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Messy Minimalist

A messy person with a minimalist mindset

Minimalism

Minimalism is a sickness | 3 first steps to take

February 13, 2017

So as some of you might know, I’ve been on a huge minimalism kick. (me and the rest of the internet…). But really, it started a little over a year ago, and I’ve really started getting serious about it. After dabbling in it, I now believe it’s a sickness. Minimalism is a self-inflicted sickness that gets better with time (and action). So I wanted to share a little bit about the mental process I’ve been going through as I purge my possessions on my journey toward minimalism.

It started with a feeling of helplessness.

Obviously, it took some time to build up to this, but after accumulating decades of stuff, I began running out of storage. My items began overflowing into my basic living space. Eventually, my kitchen was also my office, my mudroom was my dresser, and my living room was a maze of items that’s probably didn’t even belong in my house. Needless to say, my place was a mess, but that wasn’t the only problem. It was also simply too small for all the stuff.

Normally at this point, I’d just start boxing up items and shoving them into the basement or wherever else I could find out of sight. But this time, those spaces were full. And that’s when it hit me. I felt suffocated. Overwhelmed. I found myself wishing a natural disaster would occur — that something out of my power would come and take care of this problem I’d created. The problem of too much stuff.

This was when I knew I had a problem. I genuinely wished my things would be destroyed. I know how strange that sounds, but this feeling was real. Quite frankly, it still is real. This was the realization I needed to help change the way I saw my possessions. If I was okay with them being destroyed in a natural disaster, then why couldn’t I throw them away or donate them? I later learned, it was because I still saw VALUE in them. I believed that throwing away items was like throwing away money. As a business woman and entrepreneur, this was very hard for me.

So the first step in my journey to minimalism was deciding I was OKAY with throwing away ‘money’. 

Step 1 to Minimalism: Cut your losses

To get over this hurdle, I convinced myself I needed to ‘cut my losses’ on the items. Seriously – I viewed this just like a business transaction. These items were a loss, there was no value to be gained and no benefit to keep them. In fact, they were doing more harm than good, because the mess caused me stress. So thus, my journey began… I started with the low hanging fruit first. Influenced by the KonMari method, I began sorting items into catagories and deciding if they brought ‘joy’ to my life. While I didn’t follow her methods perfectly (and I still don’t), it helped me to feel the gentle release as I let items go.

Sell or donate? How to decide:

Larger pieces of furniture seemed to be harder to donate for me. I think the feeling of value was too great, yet I knew I didn’t want these items in my life. So I started selling the larger items for $30, $50, or $100 each. At first it felt great! But quickly I learned the downside to this method: Selling items takes time, (depending on where you live). So what would happen is I would decide to part with an item, and I’d end up storing it in my house, waiting for it to sell. And while I waited… my momentum slowed. And slowed.. and slowed. I began living my life around the mess of items, just hoping to put $30 bucks in my pocket. That leads to my next step:

Step 2 to Minimalism: Build Momentum

I finally decided the time storing items while waiting for them to sell wasn’t worth the money. For me, momentum was everything. As soon as an item was physically out of my house (in the garbage or dropped off at Goodwill), I felt a new surge of energy. Really, no joke here — It felt AMAZING. Each item out of my life was a release of pressure I didn’t even know was there. Can you imagine that? Imagine strapping 4 bricks to your back, and every time an item leaves, a brick does too. It really was that real to me. After the first few items, I was a woman on a mission. This is the momentum I’m talking about.

Step 3 to Minimalism: Purge, Purge, Purge

This is where the ‘sickness’ comes in. Let the sickness take over you. You’ll know when minimalism has it’s hold on you, because you’ll walk through your space and all you can see are things you DON’T want. My advice is to act on this impulse. If you see something you don’t want – that doesn’t bring you joy – then grab it and put it in a box to donate. Below is a photo of a my current donate tote. These are all items I added TODAY.

minimalism sickness - purge box

 

I try to get the items out of my home as quickly as possible, and once they’re in the trash or donate pile, I don’t pull them back out. Each item is a weight off. I Feel better today than I’ve felt in years, and I still have such a long ways to go.

