How Minimalism & Decluttering will Change Your Life (but you have to dig deeper)
About 6 months after we decluttered our home for the second time, I was about to QUIT minimalism.
I remember it so well - we had moved and we had even gone through a second phase of decluttering, yet there was still stuff to manage and stuff to put away and stuff to find space for in our new home and somehow stuff was accumulating and it was probably time for a little maintenance decluttering. I started calling myself a minimalist and at the same time started feeling like a fraud - I remember my thoughts and they went a little something like this…
“What the heck is the point of decluttering, anyways? Stuff just re accumulates (if you have kids this is 100 percent true) and you have to declutter again. And sure, it isn’t as much stuff, but still. I guess I’m bad at this minimalism thing. And honestly, it doesn’t seem joyful. Like, worrying about the number of spoons I have or how perfectly tidy my home is all the time is seriously joyless. It’s not me. It’s not what gets me excited about life…
So yeah, probably quitting this whole thing…”
But soon, I dug a little deeper. I read the book Chasing Slow a few months later and realized I was in deep need of applying some grace to minimalism. I realized that minimalism can be legalistic, but it doesn’t have to be. I learned that what makes all the difference is the space you find and what you do with that space.
I realized it doesn’t have to look any certain way and that I don’t have to care what other people are thinking about the way I’m living.
Minimalism is about letting go of that, actually. It’s about making room for what matters to you - it’s about dropping the impressing act and slowing down and moving towards meaning now that you have more space and time to figure out what a meaningful life actually looks like to you. It’s about how a peaceful space doesn’t mean ALWAYS tidy, but it means you don’t have to spend your whole day cleaning up and you can actually spend it doing what matters.
So, start with decluttering but don’t stay there. Move deeper. Minimalism is about the space you find and the life you can live within that space.
The three steps that help us find the space and really dig deep into the version of minimalism that will change our lives:
Start with your environment - so yes, declutter your home. You can do it all at once or find an action plan that will work for you set out over a period of weeks and months. It’s all about what works for you!
Move to simplifying your days - use routines and rhythms to put your days on autopilot when it comes to getting what is most important done, slow down your schedule and stop worshipping busy. Start to make time for what matters to you (realistically, in your current season).
Shift your mindset - Learn how to stop re-accumulating in your home by no longer buying a bunch of junk you don’t need, and embrace the mindset of enough, gratitude, and contentment.
With the newfound space that comes through making these shifts in your life, I fully believe you’ll have time to focus more on what matters to you and less on picking up your house all the time.
This is the exact framework I teach in my online course, Make Room, where I guide you through making room for what matters in your life. We declutter our homes, then our days, and then we work on the deeper, mindset stuff! If your ready to dive in, check out that master course where I’ll walk with you through this process that has fully changed my life (along with so many other mamas!)
But I also have a free resource for you!
Get my free ebook to help you start Making Room in your life today!! Get it now for guidance in decluttering your home, simplifying your days, and decluttering your mental space as well!
I want to leave you with just a few ways minimalism has changed my life:
Before: Stressed out with a newborn and 3 part time jobs equaling more hours than a full time job - none of which I loved
After: Joyful work at home mom - teaching from home and working on creative projects I’m passionate about (like my podcast!)
Before: Completely cluttered home - cleaning up all the time but my house was never clean. I didn’t realize the visual clutter was affecting me so much but it was causing serious anxiety in my everyday life!
After: A home that is easy to clean up and full of only the things we use often and love (not perfect, but perfect for us!)
Before: Living in a four bedroom home we couldn’t afford, in a state far from family.
After: Chose to take a leap and move near family even without jobs because we were able to evaluate what we wanted our lives to be about. Moved into a home half the size but feel so much more space and joy.
I’m more creative, I’m happier, life feels lighter, even on the hard days. I won’t pretend like life is perfect and every day is easy. Mom life is still hard. We still have struggles. But I’m not dealing with extreme anxiety and overwhelm on top of the regular, everyday struggles that motherhood brings.
If I could recommend one thing to new mamas, I recommend living with less. Because with less, Peace really is possible in motherhood. We really can experience joy, daily. And we can live lighter and happier, focused on what matters.
Again, I’m here to walk through that life change with you and help you find the realistic version of minimalism that works for you and your family.
