Joshua Becker's Blog, page 87

Lessons Learned From Intentionally Letting Go

“Use for yourself little, but give to others much.” —Albert Einstein

When I was in middle school, I flew with my brother and sister to visit extended family. I placed a backpack full of my stuff in an overhead bin and buckled up. My favorite cassettes at the time were inside, my favorite Minnesota Gopher t-shirt, my favorite sweatshirt, and a book.

After arriving and walking through most of the airport, I noticed a lightness on my back. I had walked off the plane without my bag. Despite spinning around and running back to the gate, the plane and stuff were nowhere to be found.

I was a bit too forgetful as a child (heck, I’m a bit too forgetful as an adult). I forgot my fair share of packed lunches, homework assignments, and textbooks back at the house.

But this moment felt a little bit different.

Those possessions in that backpack felt like everything to me at the time. I was devastated, and everyone around me—especially my brother and sister—could feel the disappointment.

My guess is that feeling is relatable to almost everyone. At some point in our lives, we all misplace or forget something important.

How we react to that loss is another thing. Despite being inevitable, most of us are surprised when it happens—humbled by an emptiness for something… missing.

When I first discovered minimalism and began clearing out my garage many years ago, fear gripped me. And I’ve heard the same from others. Each item I removed felt like a little, voluntary loss. Sometimes I gripped an item for a while, pondering, “What if I need this in the future?”

The “what if” mindset slowed me down. As if the George Foreman grill would one day come back to haunt me and say, “Told you so!”

Despite the discomfort, I learned to let go of my unneeded material possessions—repeatedly. Sure, some things were harder than others, and some things took longer than others. But slowly, by persisting and not giving up, I began to see how loss ultimately leads to gain.

Here are Five Lessons I Learned Intentionally Letting Go:

1. Everything is fleeting.

The passage of time shifts and modifies our perspective on loss. Fortunately, I’m not still reeling over the loss of my backpack as a student. While losses might be painful initially, it’s a fleeting sensation. Trust in this process and understanding.

If you’ve been hesitating to throw something away you’ve never used “just in case” you might need it someday, embrace the loss, let it go, and see how you feel a few months later. My guess is you won’t miss any of it once it’s gone.

2. Lighter is better.

Stuff can be burdensome—weighing us down. It’s not just the physical heft of objects, but it’s the time we take out of our lives to maintain, prop up, and care for what we own. To let go is to provide yourself the opportunity to feel the lightness from having less responsibility for material goods. Today’s losses are tomorrow’s freedom.

3. You can break the chain of materialism, intentionally.

There comes a point where we must question whether materialism allows us to live the life we’d like to lead. By choosing to let go, we push against the societal norms and messages that say we must consume more to be happy.

Something changed in me years ago, and by tossing extraneous goods out, I placed a stamp of commitment to become minimalist. This was the first radical step to more with less, but I needed to persist through the doubts, fears, and losses.

4. You define what’s important.

If the stuff we own doesn’t define us anymore, what does? Well, that’s for you decide. For me, “loss” allowed me to focus on my family, friends, and my larger community. It empowered me to start The Hope Effect, Simplify Magazine, Uncluttered, and connect with an entire network of simple living advocates around the world. We must question what today’s potential feelings of loss might be stopping us from becoming, doing, and supporting.

5. Losses can be reframed.

To eschew the materialist messages of our society, consume less, declutter more, and become a minimalist might involve loss. It’s a potent, powerful feeling that can prevent us from acting up and changing our ways. Inversely, we could actually move away from the very concept of loss altogether, see the act of letting go as giving back and making time for more of what matters most. In that light, loss becomes a positive force for good. Minimalism isn’t about the things you remove from your life—it’s about freeing up your life to add back in the things that are truly important.

These lessons have affected me—even today.

On a recent flight home, I got up to use the bathroom and briefly left my laptop in the backseat pocket. I didn’t think much of it. But when I returned to the seat, the person seated next to me leaned over and said, “Be careful where you leave that. Someone might take it.”

