This is a time when we have too much of everything — clothes, shoes, gadgets, cars — really, just anything money can buy, we collect. But the funny thing is, it’s not just an overload of physical “things”; we have too much of the internet, too much advertising and way too much information. Instead of it making us confident in what we know or believe, it constantly makes us question ourselves. It constantly makes us feel we do not know enough; resulting in an overload of opinions and confused emotions.

For years, we have tried to make sense of too much exposure by buying more things, but it didn’t necessarily add up, in proportion, to our sense of peace and contentment. Instead, the opposite started happening — we began to realise it was causing us distress not only to make sense of the sheer amount of information thrown at us, but also to clear up the physical clutter we had created in response. Now, we are turning to any concept, philosophy or hack that would just.help.us.declutter. The underlying expectation being that physical decluttering will, somehow, result in mental decluttering. Especially with the background of the pandemic, we have had just so much to process mentally, we are miserable, anxious and plain exhausted. We need space to think and to breathe; we need space from all the “things” we have collected — and the easiest way to declutter your mental space is to declutter your physical space.

I first became interested in minimalism when I found myself turning to online shopping every time I felt stressed or needed something to fill the empty periods during the day. It started with pre-planning of what I might need to buy for the house, or for an upcoming occasion; creating wishlists and waiting for the mega sales. But slowly, it snowballed into scrolling several times a day just to compare products, prices and “update” myself on new launches. I’m a skincare & beauty enthusiast, so I felt it was justified I wasn’t spending on other things and just buying those products. But I was scrolling mindlessly all the time, I was wasting precious time in the day which could have been used doing things which mattered more.

But awareness is the first step to beating a habit, and scrolling is almost like an addiction today — whether its online or offline shopping or social media. So, I started to explore a few different schools of thought on minimalism and decluttering:

Minimalism — which is essentially about owning less and buying things more intentionally. This is the concept that I personally relate to the most; being happy with buying and owning fewer items, and thus, being able to find time for things that matter. Although, I’m far from ideal and have a long way to go, I try to apply this in my daily life — I try to delay any big expenses till I’m sure I need them, I rationalise the number of times I shop, I focus on using what I already have before adding something new.

Marie Kondo’s “Spark Joy” — this concept also helps you declutter by focusing on retaining only the things that “spark joy”, or make you happy. Marie Kondo recommends getting rid of things that no longer spark joy in you. I don’t personally agree with this one because we are very fickle by nature; we tend to get swayed easily by advertisements, peers, deals etc. We forget about most of the things we own, let alone derive joy from them. Getting rid of items only on the basis of deriving joy seems to be slightly superficial as a concept, since we tend to get bored or distracted easily. I would rather be more mindful of bringing something into my house rather than discarding it later on the basis of joy alone. However, what she has pioneered well is how to organise all the stuff in your house, how to travel light and pack better, and I highly recommend her techniques.

Digital Detox or Unplugging — While the first two link happiness directly to physical decluttering, this one talks about turning off the screens to help declutter the mind. It brings attention to the fact that we are over-stimulated by the screens around us which affects our concentration and productivity. Digital detox could thus mean carving out blocks of time in the day where you stay away from screens, or even limit the time spent on social media. This, in turn, would let one have blocks of time dedicated to doing work more deeply and efficiently.

I have discussed minimalism with several close friends and family and their thoughts on the topic. Almost everyone feels caught in the loop of buying too much stuff online, or going for “retail therapy”, or spending too much time on social media. While some feel minimalism sounds great as a concept but is difficult to implement in reality, some feel it may be one of those passing millennial trends, some even feel it’s elitist to a degree (you are literally telling us to like/ subscribe/ share so that you can tell us not to buy things?).

Skepticism aside, I genuinely feel it’s “rad” to be more mindful of your actions and thoughts, and it’s not just another passing “fad”. It’s an opportunity for us to reflect and to change the way we were doing things till now. The inpiration may come in different forms, but you might find what appeals to you — whether it’s decluttering things, or buying less, or making time for things that matter more.

I’m hoping you feel, at least a little, inspired to try a more minimalistic and mindful way of life, hence, I’m sharing some resources that I have personally tried and followed:

The Minimalists — I have been following this duo for a long time and have been greatly influenced by them, their thoughts and their views on a minimalistic life and a minimalistic mind (https://www.theminimalists.com/).

Marie Kondo’s Organising Techniques — Her folding and organising advice is very helpful in maintaining house hold items or packing for travel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjkmqbJTLBM).

Cal Newport — He is a well known professor who often talks about unplugging and digital minimalism. I was very inspired by his book “Deep Work” (https://www.calnewport.com/).

Happy decluttering :)