Over the past ten years or so, I’ve been working hard to become a better minimalist.  That means that I want to organise and simplify my life. 

It includes everything from the things I own to the files on my computer.  Even to the thoughts in my mind.  But the more I simplify, the harder it becomes.  The goalposts seem to move further and further away.  I’ll talk about that a little bit more later on.

But first, let’s properly define minimalism.  Minimalism is a way of living where you reduce the number of possessions you have, you remove distractions in your life, you declutter your home, and you simplify things wherever possible.  It’s a way of living with intention and purpose.

People who practice minimalism, known as minimalists, do it to make their lives easier to manage, to save time on cleaning and maintaining things, to focus on the important things like relationships and passions, to reduce their impact on the environment, to save money, to travel, and to reduce stress and clear their minds.

My reasons for embracing minimalism are very similar.  During my 20s, I’ve moved around a lot, going from country to country to job to job.  As a result, the amount of things I own has always been on my mind.  I also have plans to buy a house someday, so saving money has been is always important to me, as I’m sure it is for you too.

However, the most significant reason that I follow minimalism is because, without it, my mind becomes chaotic.  When I live in a cluttered space, surrounded by things scattered around with no place to go, or perhaps they’re too big for the room, I feel uncomfortable and I find it difficult to relax.

So, let’s start there with the topic of possessions, the things you own.  This is where most people start their minimalism journey, and they often follow something called the KonMari Method.

So, the KonMari Method is names after Marie Kondo who is a professional tidier from Japan.  She’s written four books and even has a Netflix show which introduces people to this way of thinking.

But it’s a little bit different.  Marie Kondo emphasises that her method isn’t strictly minimalism.  While minimalism encourages living with fewer possessions, the KonMari Method is more about living with only the items that you truly love or you truly need.  So, there’s kind of a balance to make.

So, let’s start with clothing.  I first realised that I lived with too many clothes when I left home for university.  Moving all of my belongings into my dad’s car and then into my new apartment showed me that I had too many things.  It was a struggle to fit everything in.

I knew this was a problem, so I decided I would take action.  I made my bed and placed all of my clothes on it, putting my dirty clothes to one side, of course.  Gathering all my clothes in one space helped me to visualise the task ahead and what needed to be done.

I went through each piece of clothing one by one, reflecting on the last time I wore each item.  Firstly, I set aside the items that I knew I never wore.  Some of these items were gifts and I’d only kept them because I’d feel guilty if I threw them away.  But I needed the space.

Next, I asked myself which pieces of clothing brought me joy and I removed everything else.  Sometimes I wasn’t exactly sure if I liked a piece of clothing, so I’d put it on and stand in the mirror and see whether I liked the look.

Interestingly, it can be an emotional experience to let go of some things, especially if they’ve been with us for a while, were gifts, or they hold some kind of sentimental value.  Marie Kondo suggests thanking each item you get rid of, literally saying “Thank you” to your skirt, for example, would help to make you feel much better.  My own trick is to look through old photos and see whether I’ve worn the piece of clothing or I’m holding the item or something in an old photo.  That way, I can revisit the memory.

Once I’d gone through all of my clothes, I had a sizeable pile ready to donate to a charity shop, but it still seemed like I’d barely made a dent.  Somehow, I had to do more.  That’s when I discovered the method of hanging everything backwards.  So, I started by hanging all of my clothes backwards in my wardrobe and then, as I wore each item, I’d put it back on the correct way.  After about two months, I realised what I wore and what I didn’t wear. 

Gradually, I’ve been working towards building a wardrobe where every item matches with each other.  Any t-shirt that I pick up will match any trousers that I pick up.  I’ve also intentionally kept my clothing selection minimal.  I don’t need that many clothes.  I just have enough clothes now for eight days which means I need to do laundry once a week.

While I’m not the most fashionable guy in the world, I have picked up some fashion tips over the years.  The best fashion advice I’ve ever received is that black and white go with everything.  So, you should make those your base colours.

These days, I’m almost at the point of having a uniform.  You probably see in my videos, I’m always wearing a white polo or a white t-shirt, and that’s not by mistake.  I have one type of shirt, one type of underwear, one type of sock, and so on.  And I understand that this level of minimalism is a bit extreme for most people but, for me, it helps me every morning.  I don’t take any time to decide which clothes to wear.  I just take clothes out of the wardrobe.  And that stops me from starting the day off on the wrong foot.