I thought about the statement for a moment and kindly thanked her. But in the back of my mind I was thinking, “I’d be okay—even without it. Besides, if someone’s going to risk stealing a laptop on an airplane, they probably need it more than me.”

Minimalism hasn’t made me flippant about stuff; rather, it’s helped me focus on what matters most. As my attachment to material possessions lessens, I am able to develop a greater appreciation for those things that could never be replaced.

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Published on August 20, 2017 22:43

Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads.

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.

For that reason, I hope you will make an effort this weekend to find a quiet moment with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy some of these hand-picked articles to encourage more simplicity in your life.

That Clutter In Your Home Used To Be Money | Retire Before Dad. Earn more, spend less, and keep the rest to invest. Don’t spend it on crap that takes up space so you don’t need extra space to store it all.

The More We Limit Ourselves, the More Resourceful We Become | James Clear by James Clear. One assumption that often drives unhealthy behavior is that if we want to find happiness and meaning in our lives, then we need more: more opportunity, more wealth, and more things.

Want To Be Happier? Live In a Small House. | The Week by Bonnie Kristian. If you own an American home built in the last three decades, your house is probably too big for your life, sucking away your money, energy, time, and relationships, and adding only to your accumulation of stuff.

No, Nothing Comes For Free. Not Even Free Samples Or Free Shipping | USA Today by Jeff Stibel. What you may not realize is that even if you don’t buy the particular free product, you’re still more likely to spend more at the store on other items after you have gotten a sample.

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Published on August 18, 2017 23:12

5 Myths That Encourage Excess Spending

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Dori Cameron.

For example: The I can always return it myth. Or the I can always sell it later myth. Each become internal rationalizations to buy things we don't need.

It happens in an instant—the internal dialogue you have when considering an online or in-store purchase. For some people, it’s buying and restoring furniture. For others, it’s electronics.

Whatever it is that you’re considering buying—bicycles, clothing, household items—here are five myths that encourage excess spending you may want to consider:

1. The “I can always return it” myth.

The opportunity of returning an item is a common justification of excess spending. When you have that George Foreman grill in your hands, it seems like a great idea. Thinking you can return it to the store if you don’t like it makes spending that $30 an easy decision.

But have you considered the amount of time and effort would go into the return? Surely you would have to store the packaging it came in, keep the receipt, clean it, repackage it, travel back to the store for the return, wait in line, and hopefully get a full refund. Each store has a different return policy and rules that vary. Is the return policy 14 days? 30 days? 60 days? Does the item need to be unopened? What happens if you misplace the receipt? There are so many nuances involved with returning items that it can quickly become a hassle.

Is there another way you’d like to spend your afternoon than waiting in a Target customer service line? If you are thinking “I can always return it,” the item may not be something worth purchasing in the first place.

2. The “I can always sell it later” myth.

Selling online has evolved from eBay and Craigslist to smartphone apps that are incredibly easy to use. The “letgo” app allows you to take a photo, name your price, and even generates a title for your item based on your photo. The app pulls items for sale in your area, creating a virtual endless yard sale. You would think it’s easy to sell online given all of these new tools and apps, but the ease of use increases the number of items posted for sale.

Selling unwanted items also requires time, planning, and thought. How many messages do you check from people interested in your item? How many of those people schedule to come see it, but don’t show up? How much time have you allotted to meet with potential buyers, only to not make as much money as you expected?

Of course, there are some people who run very successful resale businesses, but to others it becomes quite the time burner. Was selling your iPod nano for $25 worth the time and energy spent on the sale? Is there something else you would rather do with your time?

A rule of thumb when making a purchase is to assume it has no resale value. Saying to yourself, “I can always sell it later” before a purchase assumes that a buyer will follow through with the sale at the exact time you want to sell it—all variables which are not guaranteed.

3. The “I can always give it away if I don’t use it” myth.

If reselling your clothing online via the Poshmark app doesn’t work, you can always give it away, right? Surely there’s a roommate, neighbor, or thrift store that could benefit from the blazer that’s a bit too snug, but you purchased because it was on sale? By placing perceived value on your clothing, you are assuming that a thankful recipient is waiting for (and ready to accept) your donation. In the U.S., “fast fashion” clothing stores are creating a surplus of clothing in both retail and resale stores, as well as landfills.