If you’re interested in following my journey, you can check out my youtube channel: Youtube.com/MessyMinimalist

Minimalism is a sickness | 3 first steps to take was last modified: August 17th, 2017 by Messy Minimalist
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10 comments

Magdalena March 4, 2017 at 10:24 pm

Hi Rachel, I discovered you on you tube. Everything you say in your videos and blog, speaks exactly what I am going through in my decluttering and minimizing journey. I want to thank you for your honesty, as too many declutter/minimalist you tubes tend to already have NO clutter and/or NO excess, thereby are so difficult to relate to….only makes one feel like a failure. Your honesty, sensible tips, and sense of humor makes me more determined to take on my mission without beating myself up.

I’m a corporate accountant that also has a very artistic side and enjoy doing art & DIY on my downtime. So, I tend to be either very organized and neat for work, yet very all over the place when creating…no in between. Lol! At the moment, getting rid of the excess has been a real challenge and I identify so much with you when I’ve had those thoughts about some natural disaster occurring, in order to make the process easier…of course, just fleeting thoughts…I would never wish that upon anyone.

Lastly, I had an AHA moment when you said, “Cut Your Losses.” The Accountant side of me heard that loud and clear!! Just like in business…something can STILL have “value,” but if it’s draining productivity, then it’s time to cut one’s losses and be rid of it. I will now look at those items that I know don’t bring great joy, but still have value; as a Cut My Loss item! 😀

Sorry, for the long comment…just wanted to let you know I am grateful for your blog and you tube…subscribed to both!! 🙂 Looking forward to more!!

Reply
Rachel March 13, 2017 at 8:36 pm

Hi Magdalena! (Do you go by Magda? I knew a Magda once… 🙂 ) Anyway, I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my videos, and thank you for making your way to my blog too. 🙂 It’s a work in progress for sure! The whole ‘cut your losses’ notion was an AHA for me as well, even as I was initially thinking it! It really has changed my views on decluttering’ – though I continue to struggle with it on certain items…! One step at a time, eh? 😉

Reply
Jenny March 9, 2017 at 11:57 pm

Loving your videos- happy to have found you! I am a seasoned anti clutter campaigner, I love it so much my kids always said if there was room in the can on garbage day, I would go back in the house to find something else to toss!
I want to share with you how I deal with mail/paper-so you never have your counter covered with mail again! Your kitchen is too charming to be left like that’
I am a tosser, husband is a keeper- I use an easy system that satisfies us both
you will need a file box or drawer with 12 files, one for each month of the year, and
a half size file box that holds hanging files-for daily/weekly use
1st file is this month
2nd file is last month
then we each have a file, for all those little papers and cards, and inspirations you find
one file for stamps & stickers
When I get the mail- I immediately recycle all junk mail- immediately- in nice weather it doesn’t even make it into the house
everything we need to deal with- bills etc- go in this months file
when we have paid the bill, or dealt with the letters they go into last months
easy
now take last months papers and file them in the 12 month file drawer- weed out all the filler papers and envelopes- the junk
do this every month (even every couple months and you will be fine)
Then after you file your taxes- clean out the 12 month files- shred/burn everything you don’t need to keep- and anything you do need to keep, just keep it right there, in it’s month- personal things get filed under the person’s birth month- so if I am looking for daughter’s immunization record it is safely waiting in February. You might keep something for an extra year and then toss it next time.
Imagine this- Oh no I got a chip in my new windshield- is it still under warranty? You just look in the months file when you got your windshield, and there it is, the warranty slip! And even if you can’t remember which month you only have 12 to look through!
The beauty is you will never ever have more than 12 files- we raised 3 kids using this method and never over flowed our files.
Good Luck- you’re fighting the good fight!

Reply
Rachel March 13, 2017 at 8:31 pm

Jenny – Thank you for this awesome filing tip! I love it. This is one area we REALLY struggle with, so I know once we get a system in place (any system really!) then we’ll be in a lot better shape. We’ll try this one out. 🙂

Thanks and take care!