Next up, I turned my attention to my book collection.  I realised that I’d collected so many of these heavy things, most of which I hadn’t even read.  And for the ones I had read, I was unlikely to read them again.  So, why did I still have them?

I followed the same process as before.  I kept the books that I loved and I donated the rest.  But then, as time went on, I took it even further.  I questioned why I was holding onto all these physical books when e-books exist.

Now, these days I don’t own any physical books at all, but I’m always reading something on my phone or on my laptop.  By embracing e-books, I have access to a wide range of reading materials without the physical clutter.

DVDs were a bit more challenging.  Back in the early 2010s, I had hundreds of them.  Netflix and other streaming services were more limited than they are today; you couldn’t watch whatever you wanted.  So, having DVDs was a must.

They also made me very popular in my university halls because I hosted film nights, and I also enjoyed collecting them.  But, of course, I had this minimalist bug and it was growing, and I had to do something.

That’s when I had a realisation.  I could buy the DVD I wanted to watch online, then I’d watch it, and then I’d sell it.  A little bit like renting but the only cost I had was the postage.

Now, of course, as time’s gone on, DVDs have become largely a thing of the past, but I still use this method with video games.

Next, I turned my attention to my papers.  I was a university student so I had a lot of coursework, a lot of notes, a lot of handouts.  And I also had apartment contracts, certificates, and bills.  So, I took everything and I organised them into different categories.  I went through one one by one and I decided which ones I needed, which ones could be scanned and discarded, and which ones I needed to keep an original copy of.

And in the end, I only kept a few items which I put into a nice little folder.  Everything else was either shredded or recycled.  Going forward, I make sure to immediately type my all of my notes into my computer or my phone.  Or, if I have to write something on paper, I’ll type that up later and then recycle the paper.

I found a lot of satisfaction in this process, and, to be honest, I felt a little bit saddened that I’d already completed the major parts of decluttering.  This minimalism bug I had didn’t die, it continued to grow, and then I started looking at everything in my life with a critical eye.  What’s in this drawer?  Do I need two of these? Can this be thrown away?  These were the everyday questions I was asking myself.

My real challenge came when I reached my sentimental items.  These are things from your childhood or perhaps from a loved one who has since passed away.  If you’re here for advice on what to do with your sentimental items, I’m afraid I don’t have any.  But, I can tell you about one sentimental item that I decluttered and what affect it had on me.

So, I was a child, around eight or nine years old, and I visited a shop with my grandparents.  That’s when I saw it.  A fluffy Pikachu backpack.  It even had a compartment inside to put my Pokémon cards in.  It was perfect.

This bag made a lasting impression on me, and I still remember, to this day, all of its little details.  But, as I grew older, I felt a bit conflicted about keeping this child’s backpack on display in my bedroom, so it put it into a cupboard where it stayed for many, many years.

I briefly reintroduced it to my bedroom when I moved to university for nostalgia reasons.  But soon after, it returned to the cupboard.

When I experienced my quarter-life crisis, which I talk about in episode one, I needed to find ways to calm my mind more than ever.  Additionally, I was preparing to move abroad and I needed to downsize my belongings.  I decided to keep one cupboard in my childhood home to keep the important things that I didn’t need to take abroad, and I had to make some tough decisions.

It was time for my Pikachu backpack to bring joy to someone else.  With a heavy heart, I took it out of the cupboard one last time.  I held it in my hands, I looked at all of its little details and, in my mind, I thanked it for happiness that it brought me.  Then, I carefully packed it away, looked at it one last time, and donated it to a charity shop.

Sometimes, even now, I still think about my Pikachu backpack and I wonder whether I made the right decision.  I think, if I had the chance again, I would give that backpack to a child in my family.  That way, I’d still have some kind of connection to it and could see it being enjoyed by someone I love.

It’s funny how something as silly as a children’s 99p backpack can hold such sentimental value.  But this experience taught me to be more mindful about my purchases and now, going forward, I think long and hard about every purchase I make.