Is there a better way to give back to others or your community than dropping off used goods at a thrift store? Becoming more mindful about your internal dialogue when shopping online or in person is key, and could leave you with extra time and money to use in more fulfilling ways.

4. The “I can always repair or restore it” myth.

I admit, there are times when I purchased a secretary desk or coffee table that needed a little TLC. In my mind, I was seeing the item in its completely restored glory. But how much money in materials—sanding tools, paint stripper, stain, finish—would it really cost to restore? How much time would I need to invest in the restoration?

There are those who find great joy in restoring furniture, jewelry, or cars, but the average person may not have the motivation, tools, or skill to repair or restore these items. If you are thinking, “I can rebuild that engine,” or “I can restore this mid-century armoire to its full glory,” consider the time and materials involved before making the purchase. You may end up realizing there is a different way you would rather spend your time and money.

5. The “I can always put it into storage until I need it” myth.

Onsite and offsite storage is extremely common in the U.S. If you go into someone’s basement, attic, or garage, you are bound to find seasonal or barely used items. When buying items used so infrequently that they must be stored out of sight, consider your alternatives. Do you need to have your own bike although you could rent one instead? Do you need to hold onto old toys for the third child you may or may not end up having? Have you considered how a wet basement or a hot storage unit will affect your belongings?

When deciding to store items or let them go, I like to consider the “joy factor.” Is there someone else who would get more joy out of the bike you’re not using, or the toys you’ll likely donate straight from storage? When you are in buying mode, ask yourself where in your house the object will likely be a year from now. If you picture your purchase collecting dust in the garage, you may be better off not making the purchase at all.

These five myths arise in order to justify purchases we may otherwise not consider. There is joy to be found in the things we purchase—the goal is to practice being more mindful about the things we do buy.

Which myth resonated with you the most? Let me know in the comment section below.

***

Dori Cameron is a singer-songwriter living in Boston. Look her up on Facebook.

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Published on August 17, 2017 05:25

Simplifying After Tragedy Strikes

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Sandy Kreps of Modern Simplicity.

Lessons for life from a professional organizer who lost everything.

One cold, drizzling night in January, I stood on the street watching in disbelief and shock as my house burned. We had just moved into our house three months prior, and we still had a garage full of boxes waiting to be unpacked.

My family was safe, but my beloved pets were lost, as were the majority of our worldly possessions.

In the following months, friends shyly joked I was taking my love of simplicity to the extreme as we struggled to rebuild our lives with the blank slate we had been presented with.

As I shared our struggle on social media, I was inundated with stories from all over the world of how others had coped with rebuilding after a loss, whether it was a fire, a flood, a tornado, a hurricane, a burglary. We weren’t alone. I found comfort in that truth. And even more so in the stories of those who chose voluntary simple living after the tragedy:

A single mom in Louisiana told me that after losing her home in a tornado, she and her daughter moved into a tiny house on her parent’s property in Alabama. She couldn’t be happier.

A widow in Salt Lake City shared with me that following the tragic death of her husband, she moved from their large home of 40 years to a smaller 2-bedroom condo in order to free up resources to spend more time with kids and grandchildren now scattered throughout the country.

A married dad of three in Kansas shared that after a flood wiped out his home and his business property, his family downsized from a 4,000 sq. ft. home into a 1,100 sq. ft. home, and he started working from home. He said the relief he feels from simplifying his family’s lifestyle far outweighs the grief he felt when the flood stole their stuff.

A married couple from my hometown in Texas told me that after losing their expensive condo in Galveston in a hurricane, they chose a cute little bungalow in Dallas. They replaced only the items they needed, living a minimalist lifestyle so they could spend their resources traveling to do mission work in Africa.

