8 Signs You’re Already a Minimalist and Don’t Know It
A lot of times when people hear that someone is a minimalist, they gather this image in their head of a person who lives with only one fork and has an entire house that is white with sharp corners on all their furniture. As a minimalist myself I can tell you that this is in fact not true. In fact, I would even argue that most people are minimalists already, they just don’t know it yet and therefore haven’t applied it to their lives. Curious as to why I think this? Check out these 8 signs that you might already be a minimalist.
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Clutter gives you anxiety
When you look around your house and see stuff lying around everywhere it makes you feel like your skin is crawling. Maybe you are constantly saying “we have too much stuff!”
I personally used to make monthly trips to Goodwill (and still do actually). It’s definitely a harder thing to tackle when you have kids the house.
If you feel anxious when your surrounded by clutter, you’re not alone. Studies show that clutter has a negative impact on our mental health and wellbeing. Of course, mental health most often carries over into our physical health as well.
How Minimalism Can Ease Your Anxiety and Depression
The idea of cleaning exhausts you
Have you ever realized you have to clean or tidy up and instead you just sit in a ball on the couch and feel sorry for yourself? I mean, I know I have.
This is a good sign that you are feeling overwhelmed by stuff, space and maybe even your day to day life. Minimalism can help simplify these monotonous tasks and have an all-around calming effect.
I know personally that just downsizing our home helped me significantly combat my feelings of anxiety clutter and allows me to clean our house in 30 minutes or less!
10 Tips for Decluttering When You Don’t Have the Motivation
You have a favorite outfit
I literally used to flip through my jam-packed closet and I would always want to wear the same few shirts. There were just certain clothing items that I knew I loved. The thing is, there was a voice in my head saying I had to spread it out and wear different things…even if I didn’t like them as much.
As if.
Minimalism says wear what you love. Only put on what makes you comfortable in your own skin. Build your whole closet around only your favorite things.
Can you imagine, a closet filled with only items that you love? That’s minimalism.
A huge sign that minimalism is right for you is when you know you have those few favorite things you always gravitate toward. It doesn’t have to be clothes either. Maybe you have a favorite coffee mug, a favorite towel or even movies you seem to re-watch over and over again.
Pay attention to those favorites in your life and work toward only owning favorites.
5 Second Rule for Wardrobe Decluttering
Your schedule always feels full
Living a minimalist lifestyle isn’t just about living in a clutter-free environment. Oh, no. Most minimalists also work toward living a more simple, less-stress life. That means keeping your schedule minimal.
If you feel like you are always on the go or saying yes to everything someone asks you to participate in and you feel totally burnt out, that’s a sure sign that you’re ready for some minimalism in your life.
My best advice for this is to learn to love the word no.
One great way to instantly simplify your schedule is through block scheduling. It has been a life saver in this house, I’ll tell you that much!
The Minimalist Art of Doing Nothing At Least Once a Day
Some days you’re busy but accomplish nothing
These days are the worst. Where you run around like a crazy person. You feel like you never got a chance to sit and relax and yet at the end of the day, you’re not even sure what you did. You were just busy. That’s all.
This could be a huge sign that you need to set clear priorities in your life or that maybe you have too much to juggle. When we we have too much to juggle (whether it’s time, stuff or both) we are never capable of being good at anything.
Minimalism allows you to hone in and focus on the things that mean the most to you so at the end of the day you feel accomplished and you know you did what was most important.
Practice Simplifying Your Life Based on Your Enneagram Type
You feel buyer’s remorse
Do you ever come home from a shopping spree or even just one large shopping purchase and then you have this wave of guilt come over you? You regret spending your money on something and wish you could take it back?
My first tip for this is to build your budget around your biggest life goals. Getting a clear vision about what matters the most to you makes it easier and easier to walk away from frivolous purchases that you’ll regret later.
Living a more minimalist lifestyle can do this for you. Once you hone in on the things you want the most, you become less and less tempted to get in on a sale or go crazy during a shopping spree.
12 Steps to Break Your Shopping Addiction
You are a person who knows what you like
Maybe you are way ahead of the game and you already know what you like. Your closet is filled with only polos because that is what looks the absolute best on you and you are not about to apologize for it.
Congratulations, you’re a minimalist.
You know who you like, how you like to spend your time and you aren’t about to change this any time soon.
If that’s the case, I think my work here is done. BUT, keep in mind, there may still be areas of your life that could use your simplifying time and attention. Work to be aware of those areas that cause you anxiety and get a game plan going for how you can simplify them.
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