3195: Practical Minimalism for Busy People by Jennifer of SimplyFiercely on Simple & Intentional Living

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[00:00:58] That's WonderfulPistachios.com. It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily episode 3195,

[00:01:06] Practical Minimalism for Busy People by Jennifer of SimplyFiercely.com and I'm Justin Malek.

[00:01:13] Happy Monday and welcome to the old podcast, the OLD podcast, Optimal Living Daily, where I read

[00:01:19] to you like a big ongoing audiobook but from many different authors. Today's post being from

[00:01:25] Jennifer of Simply Fiercely. Now let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:34] Practical Minimalism for Busy People by Jennifer of SimplyFiercely.com.

[00:01:41] I've been learning about the minimalist lifestyle for nearly a decade now and during that time my

[00:01:46] life has changed a lot. Right now I work for myself so I have a lot of flexibility with how

[00:01:51] I spend my time and energy. Of course I still have a lot of responsibilities, motherhood and

[00:01:56] self-employment both keep you busy, but overall there's a lot of breathing room in my everyday

[00:02:01] life. I'm so grateful for this space because I know what a gift it truly is. At various times in

[00:02:07] my life I've been on the other side working 50, 60, and even 70 plus hour weeks just to make ends meet.

[00:02:15] I've done the long commute, I've juggled multiple jobs, and I know how it feels to be truly busy

[00:02:21] and exhausted. I know that for some of you hearing this being busy and exhausted is still your

[00:02:27] reality. You're tired and you know you need simplicity in your life but with everything

[00:02:32] going on you have no time or energy to get started. It's an unfortunate cycle that keeps you

[00:02:38] stuck right? If this sounds familiar then I wrote this post for you. Here are three practical ways

[00:02:44] you can start simplifying your life even without a lot of time or energy to spare. No time to

[00:02:50] declutter? Do this instead. Almost every blog post about simple living or minimalism encourages you

[00:02:57] to start by decluttering. This isn't bad advice, decluttering will help you simplify your life,

[00:03:03] but if you're busy focusing on decluttering can actually keep you stuck. Why? Because even if you

[00:03:10] break it down into small tasks at the end of the day it's still a big job. When you already have a

[00:03:15] lot on your plate, decluttering and therefore simplifying your life often ends up in the too

[00:03:20] hard basket. It becomes something to do one day when you finally have more time. Of course the

[00:03:27] next thing you know weeks, months, or even years pass and nothing has changed. The good news is

[00:03:33] there is one very important thing you can do right now to simplify your life and it takes no time.

[00:03:39] In fact it actually saves you time. Stop shopping for things you don't need. Ultimately making this

[00:03:46] change is so much more than decluttering. It's not as sexy, I know it's more exciting to think about

[00:03:51] a Pinterest-worthy minimalist home, but I promise you if you're more concerned with how your life

[00:03:56] feels on the inside than how it looks on the outside then this is a powerful place to start.

[00:04:02] As you learn to be a mindful consumer you start thinking differently about your stuff.

[00:04:07] This mindset shift is essential for minimalism and if you take time to nurture it you'll find

[00:04:13] decluttering so much easier when you finally have the time to tackle it. Lay the foundations

[00:04:18] for intentional living. Over the years the biggest lesson I've learned about minimalism

[00:04:23] is that it has less to do with what you own and everything to do with living with intention.

[00:04:29] Part of this process involves questioning how your things, everything from your physical

[00:04:32] possessions to your time commitments, add value to your life. Why do you do the things you do?

[00:04:39] Why do you own the things you own? Cultivating the habit of asking these questions is something you

[00:04:44] could start doing right now even if you don't have the time or capacity to follow up with action.

[00:04:50] Practice anyway so you can learn more about yourself and why your life is busy and cluttered

[00:04:55] in the first place. Why are you always working late? Why do you spend so much time on your phone?

[00:05:01] Why do you own so many clothes? Admittedly asking these questions takes a lot of mental energy,

[00:05:06] something that's often in short supply when you're busy, but I promise that it's worth making the

[00:05:11] effort. It's all part of cultivating an intentional mindset and the more you practice the easier it

[00:05:17] will become. With time you'll develop a better understanding of the root cause of the clutter

[00:05:22] in your life and this is essential for clearing it. Think of it this way, if you don't know the

[00:05:27] cause of your problem then how can you truly go about solving it? Every minute matters. Finally I

[00:05:34] know that when we're busy it's easy to convince ourselves that there's no point in starting small.

[00:05:39] I don't have time to work out or read or eat healthy or simplify my life right now. I'll do it

[00:05:44] later when I have more time. Sound familiar? I know I've said some version of this statement more times

[00:05:50] than I could possibly count, but as James Clear wrote in his book Atomic Habits, quote,

[00:05:55] every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become, end quote. In other

[00:06:01] words everything we do matters. If you want to simplify your life don't be afraid to start small.

[00:06:08] Even when you're busy can you find just five minutes to work towards creating the life you

[00:06:12] want most? This might look like unsubscribing from one email, decluttering one t-shirt, or even just

[00:06:18] spending five minutes sitting in silence. If you're not sure where to begin keep it simple.

[00:06:24] Look around you. What's one thing that's not adding value to your life and how can you let go?

[00:06:30] If all you have is five minutes that's okay. Start small with any of the ideas in this post

[00:06:35] and I can guarantee you that if you keep showing up it will make a difference. On the other hand

[00:06:41] waiting for the perfect time when you're finally less busy is an almost guaranteed way to put off

[00:06:46] living your best life. I know it can be hard but I promise you it's worth it. You just listen to

[00:06:57] the post titled Practical Minimalism for Busy People by Jennifer of simply fiercely.com and I'll

[00:07:03] be right back with my commentary. Thank you Jennifer. I'd have to agree the root of the

[00:07:09] problem with clutter is not the current clutter as strange as that seems but it's the buying of

[00:07:14] unnecessary things in the first place. Now I don't think I can say I'm a minimalist per se. I like to

[00:07:20] say I'm a minimalist in progress for life but I'm definitely not a shopper. You'll usually only see

[00:07:26] me shopping when I'm trying to solve a specific issue and more often than not my shopping involves

[00:07:31] consumables which isn't really clutter unless it's expired. But anyway yes clutter right now can be

[00:07:38] contributing to clutter in your brain. It can be affecting your mood and happiness but first if

[00:07:43] those items weren't purchased and brought into your home in the first place this wouldn't be a

[00:07:47] problem. And second if you stop bringing in new items then slowly it is likely that the old ones

[00:07:53] will start getting donated or sold or thrown away you name it and slowly the clutter will disappear

[00:07:59] over time if you're not bringing in new things. You can even implement a one-in one-out rule

[00:08:05] or even better one-in two-out or three or four or five out rule for every one where whenever you buy

[00:08:12] something non-consumable like some clothes for example you have to get rid of that many articles

[00:08:17] of clothing that same day. It's a simple trick to keep things under control or even stop you from

[00:08:22] buying in the first place but figure out what works for you if you're trying to minimize at least.

[00:08:27] Thank you for listening every day and optimizing your life with me. Have a great start to your

[00:08:31] week and I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.