Losing everything forces you to evaluate your lifestyle and your needs. In the days following the fire, while we bunked down at my husband’s parents’ house, I found I needed very little. A few clothes and a pair of shoes. Some toiletries. Clothes and school supplies for my kids. A new computer so I could work again. Few other things seemed necessary.

While I hope you never need these tips, I want to share with you a few things I’ve learned from my experience losing everything, as well as tips I’ve gotten from others who’ve lost it all.

Tips for Simplifying After a Tragedy

• First, get yourself and your family safe. Don’t worry about anything except the basics: shelter, food, clothing. Those needs are primary, everything else can wait. Your family (especially if you have young children) will need your strength and protection.

• Let yourself mourn. You can’t recover until you mourn what you lost—whether that’s a loved one, a pet, the loss of your sense of safety, the loss of physical stuff. Get counseling if you need. This is a major life change, and it’s going to take time to heal. Treat it as such.

• Make use of donations. In the days following the fire, neighbors dropped off clothes and shoes for my sons, clothes for me and my husband, small kitchen appliances, books, toys, even home decor. We were so grateful for these items—they bought us time before we needed to spend money replacing items. Use what’s given with a grateful heart, knowing that for those items that are just not quite right, you can pass them on to others who need them after you’re back on your feet.

• Don’t be in a hurry to replace physical stuff. Yes, you’re hurting, but try to take a few moments to dream. This is your chance to put together a new life from the ground up (literally). What does that look like? Write it down. Define the vision of what you want your rebuilt life to look like. Lose all your clothing? Maybe it’s a good time to put together that capsule wardrobe you’ve been thinking about. Lose your books? Maybe it’s a time to switch to a digital library. Lost your home? Maybe it’s time to downsize into something smaller and better suited to your new lifestyle.

• Let people help you. One of the most surprising and most amazing things that happened after the fire was the outpouring of love and support from family and friends, even strangers. Cards and donations from coworkers and clients, Scout groups, friends, neighbors, readers of my blog, even the local donut shop. I have never felt so humbled, blessed, and loved in all my life. A woman in Walmart handed me the last $20 in her wallet after overhearing us talk about the fire while purchasing clothes and supplies to send my kids back to school. These outpourings of love lifted us while we struggled with our loss, and they made us even more aware of the needs around us that we could fill once we got back on our feet.

• Replace items as needed. Once you’re stabilized and have the resources, start replacing items you lost, but don’t rush it. Replace things as you need them, and be choosy about it when you can. Pick things built to last, items you love and will use regularly. Don’t buy just to buy. Try replacing things on an as-needed basis—even borrow when you can until you’re sure you need to buy the item for permanent ownership.

• Never forget to be grateful. It’s very possible that the worst thing that has ever happened to you has just happened. But you’re still here, and people love you. Be grateful. Thank God for your blessings. Point your mind toward the good and the abundant, and place your expectations toward building a life even better than you had before.

I was surprised that I didn’t mourn my stuff so much as the loss of “safety” I had felt—I doubt I’ll ever leave the house again without wondering if it’ll be there when I return. My heart still aches for my lost pets, the only real loss from that night that hurt. But I’m still here, my husband and children are safe, and thanks to insurance, we have the means to rebuild.

Now we’re rebuilding our house carefully and intentionally—trying to decide what to replace of all that was lost.

Life is good, despite tragedy. And we’ve been given a new start to live a simpler lifestyle.

***

Sandy Kreps helps people cut through the chaos of modern life and find a simpler path. She writes regularly at Modern Simplicity. Get her free e-book, 101 Ways to Simplify Your Life, here.

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Published on August 10, 2017 22:15

Reconsidering The Merits of Slow Acquisition

Despite living in a world of accessibility and easy consumption, we all need to find ways to slow down.

From the outdated kitchen to the pastel-colored walls in the downstairs bedrooms, walking into my grandparents’ house was like entering a time machine. It was a world of midcentury furniture (not the kind from special art dealers or collectors; these were the default options, purchased mostly in the 50’s).

