Life

Minimalism – How to Start Today?

This is a tiny but the most important part of my recent TEDx talk happening last Saturday.

It’s a brief and practical guide to handle your clutter.

How can you start to practice minimalism in your life today?

Don’t worry because minimalism doesn’t start with throwing away all your stuff. It starts with your mindset.

Start with assessing your life. Know your priorities and key values. List them down if you must.

Existing stuff

Question every item that you have around you. Touch everything you have and ask them, “What are you doing in my life? What value do you give to me? Do I really need you? Have I used you frequent enough?”

Sometimes you never realize that you still keep things that are broken and can no longer be used. Throw them away!

Things that are still good – you can sell or donate.

Potential buy

Also, question every item that you’re planning to buy.

The fundamental questions of wanting and owning stuff – Do I really need this? Is this really me? Is this just an impulse? Will it make me happy in the long run, or is it just the temporary adrenaline of buying new things? Am I doing this to compensate other lacking in my life? Am I doing this just to impress others or because I’m jealous of others?

Often, after questioning yourself, you will be happy to walk away.

Non-physical clutter

Minimalism is to be practiced not just with material possessions but also to non-physical clutter.

Question things that you do, your commitment, your routine, question how you spend your time and who you spend time with.

A life-long journey

The best approach is – if we can brutally eliminate other things that are not our priority. I understand that it is not that easy. Narrowing down our priorities itself is really a journey. I don’t do it in one night.

But once you start to practice minimalism, you can appreciate all the benefits and eager to practice it more.

Trust me!

Life

Is Minimalism Extreme and Radical?

Friends and family that know my minimalism journey always ask me.

“A’ishah, how do you know when to stop de cluttering OR how minimum is finally minimal and ideal? Is it living with only 100 items? Is it living on a backpack? Does it means you can’t own a car, a house and kids?”

Oh boy..

Owning less things is only the result of minimalism but what minimalism really is – the key – is knowing and consistently evaluating our priorities so we can strip away the excess stuff.

Yes, there are guidances of how many things you should need in order for you to live functionally or practically but everyone’s priorities are different. What is necessary and what is considered excess are also different.

It’s fun to know (read blog and watch Youtube) on how people live with their minimum stuff. How many shoes and clothes they have. What are the furnitures they live with. What are the thing they can live without. That can be your inspiration. Also, it goods to know that you’re not alone in this journey.

However, after all, you just need to ask yourself about You. If you are pressured to follow certain minimalist on how they live their life, I guess it beats the purpose of minimalism itself.

For example, a minimalist painter might need 48 colors of acrylic paint while for us who don’t paint at all, why do we keep at home even one color?

I need shawl, 5 or 6 because I wear hijab on daily basis. A boy who only wear scarf during his winter travel once every three years might not need it as much as I do.

So, is minimalism extreme and radical? The answer is NO.

Life

Minimalism with Kids

This is a broad subject to be discussed, but today I want to share what I keep at home for the kids.

A box of toys

Most of them are from Happy Meals. Also, a nerf gun, little ponies and Lego. We haven’t bought any toys for the longest time (except Happy Meals which are free) It was hard at first because I was used to always give my kids what they want. Now, whenever we go to the groceries or supermarket, I will let them buy one item each with a capped price (to still give them the freedom of choice to shop) and luckily it’s always ice-cream, yogurt, lollipops or soda.

Art supply

H loves art so much. So, we have glue and scissors, art block, color pencils, crayons and watercolor which we take out to use almost every day.

Clothing

I never count their clothes but basically, both of them have double of what I have. I believe that they are still minimal because A will have no pants at the end of the week if I don’t do any laundry in between. A & H only have one pair of footwear each at my place. They have more when they are with their father.

Books and workbooks

I’m still in the process of de-cluttering these so we still have many books on the shelves. I realize that we actually don’t need so much. Earlier this month, I pick two workbooks for each of them and decided to only focus on that books, I hide all the other workbooks. The result is better, we are more consistent to do the workbooks together than when we think we have more choices and resources.

Gadgets

We don’t have TV at home. The kids have one hand phone each where they watch Youtube, listen to songs and play Minecraft and other games (A also plays Fortnite, Mobile Legend, and Roblox). H loves to use her phone to take pictures. The phones are always their babysitter when the situation is out of my control – and this is not a confession.