A while back I saw a video by a YouTube influencer, Matt D’Avella.
Actually, several videos.
Like rabbit hole video in-depth watching.
Why, might you ask?
Because my office desk….and place I sit at the kitchen island. Both have become cluttered with paperwork, games I want to play, books I’m in the process of or want to read…you get the idea.
The problem is, putting all these things away takes on that adage, “Out of sight, out of mind” and I’ll never think to look for them again…until next time I want to declutter the drawers or cupboards they got stuffed inside.
So, hunting for solutions to this age-old problem became my area of intense interest. And quite the pleasant experience for my monotropic, “let’s do this instead of ‘work’” brain.
In the midst of this search frenzy, I realized something very important.
It wasn’t about “decluttering”, per se, but about changing perspective. It was realizing what was what I hadn’t yet embraced as a habit yet.
My world wasn’t really as “minimalist” as I thought.
But I needed to reframe what that actually meant. Then I found part of the deeper issue. It was what I defined as “minimalism”. And what I discovered what was it wasn’t.
Minimalism isn’t about the “stuff”…it’s about the attitude towards the “stuff”…
Minimalism is really about making room for my mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being. It’s about choosing to focus on my personal life and let go of the clutter that has crowded my perspective.
I enjoy embracing a simpler way of living and truly appreciating what I already have. For me, it’s also about being intentional with my time, instead of constantly filling every moment with busyness.
The real questions about simplifying life comes down to these questions:
- What do I need to be really happy?
- How do I want to spend my time?
- What are the things I can let go of?
Minimalism helps to find clarity when things get messy. It gives a framework, a way to slow down, a reminder to keep coming back to the things that matter most.
Minimalism helps to find clarity when things get messy.
But that idea has become distorted…
Hollywood stars and ultra wealthy people display rooms filled with, frankly, nothing. Empty rooms, boring color themes, and lifeless display of houses and color coordinated cars to match the dead colors of the house.
Emptiness – whether filled with multi-million dollar furniture, or Big Lots discount, cheap knock-offs – is still emptiness. A house doesn’t need to look like a showcase, model home. It should have life in it. It should display the personality and essence of the individual occupying its space.
Discarding everything just to have empty space shows openly the lifelessness within the person living there. The emptiness outside is just a projection of what is on the inside.
So what really does minimalism mean?
Minimalism is a simple way to view life. It replaces complexity and fills it with the basic necessities for comfortable living.
What’s really important isn’t how your space looks…
You don’t need to spend a fortune, and honestly, you shouldn’t have to! What’s really important isn’t how your space looks, but how comfy, practical, and stress-free it feels. Does it bring you a sense of peace and calm inside, or is it making you feel anxious and pressured to keep up with some imagined “perfect” space or what an influencer might suggest?
I wrote about living simply, what simple living used to look like, and about how the very concept of simplicity starts in your thoughts. They are all connected.
But what I’ve realized is that even though it looks like such a simple way of life from the outside, there’s actually something really important needed in order to truly live that way.
It must have a focus ‑ a priority…
For me, that’s just how I see things—it’s my whole life, really.
In this crazy, fast-changing world, there’s so much pressure to fit into someone else’s mold. Sometimes it’s hard to keep in mind that we’re not all the same.
We’re each one-of-a-kind—our lives, our ideas, everything about us is different.
And that’s actually a good thing! It means we can find ways to make our lives more peaceful and less chaotic, based on what works best for YOU, not what someone else thinks it should be.
Practical examples:
Putting this into a practical exercise isn’t easy. But I found the key for myself was to create a simple budget and sticking to it.
I’ve learned to buy my essentials online—dropping items into my basket and then taking a step back to see if I really need them before committing. Plus, with tariffs and shipping costs, it’s become tougher to buy things I don’t genuinely need, since it ends up costing more than I can spend. So now, I stick to shopping in physical stores for my list items—nothing more, unless I’ve set aside some extra cash for a little treat.
I’m not a fan of using services like InstaCart because it adds expenses I’d rather avoid. Also, when it comes to fresh foods, I prefer selecting them myself since I know I can check their quality firsthand—something that’s hard to guarantee when someone else is doing the shopping for me, especially if they’re juggling multiple orders under a tight deadline.
Streamlining life…
My life and what I put into it is important. Whether that is what I consume online, purchase for my spaces, what I put on my body, the time I spend, and even what I eat has become much more streamlined.
Meals are pretty simple around here. I don’t stick to strict menus because my cravings and favorite foods change from day to day. I’m not a big fan of prepackaged meals—they don’t feel very “simple” to me, plus I don’t have control over the ingredients since those are chosen by the company’s buyers.