There was a desk in the hallway, reading chairs in the living room, classic rugs, houseplants, and a grandfather clock in the entryway. The sectional was minimal and left room for plenty of guests. My grandmother would always read on the couch, and stacks of magazines filled many of the nearby cabinets.

They never identified as minimalists when I was growing up—frankly, the term hadn’t been popularized yet—but everything had its purpose and place. The home felt complete with pieces that fit together like the perfect puzzle.

Growing up, I looked in their home with awe. I have countless fond memories of summer vacations and family holidays in their loving home. They seemed to have it all together. I wanted that.

When I was older, I felt this social pressure to make a complete home from day one. To leave anything incomplete seemed somehow against a cultural norm.

It wasn’t until adulthood that a simple realization clicked: my grandparents took years to purchase a household of goods. They had decades together to acquire their belongings. And their home wasn’t always like this; they consciously acquired things when needed.

Stuff was expensive, too. This was all before the cheap labor and overseas manufacturing of the Walmarts of the world (heck, they didn’t even exist back then).

My grandparents lived within their means every step of the way, depending on what was in their wallets. They carefully analyzed every purchase, and reused everything they could. Maybe that’s the consequence of being a product of the Great Depression? Who knows.

What we do know is that our world has changed dramatically since then. The rise of easy credit has allowed for ballooning consumer debt—from about $2,000 in the 1950s to $16,000 in 2016.

Now, we are instant gratification generations—swiping now and paying over time.

We expect to have everything at once, but we’re going broke in the process. Our credit cards have larger limits, products are cheaper, and buying is as easy as a click online.

We make pilgrimages to furniture stores, fantasize about spaces before we’ve set foot in a place, and browse websites that give idealized examples of carefully crafted rooms. The world is primed and expecting our consumption.

Each represents a radical departure from the lifestyles of the Greatest Generation.

I can’t help but think our ancestors knew something about minimalism that society downplays now.

When my wife and I first got married, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment and purchased only a table set for $99. Oh, and a bed—we needed that (for a number of reasons). Our living room furniture and bedroom set were hand-me-downs from her family.

We received a television set as a wedding gift. Our next purchase, months later, was a computer and desk.

We replaced the living room furniture 18 months later during a cross-country move. We used the $99 kitchen table and chairs for 13 years. And still use the bedroom set handed down to us from her grandparents.

Our home took years to make whole. And I don’t think I’d change a single thing about the process. It is a story of slow acquisition.

But outfitting a home slowly and intentionally carries a number of benefits:

1. It prevents debt. Buying home furnishings and decorations is a costly endeavor. Accumulating slowly helps prevent the danger of starting out with costly consumer debt—it can take years to overcome financial mismanagement.

2. It spurs intentionality and thoughtfulness. When we accumulate slowly, we are more likely to thoughtfully weigh the significance of our purchases. Is this really needed? If so, what is the best option and avenue for purchase? The more deliberate we are in our timeline, the more intentional we become in the process.

3. It slows the accumulation of clutter and excess. The slower we purchase, the slower we accumulate life-draining clutter.

4. It grants freedom in lifestyle. Consumer purchases inhibit freedom. They require money, time, and energy to acquire and maintain.

Therein laid my grandparents’ powerful lesson: to make our home ours, we couldn’t buy stuff immediately to recreate or mimic another’s space. Instead, we thoughtfully considered what we needed and budgeted carefully for each addition.

Despite living in a world of accessibility and easy consumption, we all need to find ways to slow down. The “perfect” item will remain or can be recreated, if necessary. Sales come and go. And your favorite big-box retailer probably won’t be going out of business any time soon.

Give yourself the opportunity to make your space yours. But as you do, don’t forget to consider the merits of acquiring pieces slowly.

Never be in a hurry to spend money you don’t have.

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Published on August 07, 2017 01:50

Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads.

It’s been a fun week here at Becoming Minimalist. We surpassed 100,000 email subscribers and held a little prize bundle giveaway to celebrate.

On the blog post celebrating the achievement, 2,000 readers left comments explaining how they first found the website. They were so fun to read—people from all over the world, from all different walks of life, sharing unique stories of first being drawn to Becoming Minimalist.

