is better for you.
Number three, find ideas to specifically overcome consumerism. Overcoming consumerism requires more
than just quick fix ideas. It requires us to rethink the potential of our money and even our
lives. But along the way, there are some practical things that we can try to curb our desire for
consumerism. For example, setting a budget, implementing a 48-hour wait rule for non-essential
purchases, not shopping when we are most tempted to overspend, or even learning to ask new questions
when we shop. Not every idea works for every person, but find as many as you can that help.
To dive deeper into the mindsets we need to overcome consumerism, you can watch this video.
Number four, declutter as you go. To live is to consume and almost certainly things will continue
to collect in your home, especially if there's a family involved. So stay ahead of the clutter
and keep your home minimalist by decluttering as you go. Whenever a space starts to feel too full,
remove the unnecessary before too full begins to feel normal. I'm sometimes asked,
how often do you need to go through and declutter your clothes, your pantry, your closets,
etc.? And the answer is, there is no set period of time. There are just times when spaces begin
to feel more full than I prefer. And that's when I make a point to go back and declutter those
spaces again. I guess that's what I'm trying to communicate here. Declutter as you go before full
begins to feel normal. Number five, buy experiences, not things. Becoming minimalist doesn't
mean that you'll never spend money again. So prioritize spending on generosity and experiences
rather than material goods. Travel, concerts, meals with loved ones, all sorts of these experiences
create memories and joy without cluttering up your home. Number six, make gratitude a discipline
in your life. Keeping our minds focused on the good things we already have helps take our thoughts
off the things we don't. And the more we learn to love the life we live, the less persuaded we
will be by advertisements to desire a different one. So make it a daily practice to give thanks.
This can be accomplished in conversation around the dinner table, through your daily faith,
or reflective meditative practice, or simply jotting down three things you're grateful for
every day in a gratitude journal. Whatever habit or discipline sparks gratitude in your life,
do it daily. A seventh tip to keep your home clutter-free is to experiment with time-limited
challenges. Even if you feel good about progress you've made, continue to test out living with less
experiments in your home. Basically, try living without a certain item or with a limited number
of items for a set period of time. These experiments challenge our assumptions of
how much we need and help us discover just the right amount. Number eight, reflect regularly.
Take time to remind yourself why you chose minimalism in the first place and the benefits
it has brought into your life. Number nine, practice clutter-free habits. Implement small
daily routines to keep your environment tidy. I call these clutter-free habits. No matter how
few possessions we own, our homes and stuff will still get used. So learning the best systems for
our specific homes is essential for keeping them in the state we desire them to be. Some spaces in
our home require daily attention, the kitchen, the bed, the bathroom counter, etc. Others can be
decluttered weekly or seasonally. When we're just beginning our journey towards less, this sounds
burdensome and time-consuming. But the less we own, the easier and easier these become. And number 10,
find consistent minimalist inspiration. This is the best way to keep your home
clutter-free. Having like-minded people around you always provides motivation and encouragement,
no matter the habit or lifestyle you desire to implement. If you don't have friends or family
inspiring in this specific pursuit of owning less, look for inspiration online. I hope you find
this YouTube channel to be a good place for that. I post one full-length video every Friday
and one short video every Tuesday. But my goal is always the same, to help people live more
by owning less. And if that sounds amazing, I encourage you to subscribe so you never miss
a single video. Or if you're new, there are literally hundreds of videos already in the
archives for you to watch. Almost everyone in the world will encourage you to buy more.
I want to be one voice encouraging you to own less. You probably began your journey into minimalism
with a desire to live a life with less stuff, more focused on experiences, relationships,
and bigger dreams. That is amazing. Keep it up. Minimalism to reach its fullest potential
in our lives isn't just a phase we go through, it's a brand new way to live for the rest of our
lives. Decluttering might be an event, but minimalism is a lifestyle.