The Opposite of Minimalism isn’t Maximalism, but Indifference
I got my empirical take on minimalism after selling, gifting and tossing most of my stuff and while traveling the world for what sums up to more than a year with only a piece of small hand luggage. Since then, I’m actively trying to take things further to a general place of attentiveness.
The thing is, that the opposite of minimalism isn’t maximalism, but indifference (aka not giving a shit) about what you own, see, buy, consume and who you meet and spend your free time with. It’s floating passively on the waves of marketing, algorithms, toxic people, bad relationships and useless gadgets. It’s eating what someone else puts on your plate without asking what it even is. Opposite to common belief, minimalism isn’t necessarily about numbers and how many things you own or don’t own. It isn’t necessarily a radical act either. It’s more about a general attitude of mindfulness, being in control and making conscious choices about what and whom you surround yourself with, off- and online, people-wise and things-wise.
That being said, you don’t have to toss everything and live from a tiny drawer to call yourself a #minimalist, or even an attentive person. Here are 12 small ideas with big impacts that you can implement right now to lead a little more mindful life:
1. Set yourself some basic rules to buy by
Just a few simple criteria can radically transform your purchasing habits. For me to own something it has to fulfill one or more of the following things:
- usability (Is this something you’ll use every day, or at least once per week?);
- versatility (Can you use this for more than one purpose)?
- be very good for emergencies.
You should further ask yourself the following questions:
- Can you store it? (i.e. Is there a defined space for this in your flat?)
- Can you take care of it? Note that, apart from animals and plants, non-living things often need maintenance (i.e. time, care and attention) too!
Furthermore, I got in the habit of delaying (almost) all my purchasing decisions by one month: Write the things you’re tempted to buy on a list or add them to your Amazon shopping cart without buying them instantly. If you, a month later, still think they’ll add value, buy them. If not, delete them from the list.
2. Let go of “just in case”
Not only when it comes to buying, but also when it comes to traveling and the stuff you carry around daily, or that you have stored somewhere in your home. What unnecessary things are you holding on to just in case? Is it a bunch of books you might read one day? Your tennis equipment for when the passion resurrects? Your heavy hiking shoes and an umbrella while you’re traveling? When was the last time these things really proved to be of good use and added value to your life? Don’t fear getting rid of things that no longer serve you actively, and probably never have.
3. Gain back control over your phone and devices
Technology is wonderful as long as it serves you and works for you, instead of against you. Using your phone mindfully, and with a purpose in mind, instead of just haphazardly whenever you get it into your hands goes a long way in decluttering your mind leaving space for thoughts and allowing more productivity and creativity.
Related: Here are the 7 radical measures I took to gain back control over my phone-habits.
4. Clean up your social media feeds
Same as with devices, social media can be great if you use it to follow and connect with people that genuinely add value to your life and inspire you. Out of control, on the other hand, it becomes something toxic, brain-draining and attention-grabbing: meaningless input with no positive impact and output at all.
Here is a great step-by-step method to reinvent Instagram and turn it into an app with a positive impact for you (by Josh Spector).
5. Delete and unfriend
Since the birth-times of Facebook and digital phone books you have probably accumulated hundreds of “friends” and contacts that are clogging up your feed and whose live’s you probably don’t care about anymore (and vice versa). Don’t be afraid to unfriend non-friends and delete contacts regularly. While doing it all at once is overwhelming, I got in the habit of deleting everyone whom I come across and have no interest in keeping up with and I occasionally do it purposefully by deleting 10–20 contacts at once.
6. Unsubscribe
Get in the habit of deleting, instead of unsubscribing and marking as “read”. Just the mere act of opening the marketing-newsletter of an airline you once flew but never subscribed to and deciding it’s junk takes away unnecessary energy. The next time you find yourself opening an email you didn’t want to open, make the effort of scrolling through to the bottom and unsubscribing. Doing this 10–20 times will reduce your inbox-clutter significantly.
7. Get in the habit of traveling with hand luggage only
This is really easier done than believed: 8kgs of hand luggage are sufficient for almost everywhere you go if you know what you’re packing and why — if everything in your bag has a clear purpose and function. I take no more than this, no matter if it’s a weekend-hangout or a 6-month trip through Asia and it’s just wonderful:
- You save a bunch of money on flights;
- you save a bunch of waiting time after the flights;
- you can pack and unpack within 20 minutes;
- you have no problems actually carrying your stuff around and stay flexible (e.g. at waiting times before check-in).
