Why I want to be more minimalistic

There are many reasons why I want to be more minimalistic. To me, it just seems like the perfect life-style. People who calls themselves minimalists, just always look so neat and put together. They look like the kind of people who have everything under control, and no task seems to be impossible. Sometimes, I wonder if they are even human.

I think my main reason is, that I want to be clutter-free. As you might have read in my earlier posts, I have managed to accumulate a rather impressive amount of clutter. It came to a point, where my room always seemed to be messy, I could never find the things I needed, and I am not kidding, there would be times where you could barely see my floor.

All this clutter just seemed to grow, and grow, and grow, and it was draining me of energy and focus. It was a vicious circle; a mountain, that seemed impossible to climb.

Let me tell you, when you have a huge pile of junk in the middle of your room, you are not exactly thrilled to invite anyone in. But more than that, you are less inclined to not mess it up further. You see, when everything is a mess, you might as well leave that dirty sweater on the floor; you will tackle it when you start cleaning your room. And you might as well leave that glass there, because you can take care of that next time. And no time to organize your make-up; it will be quick to fix later! The only problem is, that there never really seem to be a 'later'.

For me, all this mess just kept building up, and it was always in the back of my mind, as a task that needed to be done. Even when doing homework, or socializing with others, I always felt guilty that my room looked the way it did. And it kept draining me of energy, and it was harder to stay focused on other areas of life - like starting to exercise, eating healthier, doing homework, laundry, or starting a new hobby.

Two days ago, I did a massive clean-up of my room, following my 7 step method. It now looks clean and tidy, and there is only one box in the closet I need to sort out. Of course I still have plenty in the basement room, but that is far from a one day project. But since then, I have had so much more energy, and I seem to enjoy life a lot more. I truly believe that clear surroundings keeps a clear head.

The other reason is economy and stress. A few years ago, I went down with stress, big time! I had to take a break from my education to work on it. And that had some rather serious consequences for my economy.

In a period of 6 months, while I was down with stress, I took out no less than 26.000 crowns from my savings account. That is about 3.765 US dollars, or 2.641 British pounds. In addition to that, I also had a job beside school, where I made extra money. And I have no idea what they were all spent on.

To me, it is rather scary, especially since I used to be really good at managing my economy, and set money aside. Seeing this number kind of woke me up, and I realized that I needed to get a serious grip on my spending habits. Apparently, shopping made me buy more, maybe as a way to comfort myself, or temporarily decrease the stress.

I am currently in a better place, than when everything started, but I still need to get a better grip of my spending habits. And what better way, than to go through all your clutter, and regain control over your possessions?

The thing is, all that money went to a lot of things. And maybe by sorting out, and getting rid of some of these things, I will be letting go of some of the things that weighed me down, and hopefully be more aware how I spend my money in the future. I guess you could say it is a way of facing your problems in a more physical way.

This ended up being a lot longer than I intended, but I guess that is what happens when you start to let your mind flow free. ;) Feel free to comment, and share your own minimalist reasons or stories, I would love to hear them.


Related posts:
- 7 steps to decluttering
- Questions to help you declutter
- My decluttering project