Practical minimalism guide: functional house

“More is less, less is more” – Ad Reinhardt

To enjoy the benefits of minimalism you don´t have to turn into Buddhism, get a house designed by Tadao Ando, grow Rasta dreads,  throw away your Armani suits or Prada dresses –well, if you do, let me know where and when-. You can actually choose to be one, the metamorphosis is not tha painful, and you get the benefit –beside the ones listed under- to show off to your friends that bought the Prius because you would have beaten them on the ecological race. The biggest requirement is joinin the millenary bible-less movement of frugality. Don’t worry I won´t ask you to donate anything to a sect, instead I´ll be happy because you will enjoy of:

• Less stress: with less stuff to deal with, less clutter –visually and vitally-.
• More time: as you will have less to organize and clean.
• More pleasure: it has to do with the Pareto 80-20 principle but applied to the stuff you own, the space you have and the joy you get, in short: the 20% of stuff gives you the 80% of utility or  joy, and the remaining 80% of your stuff gives you 20% of value or pleasure. Read-on to find out how to grab the max from the good 20%.

How to have less and enjoy more

• Each type of object has its own place: Is that simple, but if you apply this to everything, not just having the encyclopedia lined up on the shelf (actually, if you have one, recycle the paper, now days there is Wikipedia), apply it to the non obvius stuff like gadgets, kitchen stuff, clothes and specially kids toys. Put each type of them (stuffed animals, building toys, etc.) in a specific bin, box or area. Also each adult in the house should have its own space for tmp stuff (I have my own small shelf, as my wife does). This really ease up finding the items and selecting the ones you want to liberate from –see under-.
• Liberate from the non-escencial. Free your family and yourself from the stuff you rerely use. Every now and then do a “selection day” at home, apply it to your clothes, books (better to have them in your goggle library books.google.com), shoes, and kids toys. Exploit gift days like x-mass of birthdays when kids will get new ones and do a selection day previous to that so they can ‘make space for the new ones to come’ -that ususally works better than “you have too many toys” , help them ‘select’ the ones theycan love and pile up the ones they can definetely go without. Do the same with all your stuff. Sell the non-escencials or donate them to charity or any type of church (usually they are in contact with people in need), and recycle as most as you can -wich also means giving them to your friends, family or people that may need them-.
• Buy less. You will be more happy. Don’t acumulate 20 pairs of shoes if you mainly use 3. Before buying define the need you want to satisfy, see if it is satisfied by the stuff you already own. Many of the stuff we buy are out of impulse. For example, I was tempted to buy an iPhone a while ago because a few of my friends are actually thrilled by them, but realized that the 3 years old pda I have still works pretty good for the things I need from it. So I´ll keep it until the points I earn with my mobile operator gets me a new one for free -or really cheap-.
• Clean and organize as you go. Simple as it sounds, sometimes we just accumulate mess -with kids this is the norm-. So clean the pans and dishes as you are cooking, do the beds as soon everybody is awake, teach your kids to get the toys to their “home” or places you designeted (pictures help them to know where to put them) and make this a routine before -for example- dinner time.
• Declare your preferences. Tell your friends, partners and family what you want as gifts, and also -very important- tell them what you really don´t want -specially if your aunt keeps giving you those travel souvenirs you hate. If you are saving for something special (like a car, or a house), tell them to deposit money and let you know -then rally thank them so they feel how important is for you-.
• Practice. Habits are great because they tend to be effortless, more automatic processes, decide about the objects in your life taking into account this premises and the habit is your. Then call yoursel a practical minimalist -and enjoy the benefits of more space and increase joy-.

Thank you for reading. Let me know what I am missing by leaving a comment under. And remember to subscribe to get the posts by email.

Tagged as: frugality, happiness, kids, lifehacks, practical minimalism, productivity