It was a healthy reminder that the movement to own less continues to grow, and in significant ways. Thank you for being part of it.

I want to encourage and inspire you this weekend to find more life by owning less. Here are some inspirational articles and blog posts I want to pass along. Grab some coffee and a quiet moment this weekend… you’ll be glad you did.

Angela Merkel Pictured Hiking Wearing the Same Outfit, 5 Years in a Row | Daily Mail by Julian Robinson. I love this story!

Time, Not Material Goods, Raises Happiness | BBC by Helen Briggs. “Want to buy happiness? Use money to free-up time, not purchase material possessions,” new study reveals.

Living Lighter: Reduce Stress and Save Money With Minimalism | InForum by Alexandra Floersch. Minimalism can be practiced on various levels. There are no set rules for what you can and cannot do.

How to Throw Away The Memories Our Kids Leave Behind | Grown and Flown by Lenore Calandra Pott. If you are clearing out a space previously occupied by a loved one (parents, children), I hope some of the emotions articulated in this story will be helpful to you.

Six Ways To Declutter When You Move | Forbes by Joshua Becker. If you’ve got a move coming up in the near future, here are some ideas I published with Forbes to make it easier (and lighter).

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Published on August 04, 2017 23:52

Celebrating the Becoming Minimalist Community and a Book Giveaway

Hello Everybody,

Let’s try something different today and have a little bit of fun.

This past weekend, Becoming Minimalist reached a significant milestone I wanted to share with you.

We officially surpassed 100,000 email subscribers!

That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment worthy of celebration. It means more and more people are being introduced to the life-giving benefits of owning less. And it means our community and our movement continue to grow in significant ways.

Asking people to subscribe via email to receive updates from Becoming Minimalist has never been a huge priority for me. But recently, I’ve begun to change my thinking about that. For starters, there are many readers who appreciate the convenience of receiving an email whenever we publish new posts. I want to make sure readers know that is an option if that’s what they prefer.

Additionally, and equally important, I have just created a 10-day “getting started with minimalism” email sequence to people who subscribe. The sequence includes a PDF copy of my best-selling book, Simplify, as well as first steps people can take on their minimalism journey. It serves as a helpful touchpoint for people who discover the blog, find themselves interested in minimalism, and are ready to start owning less and living more.

If you would like to join the ever-growing email list to receive the free book and email sequence, click here.

For those who have already joined, all 100,000 of you, thank you for being a part of this encouraging community and providing opportunity for this celebratory post.

I’d like to offer a special thank you to everyone who reads Becoming Minimalist. Every month, we welcome over one million unique readers and our Facebook community has now grown to 800,000. These numbers are a credit to each of you who have so generously shared this blog and its articles with friends and family.

Thank you, thank you for supporting Becoming Minimalist and helping to share the inspiration!

To celebrate, I’m giving away 7 book bundles specifically to this community.

Each prize bundle contains:

An autographed, hardcover edition of The More of Less .
An autographed, paperback edition of Clutterfree with Kids .
One free registration to our upcoming Uncluttered Course ($89 value) beginning on September 5th.

The prize is open to all readers from around the world—we’ll ship the books anywhere for free.

To register for the drawing, leave a comment below.

In the comment, tell us where you are from and which Becoming Minimalist post you remember reading first (or how you were first introduced to this site).

*I know some of you have been reading for many years and do not recall your first introduction, that’s okay, just do your best.

On Friday morning, we will use an online Random Number Generator to select the winners and begin contacting them via email. I will also announce the winners on this post.

Thanks again for being part of the Becoming Minimalist community and making my work so enjoyable. I am more grateful than you realize and I look forward to the comments below and subsequent interaction.

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Published on August 01, 2017 00:26

7 Reasons to Minimize Your Kitchen

Here are seven really good reasons to declutter the kitchen today!

There are few places in the home that collect more clutter than the kitchen.