Numerous great minimalist packing-lists are floating out there, so grab one, follow the advice and go!
8. Simplify your wardrobe
Traveling and not being in a regular job make this one easier, but even in your daily routine, it’s very possible to purposefully stick with a simple and functional wardrobe that still looks good and neat. Whole books have been written about minimalist wardrobes, but here are a few hacks:
- Avoid patterns and colors that don’t match with everything but one piece of your wardrobe (or not even that).;
- Versatility: Stick with one color scheme in which all colors match so that you can combine almost all your pants & skirts with almost all of your tops, t-shirts, etc.;
- Repurpose: A sarong can be my scarf, towel, blanket, beach wrap, beach towel and changing room at the same time.;
- Longevity: I don’t expect my t-shirts to last decades, but I try to buy stuff that is durable and will withstand the laundry shops of Asia and South America. Here is an awesome post I stumbled upon via Jason Kottke that’ll help you determine the quality of the garments you buy.
- Have one complete outfit for special occasions, like weddings: A nice dress or a suit, beautiful shoes, jewelry, a totally user-unfriendly but gorgeous handbag, and the whole shebang.
Remember that you can still have a personal and unique style with a simple wardrobe. I love earrings, own quite a few pairs and it’s the luxury I allow myself to accentuate my appearance.
At the same time, you can also be a minimalist with a non-simple wardrobe: There is nothing wrong with buying the colorful, patterned clothes that you genuinely like. I love to meet people with a unique style who find self-expression in the pieces they wear. Things only start getting problematic when you shop for the sake of shopping and own clothes and shoes for the sake of just owning them.
9. Plan ONE goal per day
Knowing what you’re doing every day gives instant meaning to your time and cuts through the noise of all the stuff you should be doing, but don’t even know where to begin. Again, a tremendous amount of great books have been written about time management but my number one minimalist take-away is this: Instead of going through endless to-do lists, define the single most important task you want to accomplish every day and arrange your day according to this one single task. It simplifies everything.
10. Delete your photos
Since the age of digital cameras and, more so, smartphones, the number of photos we can take and store is endless. Digital clutter can be just as overwhelming as a tangible one and having 15,000 photos automatically reduces the value of all of them. Instead, make it a habit to delete duplicates, editing, showing and sharing the best ones and tossing the rest.
11. Celebrate JOMO (the joy of missing out) instead of FOMO
You can have anything but you can’t have everything — be mindful even about all the awesome experiences out there. Trying out new stuff constantly and taking your free time, travels and weekends to the edge and beyond has not only diminishing returns but leads to overwhelm, less room for wonder, higher superficiality and burnout in the long run. You will always miss out on something; deciding in favor of one activity will automatically eliminate some others and cramming in dozens of exciting things leads to an overall lower level of excitement.
Related: Read more about the celebration of JOMO here.
12. Redefine “sentimental value”
I left this for the end, as it is the hardest but can also be the most freeing step: As the years go by, we all fill our lives with precious memories that we want to hold on to forever: past friends, relationships and also people whom we’ve lost but want to keep alive just a little by holding on to them in any way possible. While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with keeping sentimental items that really make us happy, piling up literal boxes full of memories can also have the opposite effect and weigh heavily on us in the long term. Don’t be afraid of giving or throwing something away that belonged to your mum or a special gift you once valued that no longer serves you. We are not our stuff, and so aren’t the people we’re holding onto. Our memories are intangible and live within us, not in the things we keep.
Read on…
Apart from these personal tips, here is an excellent Reddit-thread with lots of valuable and actionable tips regarding the first steps towards minimalism others took and you can take, too.
The Takeaways
No matter if you start with throwing stuff out, after all, set yourself strict phone habits or redesign your wardrobe, the key takeaways of minimalism are these:
- You are not what you own, wear or do.
- It’s not about owning or not owning, having or not having. It’s about paying attention to our habits and property.
- It’s about active control, instead — the control over how your days go by and what you surround yourself with.
