TL;DR- I wanted to have a discussion with you other minimalists/simple life people out there. To me, it’s not just about minimizing the amount of stuff you have, but getting rid of “things” (habits, processes, friendships) that don’t serve you. What do you think about that?
Background: I started minimizing my possessions a few years ago. I moved to a small apartment (about 500 sq ft) with my SO and we were very careful to only select items that mattered since we were tight on space. We no longer had the luxury of “storage” and we loved it. Eventually we bought a larger home (for many reasons).
We continue to examine our belongings (“Do we use this?”) and do a monthly Goodwill donation. Admittedly, sometimes I miss the smaller place, and it’s our goal to eventually purchase a smaller condo and rent out our larger house.
So once the household possessions/storage thing was in order, I felt myself feeling concerned with where I was spending my time/attention. I realized it was taking me forever to get ready in the morning because I was trying on a bunch of outfits, and I was doing all this laundry. Taking clothes out, putting them away again. Over and over.
I slowly whittled down my clothing to only my favorite pieces. I kept a pair of heels, sandals, and flats in brown and black. A far cry from the 40+ pairs that I used to store. I got rid of the makeup that I don’t use every day and now contain it within one small pouch. I realized that painting my nails was a hassle, and it was bringing me no joy. I got rid of (most of) my nail polish and switched to natural nails.
Around the new house, watering the yard was taking up a big chunk of my day, so we switched to xeriscape plants and installed irrigation for the places where we wish to keep grass for the dog. I realize this may not seem super minimalist, but the time/attention savings has been great. (We also have a rain barrel/submersible pump that assists with water conservation.)
Next up on the chopping block is Facebook. I got a notification from Facebook that I’ve been on it for 12 years. I realized I was checking it daily (sometimes multiple times) and it brought me absolutely no joy. For 12 years… Even if I only spent 5 minutes a day on there, lord knows that’s a LOT of my life. I haven’t officially pulled the plug yet, but I noticed since I stopped giving my attention to it, I’ve had all this extra time to read on my kindle, or hang out with my dog (in our newly watered grass).
And there are plenty of other areas in my life I could mention, but the overall point I’m trying to make is that I like the idea of time/attention as “space” that we shouldn’t clutter.
What do you guys think about that? What do you do in your life to de-clutter your time and attention?
Submitted July 26, 2017 at 01:24PM by AnonymousBBQ http://ift.tt/2tKk5lM
