My attempt to be a Minimalist

 

This book caught my attention as I was strolling the library. I already had the desire to be a minimalist - this book was the reminder and the push that I needed to get started.

They say that your workplace tidiness reflects your mind.

~Or at least that's how I feel.

A constant theme in my life recently has been being too distracted and not prioritizing well. I feel like I'm missing out on the things that are the most important to me (My mother, my partner, my son, etc.). One cause of this is the mess and accumulation of possessions in the house, especially in my workspaces. These distractions stray me from my loved ones (they probably affect my loved ones too), my hobbies, and being productive. Instead of the home being a place to rest and spend time with family, it can turn into a zoo of distractions, especially with the abundance of technology and smart devices. I find it sad that these days we consider laying down on the couch on our own devices as time spent together (at least in my household). I wish that we could live without having to depend on these devices. Each room in the house should serve a purpose, and the objects in that room should reflect that purpose.

I've been going to the library a lot recently and a lot of the time I feel better than being at home just because I don't have so many of my possessions there to distract me. It's easier to write my blog posts in the library as opposed to my house, and I almost exclusively write in my journal outside of the house. At home, I'm on my laptop with various tabs open and files on my desktop, all because I want to do so many things at once. Not to mention that in my physical workspace, there are various papers and objects too. Here in the library I use the public computer which has a time limit of 60 minutes, which is plenty for me to write in my blog. There may be a lot of things in the library, BUT they are not my things and they all serve a purpose within a library.

In the Minimalist Home, Joshua Becker talks about the effects of having a living space with clear counters and organized drawers and spaces. He dedicates each chapter to specific spaces in the house, which I really appreciated as it gets the reader to focus on one space at a time. That's what I need to do, and I may not follow the exact order that he suggests, rather what is most practical during this transition time in my life. I feel like during this time I should unpack a lot of things that I didn't unpack during my studying and working years. That's why I've been writing so much recently. I'm also happy to have steered towards revisiting past hobbies and activities from when I was younger such as reading and playing chess.

I truly believe that having the house thoroughly cleaned and organized will help bring my family together more and allow us to spend more quality time together. I say help because there are other factors that would bring us together that are currently works in progress.

I personally get so distracted and just frustrated being in the house with so many things just lying on the tables and counters. I subliminally feel this pressure to do so many things in the house (not just clean, but also different projects and that's why many objects are being held onto or are just laying there to "remind me/us"). I think that's why I long to be out of the house a lot of the time or I simply feel better being outside the house. Perhaps that's one reason why I like to travel so much. 

I've been wanting to clean the house for years (as stated on my whiteboard). 

Now is the time to do so since we'll be in the house a lot more, it's just some days like today (Saturday November 4th, 2023 - 1:31PM), where I'll need to get out of the house and go to the library to ease my mind and express myself on my blog, lol. I also need to remember to have a balance in my life, as we just gave birth to a baby and it's normal to stay at home all the time and do nothing but take care of the baby. But VIMA and I are too restless for that... We want to be active and productive. We want to be on our feet. They are they, we are we.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I think that's all I wanted to say. Feel free to read my other posts in English and/or Spanish if my life interests you, haha. I noticed that there are a lot of paragraphs/sentences that start with "I". I applaud you if you managed to read the entire post as nowadays everybody's attention span has diminished. You either thoroughly enjoy my content or are interested in my life, or you're a stalker, or ...

It seems like I alternate languages between posts. I hope to keep up this consistency of writing here.

Below I'll share some of my favourite pages from this book. I'll write a caption to explain why I bookmarked the page and share any thoughts that I may have that apply to my life.

Took this picture just for my reference, just in case I want to create a DIY All-Purpose Cleaner or Ready-To-Go Laundry Soap. Not very minimalist of me I suppose, to keep a copy of this picture for something I may never use. 



Checklists

Bathroom + Laundry Room Checklist

The title explains itself - An all you need in the kitchen list according to a minimalist cook.

Kitchen Checklist

How long to keep records. I've held onto some paper and digital documents for far too long.

Books on your shelves. There are probably quite a few books that I could get rid of. I should only keep the ones that I would reread or hold a special meaning to me.

Related to the documents are the filing cabinets or where we store these documents. Lots of clutter here.

I have a lot of this too, that I just save in my large storage spaces which I have spent some dollars on.

How to filter these pesky documents.

Home office checklist

Regarding holding onto passed love one's possessions for sentimental purposes. Seeing if there is another way to commemorate them. Also only keeping very few special posessions and keeping them in plain sight rather than storing them away.

Emotions may be encountered while practicing Minimalism.

Embrace those emotions, don't hide from them. & Checklist for Storage / Playroom 1.

Checklist for Storage / Playroom 2.

Maybe one day I'll need this reminder. Here are his tips for how to buy a house that's just right for you. Basically one that is not excessively big nor has more than what you need. I've always feared living in mansions as one or two people after watching some horror movies.

Buying the right house part 2.

There are many benefits to being a minimalist. We can focus more on what's important to us such as Jesus. Less physical clutter can equal to less clutter and distractions in our minds. The idea is "to unburden our lives so that we can accomplish more."