Junk mail, groceries, backpacks, and contents from emptied pockets routinely add to the everyday collection of dirty plates, coffee mugs, and cooking supplies. Keeping a kitchen clutterfree requires action and resolve.

But there is something entirely refreshing about a clean, uncluttered kitchen. It is inviting. It brightens the day. And it offers endless possibilities that any number of meals or conversations can take place in it.

You’re probably a busy person. It seems most people are these days. But let me try to convince you of a project that will bring beauty and possibility to your home and family: Minimizing your kitchen.

Consider these seven reasons to declutter your kitchen this weekend:

1. You will eat healthier (and less). Did you know that a cluttered kitchen can be a cause of overeating? Brian Wansink of Cornell University and his colleagues recently conducted a study to better understand how cluttered, chaotic environments—such as messy kitchens—influence snacking behavior. Among their subjects, those in the messy kitchen were more likely to overeat and tended to consume twice as many calories from junk food as those in the tidy kitchen.

2. It sets culture for the entire home. The kitchen serves as your home’s control center—all action seems to run through it. As a result, the kitchen sets tone and culture. A clutterfree kitchen communicates calm and order, promotes opportunity and possibility, saves time, and promotes cleanliness. A tidy kitchen serves as an example to everyone else in the home.

3. Cluttered counters contribute to physical stress. Researchers at UCLA discovered a link between high stress hormone levels and a high density of household objects. Clutter increases stress levels as physical objects compete for our visual attention. And the more physical distractions in our environment, the more stress we feel.

4. It’s more enjoyable to cook. The kitchen serves a number of purposes in most homes: gathering place for conversations, quiet place for homework, or an ideal location for art projects. But the primary purpose will always be food preparation—meals, snacks, nourishment for our bodies. A minimized kitchen, with room to move and chop and bake and boil, is always a more enjoyable space to work in than any cluttered environment.

5. Clutter attracts clutter. When a space in our home becomes a collection site for “stuff,” more and more “things” begin to make their way to it. Think: junk drawers, basements, closets. Countertops too often serve the same purpose. When we allow them to become cluttered with items that don’t belong, more and more odds and ends collect. The only way to stop this accumulation is to remove as much as possible.

6. You home will be healthier. There is another point that needs to be made here. A messy kitchen attracts germs, dirt, and impurities on surfaces or objects. I realize there is a difference between cluttered and messy, but one usually leads to the other.

7. A tidy kitchen allows you to take every advantage of tomorrow. Mornings can be tough—especially if you wake up and still have to wrestle with yesterday’s mess. That’s no way to start your day and it certainly doesn’t allow you to make the most of it. A tidy, decluttered, minimized kitchen in the morning serves to remind you that the day ahead serves you, not the other way around.

If you want to create an environment that encourages cleanliness, health, focus, and calm, here are four steps to get you started:

1. Remove duplicates. Look inside drawers, cabinets, and closets for duplicates. Most homes contain an overabundance of cooking items: spatulas, measuring cups, bowls, coffee mugs. Removing duplicates is an easy way to free up space without needing to question any item’s usefulness.

2. Relocate large or rarely used items. If there are items taking up space in your kitchen that are rarely used (twice/year or less) look for a new spot in the home to store them—the basement or back of the pantry, for example. Particularly look at large items. Moving items you use only once/year to a new place in your home will free up more valuable space that you use every single day.

3. Challenge your assumptions about how many kitchen tools you actually need. Mark Bittman at the New York Times once argued that you can equip any kitchen to prepare almost any meal for $200. Here’s his list of kitchen essentials. Consider this list when deciding which tools in your kitchen are truly essential and which are not.

4. Clear your countertops. After completing steps 1-3, you’ll be surprised at how much out-of-sight storage space becomes available in cabinets and drawers. Use that newfound space to free up countertops. Trust me, you’ll love the new clean, uncluttered look and you’ll find it easier to clean as well

There are any number of household chores you can tackle this weekend. I just happen to think minimizing your kitchen is one of the most beneficial.

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Published on July 28, 2017 11:39

7 Reasons to Minimize Your Kitchen This Weekend