So, in late 2016, I just got tired, and then inspired.  Like so, so many people, I made a New Year’s resolution. I’d become a minimalist.

I had too much stuff. Too many clothes, clutter, gadgets, cables, accessories for various things, etc, etc.  Just…. stuff. Both at home and at work.

So I started reading Joshua Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus’ “The Minimalists” website, bought one of their books, watched their movie and then moved onto Joshua Becker’s “Becoming Minimalist” website, bought his book.  All highly recommended, if minimalism is an area you are moving into.

And I did. And I like to think I sort of still am. Just not as good as I should be. And now… 2018.

The starting point

So, early 2017, and I dove straight in initially.  As usually recommended, I looked at the things I owned which I really hadn’t used for over a year.

I had too much stuff which I had been storing up for ages, because I have a lot of storage space both at home and work to do so. When you have lots of storage space, the tendency is to use it. And to hoard. Your thinking becomes “One day, I might just use this… badminton set”.  But the thing is – you’ve had it for six years and you haven’t even opened the box it came in when you got it as a Christmas present.

 

So, it is kept, along with other items, in an area underneath, say, a stairwell. Hey, maybe one day, I’ll use it.

And you keep all those items organised.  Whether it is underneath that stairwell, or in a desk drawer, or a closet.  You might trick yourself thinking “There, everything is neat again.”  But organisation isn’t minimalising. It is just moving your stuff around.

I initially dove in and tried to go through items I hadn’t used for over a year, giving away or throwing away clothes, gadgets and all sorts of things.  I announced to my wife, and even some of my friends and colleagues, I had become a minimalist… and I was basically met with extreme bemusement.  Uh-huh.

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

 

One handy recommendation I read (and I cannot remember if it was from the Minimalists or from Josh Becker – they probably both make it) was to take photos of old items which you perhaps had been hoarding onto for no good reason but hold sentimental value. Old toys from your childhood perhaps, or things your grandparents had passed down to you which were just taking up unnecessary space. Doilies. Take a photo/photos of those items as keepsakes and then give/throw away swiftly. It was a great idea. I did it a bit. A little bit.

What happened?

I tried at one point to do what I thought was good after the initial purge. Aim to get rid of one item a day. Just one, and gradually chip away at the rest. I thought it was a great idea. And I started to do it.

But I then faced five things which I ended up struggling with throughout the year:

Kids. It isn’t easy minimalising when you have a 7 and 9 year old to contend with. I had to basically accept the fact that while I could minimalise my own stuff, it was next to impossible to handle their stuff, particularly by daughter, who is the ultimate hoarder.                        

[This is hers to handle…….]

Re-usage. I found stuff which I had forgotten about and then found ways of actually using them. This, on the face of it, might sound good. But in reality, while in a very few minor cases it worked out great, in a lot of cases, it really ended up being an exercise of complete futility. I was just trying to find ways of using stuff I didn’t actually need and to justify their existence as opposed to sending to the dump or elsewhere. Examples: Free backpacks which had been given to me at work conferences, for instance… “Hey, maybe one of my kids could find this handy one day!”.  Or where I discovered, for instance, I suddenly thought… “Hey, I’m going to start drinking tea again!” because I found an old teapot in my office. But I don’t really like tea – I like coffee. So why?

“Overwhelm-itis”.  Even with the mentality of “Just one item per day”, it is easy to slip back into the realm of “Let’s get rid of everything!!” and then you end of getting completely overwhelmed again… very, very easily. An example: I still have a ton of old DVD’s – mostly old TV shows.  I want to keep a small collection of a few shows I really, really do love. But there was a stage in my life, prior to Netflix, when I used to buy DVD’s a lot. A long time ago, I “minimalised” by putting those DVD’s into special binders and throwing away the actual boxes, so they would take up less space. But I figured that now, I didn’t really need all of these shows. I then made a fatal mistake. I went through the process of trying to figure out: “Which of these TV shows are on Netflix, which aren’t, which ones can I download and add to my iTunes library, which ones can I not, should I rip some of them into my iTunes library, or should I just keep them because otherwise, I will never be able to watch them again….. etc”. As things currently stand, I still have all of those DVD’s, because I tried to plunge in and rather than chip away gradually (“Do I need every season of “Friends”?), I’m surrounded by tons of TV shows with no clue.  And the sad truth is that I don’t think I have even watched a DVD in over two years. So…….

Digitalisation. I still hoard.  Music, movies, TV shows and games. Just not physically – but digitally.  Whether within my iTunes library, through Spotify or on my consoles and iPhone, I spend/download tons of stuff – often, particularly in the case of apps and games, when they are on sale.  I now basically need to remind myself of this: when something is on sale and it has been reduced from $60 to $50, I haven’t saved myself $10 – I’ve spent $50. I would say approximately seventy percent of the items I’ve spent money on digitally in the last few years, I haven’t even used/watched etc.  Digitalising my life is simply a new form of clutter.

 

Plain old temptation. Why do I have so many wireless headphones?  I think whenever I walk through an airport, I practically buy a pair, primarily out of sheer boredom. I love music, so I feel like it is all very justified in the back of my mind, but when I get home, I then struggle to find somewhere to fit all this stuff.  And don’t get me started on all of my Nintendo Switch accessories and Amiibos.

Where I have succeeded

I’ve started and tried. And I recognise the need to do it.  I have fewer T-shirts and have bought fewer.  Fewer shoes.  I generally buy fewer clothes.  In my head, I recognise I want to be a minimalist.

I’m a lot more ruthless about getting rid of replacement items.  Where I ‘upgrade’ to a newer model of something, eg a camera for instance, I’ll quickly try to give away the older model to someone.  The question of whether I actually need to upgrade is really subjective.  I personally think it is largely based on one’s real “likes”.  I like photography and recently went on a trip to Antarctica. I wanted to upgrade my camera. That was an important upgrade which I was happy with and it felt justified.

And I’ve accepted that, yes, we all have weaknesses. Or alternatively – I do think there is an argument to be said that, despite trying to be a “minimalist”, that doesn’t mean you should shun things you either genuinely enjoy or indeed, want.  So, ok, I have a few Ryan Adams T-shirts, a Paul McCartney signed lithograph, an Art Pepper jazz alto saxophone, a Fender Stratocaster – items ranging from the cheap to the fairly expensive. Do I need them?  No. But I’m happy to have them.

So now – 2018

It’s a New Year of course. Will I buy a new iPhone? Probably, if I had to guess, though I can’t say for sure. I like to think not, and the existing model is enough I need despite all of its annoyances.  I’ll probably still buy stuff digitally but I’m going to try to exercise greater discretion. I don’t need new jeans. Or new ties for work. And I’ll continue to chip away at the stuff I have to reduce it all down to less.

Because I’m pretty sure I don’t need all these backpacks.