Reply
Al January 25, 2018 at 7:36 am

I realise this is a late reply to your suggestion (I don’t get on the net much), thanks for your suggestion Jenny, I employed this process last year based on what you wrote. I have a beautiful wooden box and I handmade month dividers for it (my little tip is old board game boards from Op Shops, Tip Shops etc as they are really tough cardboard and stand up well) and this system has worked amazingly, in fact I think I’m better organised than I ever have been and I LOVE not having lots of paperwork. It’s worked so well that I’m starting to use index cards for the months telling me what was happening and things I have to do eg in Sep last year I undertook a massive wardrobe cull of old, holey Winter clothes, I made a reminder to myself for September this year to do the same. I love a particular magazine so I have the reminder in Nov this year for when I need to renew. I am now ruthless with paperwork as I came to understand that piles of paperwork just get out of date, the things I ‘think’ I might do, from catalogues, I don’t, if I REALLY want something, or have to do something I put a reminder in the month that I predict I want/need/will do it. Most of the time I’m finding I get to that month and just discard the reminder. I have reduced my Paperwork to this one box and one cardboard folder with tax, birth certificate etc. I am no longer addicted to paperwork, which is just another hoarding habit, and now I see how our society makes us feel we NEED all this ‘important’ information, which we don’t. And I used to help design and implement recording and filing systems!

Reply
Tracy March 31, 2017 at 2:25 am

Hi Rachel,
When you donate to charity, do you keep track of it so you can claim it for your taxes? I find myself doing this 3-step process:
1. Purge 2. Go back through the boxes and make a list and decide on the value of each item. 3. Type out a list with 4 columns: item name, it’s value, how many I’m donating and the final value. Then I print it out and staple the donation slip onto the list. Although it’s emotionally overwhelming, I’ve been amazed by how much money we’ve been able to claim on our taxes. I decluttered so hard last year that we claimed over $13,000. I realize that’s unusual, but there were a few high value items, and we did drastically change our lifestyle (We went from West coast rambling farmhouse/hobby farm to a East coast city condo, homeschooling to kids in college/married, and 40+ animals to one tiny dog). So when I see you decluttering, I often find myself wondering if you’re keeping track of everything—or am I just a nutcase? 🙂 LOL

Reply
Rachel April 3, 2017 at 4:01 pm

Hey Tracy! We don’t do as good of a job as I’d like! That’s amazing you were able to claim so much! Good for you! 🙂 I was keeping a note on my phone with all the items, then my phone got completely wiped and I lost everything (including a year’s worth of stuff from last year). So I really could use a better system like the one you describe. In fact, thanks for mentioning it to me! That’s the kick in the butt I need to get going on this!


So, did you sell your hobby farm with the animals? What a change that must have been! Sounds like life is a little more easy going for you right now!

Reply
Tracy April 20, 2017 at 10:09 pm

Hi Rachel,
So yes, I AM a nut case. LOL When we moved to the East coast, we had to sell all our animals. We loved our place so much that we decided to keep it by renting it out. We believed we would simply move back in about eight years. But after four years, it has proved to be too expensive to maintain from so far away. We just sold our place. It’s gone. Life is certainly different now, but I miss the beautifully busy days we had there. I just read your post about keeping your motel, and I love your decision. Take care. 🙂

Reply
Allison August 19, 2017 at 3:10 pm

Hi Rachel, I’ve been watching you YouTube channel the past few months, and I just watched your video answering why you’re giving away your things & made my way here via the link you left there. My husband has the business viewpoint, like you did, and HATES when I get rid of anything for free. I don’t mess with his clutter (there’s a lot & it’s very difficult), but even my purging & donating of my things & my children’s things is hard for him to process. How can I get him to see that it’s really just a waste of time to try to sell each individual item? How do I show him that the stuff everywhere is doing nothing good for our family? Even if you don’t have any advice, just know that your videos are so inspiring for me & I will have my own things & my kids things purged regardless.

Reply
Lynn August 19, 2017 at 4:57 pm

I guess I am a visual vs. audio learner because when I listen to your YouTube videos I find my mind starts yelling “Too many words!!!” about half way through, and I have to stop watching. So I came here and I LOVE your written posts! Soooo glad I discovered your blog!

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