Minimalism is a term that we’re starting to hear more and more these days, and it’s a direct result of the overconsumption that is causing problems all over the world. With the focus now on doing everything we can to reduce our impact on the environment, minimalism makes more sense than ever before as we attempt to cut down on the amount we own and the amount that we throw away every year.
Having said that, it isn’t the easiest lifestyle to adopt, especially if you grew up in a household where items and possessions were regarded as signs of wealth and success.
Becoming a minimalist doesn’t imply that you’re neither wealthy nor successful, but rather that you don’t feel the need to possess items that you don’t require in order to live your life on a daily basis. With that in mind, these are some of the benefits to cutting down on the stuff you own.
1. Better Health
While it may seem like a leap to associate less stuff with better health, many feel that the burden of purchasing items, maintaining them, and the pressure of having the latest gadget or utensil on the market leads to one thing: stress.
Stress is an important factor to consider when looking at what you own, and although we often tend to shrug stress off as not that important, stress can have extreme effects on our overall health. Stress has been linked to inflammation, for example, which can be linked further to such problems as heart disease or cancer.
2. More Freedom
Possessions often tend to anchor a person to the place that they’re living in. The more stuff you own at home, the harder it is for you to maybe one day find a new place to live. It can also affect how you travel: the more items you believe you need to travel, the more that you will need to lug around with you when you’re boarding a train or bus.
It’s also linked to buying items that you don’t necessarily need, which we often do in order to impress our relatives, friends, or co-workers.
Finding a way to eliminate this need can help you experience a much larger degree of freedom at home, and less pressure to always have the best of the best, and allowing you to enjoy more things, such as new shows or online pokies NZ.
3. More Time
When we think of minimalism, we often tend to think that it pertains only to physical items, but this isn’t the case. It’s an entire change of lifestyle, which can extend to how you spend your time.
For example, if you take your day planner or calendar, and for one week decide to wipe both clean and play it by ear, you may find that you will feel less stress due to the reduced time constraints, and that you will be able to explore other hobbies and activities that you would otherwise have missed if you stuck to your schedule.