I prefer to keep things natural—no heavy flavored sauces. I think the true taste and texture of fresh ingredients are part of what makes cooking enjoyable and straightforward. I buy the basics and build my meals around those few items.
Extras like bread or desserts are just treats when I feel like it, not everyday necessities. If I really want something made from flour, I’m happy to put in the time to make it myself. Otherwise, I can easily skip it or make a simplified rendition, like one or two small flatbreads cooked like pancakes.
Clothes don’t need to be flashy or fancy. Honestly, I tend to wear the same outfit more than once, unless it’s super hot outside. Living out in the country takes the pressure off of dressing to impress the neighbors—practicality is what matters most to me. Plus, I usually buy my clothes from resellers or overstock stores, so I rarely have to pay full price.
Life shouldn’t be so complicated…
Shopping used to be such a fun, all-day outing with my family every two weeks. I’d often find myself distracted, eyeing all the items marked “on sale” while waiting for someone else to finish their shopping. Sometimes I’d end up buying things that weren’t even on my list, and before I knew it, I’d come home with more than I really needed!
Since shopping with someone else could be so stressful, I’d usually get a little dopamine boost that made me feel okay about overspending. I didn’t even realize that was happening until I started going to the store alone instead of tagging along with them.
I don’t buy convenience items unless I have to.
Now I only head out once a month to do all my shopping. Since it’s just me, I tend to visit one store each day at the start of my paycheck, and then the rest of the month is free for me to handle chores and business work at home. This way, I avoid the hassle of traffic, crowds, and all those little inconveniences, because I no longer have to cram everything into one trip.
It’s made things much calmer, saving me time and stress, and overall, life feels a lot simpler and more enjoyable.
I don’t buy convenience items unless I have to. I reuse paper that had been printed on but no longer relevant, and create smaller note papers with rounded corners for jotting down quick ideas, or lists of things that need to be done or remembered. Clothing that is worn out is cut into smaller pieces for dust rags and dirty work. Old towels that are still usable but are beginning to fray or have holes in them are used as “dog towels” – towels for dirty cleanup, dirt catchers for entryways, etc.
Keeping up with maintenance on my older car prevents bigger expenses down the road. And I don’t have the costs associated with the newer models, complete with their fully computerized and electronic gadgets that make it seem convenient – until they break.
All these little things and much, much more have prevented the burden of money worries, time management woes, and fear of transportation disruptions.
Seeing the world more simply…
If I don’t take the time to prioritize my own life, I’d probably stay stuck where I was before. Just clearing out the unnecessary clutter from the busy, noisy world around me really helps keep things simple and minimalist. I only bring in what I genuinely need, and I don’t buy things just because they look pretty.
Once I got into this habit, shopping became a lot easier—focusing only on what’s truly necessary and understanding what I can do without.
I never really miss out on the extras. When I was a kid, I’d get creative and make whatever I dreamed of owning. It might not have looked perfect, but it did the trick. Now that I’m an adult, I get to do the same thing all over again, and I love it!
Cheaper options are not always the best quality, but where they shine is when they fill the gap for disposable, temporary, or items that won’t get heavy wear. They can replace the more expensive alternatives from brick and mortar or the main online marketplace. Notebooks, pens, pencils, art supplies – the small things that make one’s world a bit nicer can be purchased from them.
That allows me to save money on less important items, and use it to buy better quality for the things that need to last.
When I go to a store now, I don’t go out of my way to look for anything that isn’t on my list. If I forgot to put something on my list, or missed buying it and it is a necessity (like cat food…the cats would definitely let me know if they were out of their favorite treats…loudly), then I can buy it on a later date. Otherwise, it can go on next shopping period’s list.
In conclusion…
So minimalism isn’t about getting rid of “stuff”. It’s about getting rid of a consumerism mindset. It’s about putting priorities on what is absolutely necessary to be comfortable.
Turning off the social media, television and radio, stop reading the newspapers, and throw out the colorful catalogs that always appear magically in your mailbox is the beginning of controlling just how much you consume.
Then focus on your life. Stop and listen to your inner needs without all the distracting clutter and noise around you. Purposefully choose to spend time just in silence. Find out what gives you peace, and what causes your angst.
Take a moment to sort through your belongings, your thoughts, and what you really need versus what you can let go of. Begin to put that life plan into action! Think about the things you might be able to live without—have you ever bought something just because marketing convinced you it was necessary, even if you didn’t truly want or need it? Once you identify what’s been holding you back from embracing a more minimalistic lifestyle, you can start building a simpler, more peaceful way of living with habits that keep you moving forward.
Share your thoughts and ideas with us. Send us your story of how you’ve come to simplify your cluttered world. We can all learn ideas we hadn’t thought of from each other.