Every time there is a movement for something, there will be a movement against it soon enough. Extremes are never healthy in the long run. As my husband likes to say – we need to hold things in tension. Otherwise, we will always swing from one extreme to another (eg. switching from eating vegetarian to the Carnivore Diet).
If you are old enough, you would remember the 1980s as the age of excess – big hair, big shoulder pads, big cars, big houses. But now there is a pushback – everyone is trying to downsize and the minimalist movement is big. I guess this could be due to the fact that the global economy isn’t doing very well too.
Minimalism a Catchword
Minimalism has become a catchword. It is trendy to be a minimalist. Two names come up when we talk about being minimalist and decluttering – Joshua Becker and his book The Minimalist Home: A Room-By-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life and Marie Kondo and her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A Simple, Effective Way to Banish Clutter Forever.
[By the way, is it only me or do you find her thanking every item you are going to throw out really creepy?!]
In Singapore, with the size of our houses constantly shrinking, many have to practice minimalism too in order to stay in a livable place.
A Ruthless Minimalist
You could say that I am a minimalist. A ruthless one if you ask my family members. But (as you can tell from the title of this blog post) it is not by choice.
There are nine people in our HDB apartment that is roughly 1,500 sq ft. Unlike those who live in houses, we have no attic or basement. And while most HDB flats have a storeroom or a bomb shelter that doubles up as a storeroom, our maisonette does not. We had to create a very small one under our staircase.
This means that if I let everyone buy and keep everything that catches their fancy, we will be sleeping on top of our clutter soon enough.
A Minimalist But Not By Choice
And so, we are all forced to be minimalists by our circumstances because there just isn’t space. Everything we have should serve at least one function. Keeping things for “just because” or “just in case” holds no water with me.
It becomes clutter which occupies space and needs to be dusted. Having sensitive skins and noses means anything that catches dust needs to be eliminated. I have no time or energy to spend on dusting “just because” and “just in case” things.
Even when neatly “organized”, stacks of books or piles of bags laid by the walls annoy me because I have to vacuum around it. And yes, these also gather dust.
And so, it is rather gratifying to read posts like The Unbearable Burden of Clutter and It’s Science: Clutter Can Actually Give You Anxiety, describing how clutter is a heavy burden – especially to women and how it can cause depression. I am now even more motivated to keep clutter at bay, remembering that one cannot organize clutter.
Benefits of Being Clutter-Free
Keeping the house as clutter free as possible is not only mentally freeing, it also has a side benefit of allowing me to go about my housework faster and more efficiently. And yes, there will be fewer things to dust.
Just how much clutter should one eliminate is personal. But in my opinion, if you have to move things around to get to another item, or to clean, you have too much clutter.
How to Find the Motivation?
What if you agree that you need to declutter but lack the motivation to do so?
a) External Motivation
Well, if you are someone who needs external motivation to get going, I suggest making use of festive periods like Christmas and Chinese New Year to declutter. After all, many other people are spring cleaning to prepare their homes for house visits and parties so there is also peer pressure motivation.
The start of a new school year is another helpful external motivating factor. If you do not declutter your children’s stash of school books and stationery how are you going to fit in the current year’s supply?
b) Start Small
But if avoid decluttering because you are overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, I suggest just decluttering your bedside table or a corner of the room you spend the most time in. Why? Seeing just one area neat and clutter-free can be the best motivator of all. Set your timer for 5 – 15 minutes and go!
Flylady has her 27 Fling Boogie while the Organize in 5 Diary has an online course that tells you where and how to declutter daily for just 5 minutes a day.
Sustainability?
Let’s now talk about sustainability. Sometimes it is easy to summon up some energy and attack the clutter in our rooms or on our table but maintaining it is our challenge.
This is where one touch rule very helpful.
One Touch Rule
Once your room or house has been decluttered, implement the One Touch Rule, ie you touch everything just once. For example, mail. When you open your mailbox, immediately throw away the junk mails. Don’t even bring it into your house to be discarded later. If it is something you need to take action on, say an invitation to a wedding. Key in the date and venue and whatever notes you may wish to add in your planner, digital or paper and throw that invite away.
Same with groceries or laundry. Put them away immediately and get your children to help if possible. Don’t leave them on the kitchen counter or on a chair and say “I will get to them later”.
The whole idea is to not to shift things from one place to another and another and then finally (if at all) have it put into its rightful place. As far as possible, touch all things just once.
Reminder
Do remember that after a successful decluttering exercise, do NOT fill your cupboards and bookshelves up again!
And don’t procrastinate on this. Your health – mental and physical – will thank you for doing this.
Resources
Flylady
Clutter Bug
Becoming Minimalist
Related Posts
Time to Declutter Again
Decluttering: A Regular Exercise to Contain the Mess
Teaching Our Children to Declutter
2 Comments on Minimalist But Not By Choice
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Hello Serene,
Before the month of January ends, I’d like to wish you and your family a blessed new year.
Coincidentally, I chanced upon a post on FB regarding Marie Kondo, and a Netflix series based on her and her minimalist ideas.
Your post also got me thinking of teaching my children to de-clutter. And yes, it seems that children have a natural instinct to hoard. I know mine do! 😉
Anyways, thank you for writing. And I hope that your motivation to continue writing is stronger as the year progresses. It really does amaze me how you always find the relevant topics to write on each Week. I look forward to reading your input on the upcoming CNY period.
Best,
Michele
Hi Michele! Blessed New Year to you and yours, too! I think we are ALL hoarders if left to our own devices! A friend with just 2 boys has stuff everywhere in her 3-storey house while a distant relative, with an even bigger house and 2 grown-up boys, has the same issue with stuff overflowing out of her cupboards and shelves the last time I visited! So it is really not the space we have but the need to control clutter. All the best teaching your children to declutter!