By Shazad
“We should be choosing what we keep ― not what we get rid of.”
Marie Kondo
I love to read about productivity and life-hacking. One popular form of that is the discussion around Minimalism and tidying up. Marie Condo is a very popular writer and promoter of clean and clutter-free living and her quote above really made an impact on my thinking recently.
Imagine if we spend the rest of our lives thinking of what is truly essential in life and discarding everything else. We could donate, gift, sell, or trash what is no longer essential.
How do we start? You could take a single large luggage bag - the kind you would check on a flight and could be loaded up to about 50 lbs. You would put all the that you absolutely must have, in the bag. Whatever doesn’t fit, you put on your “Get Rid Of” List. To start with more potential, imagine you have 2 large suitcases you can fill up and that is your absolute maximum. This can be a rigorous form of minimalism and may help you eliminate a lot of physical clutter in life. It could also be too intimidating for some to even think about.
Another more “gentle” approach is to think about everything you touch on a daily basis for an entire week. What are those things? Write down the names of those things and consider everything else a potential ‘extra’ you can live without. You may have to do this over a month or three to truly get a flavour of what you reach for over time. Everything else is probably best in someone else’s possession and out of your living space.
Try doing the same thing for your car, office, and any other space you spend time in. Just make notes of what you touch and all the things that just collect dust while staring at you for attention that you can’t give them.
Our thoughts, beliefs, and ideas also get ‘messy’ over time so it’s worth doing a mental audit each month on what suits your life and what can be discarded. Don’t just hold on to things because of dogma or because someone you respect said something 100 years ago. Find out what makes sense and prune any ‘weeds’ or bad thinking, biases, and superstitious beliefs.
The hardest thing to sort out is relationships. It’s no less ‘messy’ or stressful. Figure out the 10 most important people in your life that you are always engaged with. There are probably 20-50 other people you are related to or have casual friendships with. Who are the rest? These can be your Social Media ‘friends’ and acquaintances. Is it time to reduce that list to something more reasonable? Maybe you need to “mute” messages or unsubscribe from some people and media? How about just blocking some people from contacting you via normal channels like text, phone, or email? You wouldn’t just throw money around like it was free so don’t let everyone grab your time and attention daily. Guard time and attention like precious resources because they are! Even more valuable than money as you get older and have a family!
The benefits of living clutter-free with just the essentials are many.
Fewer things to worry about, insure, fix, maintain, and remember. This often means more fun, free time, savings in money, and happiness in life. So why not experiment and become a sort of minimalist on your terms? In a worst-case scenario, consider the cost in time and money to purchase, borrow, or even rebuild something that you gave away but find yourself suddenly in need of. Is that cost low, marginal, or very high? Many people find those costs to be nominal or barely noticeable in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, there will be the “Just In Case” or “Emergency” type of items you hope you never need or rarely need like a First Aid Kit, Fire Extinguisher, heavy winter coat, and car jumper cables. Many things in life are not like this treat them as everyday items taking up physical and mental space. Find out your “Can’t Live Without” list of items and get ready to fly through the rest of your life. You’ll be so happy once you know what’s really important in life and that way of life can take you very far!
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