How Minimalism Gives Less Stress and More Clarity {The Benefits of Minimalism Part 1}

How Minimalism Gives Less Stress and More Clarity

Minimalism = Less Stress & Anxiety

The link between clutter and anxiety is gaining awareness in our stuff-filled culture. One of the benefits of Minimalism means less stress, anxiety, and depression in your life. The home flows better; things are easy to find, there is no longer time wasted searching for keys, bills or lost money.
In general, embracing minimalism means that you have less to take care of, and thus spend less time taking care of it. Cleaning the house, doing the laundry, washing the dishes all take-up time, but when you streamline what you have, they take up less time.
Before embracing minimalism, so much of my mental space was taken up with “shoulding” myself: “I should dust the pictures, I should do the dishes, I should clean out the garage…” I rarely ever did any of it, but I thought about it all the time. Which meant that I was always berating myself for not accomplishing any of it, I lived in fear of someone dropping by, because, they might see how we truly live. I was sure I was the only mother that couldn’t keep my act together.
Discarding so many physical possessions and making the home simple, easy to keep clean, meant I actually had time on my hands. It meant that if someone stopped by, there wasn’t much out of place. And if I invited someone over, it took 10-15 minutes to get the house tidy and company ready.
I no longer felt that I was incapable.
If the kids invited someone over, I didn’t get embarrassed that they would see our home as a mess.
I felt calmer, and in control. I could take on extra projects or volunteer to take dinner to a sick friend because I was no longer overwhelmed with trying to manage the excess.
 

Minimalism = More Clarity

Minimalism gives emotional stability. If you clear away the clutter and deal with the painful emotions of getting rid of something, it does your heart good.

That may mean getting rid of a sentimental item, which conjures up unpleasant feelings, and it may mean forgiving someone that has wronged you. Minimalism isn’t just an outside activity; it’s letting go of emotional clutter as well.

As you shift your mindset when looking at material items, you will start to evaluate if something deserves the space in your home that it takes up. If the item doesn’t fit your vision for your life, and you discard it, your vision becomes clearer.
Too often we keep things out of obligation, not because we actually like the item. We may even hang pictures on the wall or display a knickknack when we dislike it. Most of us also have things in our home that we resent people giving to us. Family heirlooms may be more of a burden than anything else.
Allowing yourself the opportunity to think through the purpose of each item in your life and evaluate if you want them there or not, means you also have to walk through the emotions that are there as well.
If we keep an item from Grandma, but we don’t like the article, we are not disrespecting her by letting the item go, but instead, we learn to treasure her memory and let go of the material things that we do not cherish.

Minimalism = Life, More Efficient 

How many times have you are searched for lifehacks, to make your homes and life run smoother?
Minimalism is the most significant life hack for the parent of a busy family. Having only the amount of dishes needed for one meal, forces efficiency. It means that the dishes need to be done after the meal, and it also means that it only takes a couple of minutes to actually do the dishes.
Because minimalism affects every area of your home and life, it enhances efficiency in every way.
When you streamline every area of the home, it makes daily and weekly maintenance a breeze. To test how much time I spend on maintenance chores, I timed myself with the ATracker app. I found that I spent 4 minutes a day on laundry, 20 minutes a day on dishes, and 10 minutes a day cleaning the house. And yes, we had five children living at home when I did it.
Clear surfaces are so calming and helpful, and when there is space in the cabinets and cupboards, it’s easy to put things where they belong.
There is no need for more organizational tools and containers, but instead, your home becomes enough. Things are easy to find and easy to put away. You will no longer have to go and find stuff for the kids (well, this depends on their personality), but you will be able to tell them exactly where it is at and know that it will be there.

How Minimalism Benefits series:

About Rachel Jones

Hi there! I’m Rachel Jones, and I founded Nourishing Minimalism in 2012 at the beginning of my minimalist journey. If you're looking for encouragement in your journey, I created a FREE Facebook Group - feel free to join me there: Nourishing Minimalism Facebook Group and I share videos each week on YouTube

1 Comment

  1. Jason McFadden on 10/10/2017 at 2:59 pm

    Good points. I recently did some web spelunking to find scientific studies that confirm (or deny) the direct link between clutter and stress. Sure enough, there are several case studies. Mess causes stress, anxiety, etc. Most people just know this anecdotally from experience. There’s a large niche of the blogosphere talking about Minimalism so one would think there is definitely something to it.
    Thanks for sharing your clutter clarity!

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