fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
What Minimalists Ask Themselves Before Making A Purchase.
Tags: Minimalism, Self Improvement, Minimalist Interior, Minmalist

I’ve talked a lot about minimalism throughout my blog, and boy has my brain changed as I’ve been making a huge effort to become fully minimalist.

I look at everything with intense scrutiny,

Must I have it?

What would happen if I didn’t have it?

Can I replace it later, If I decide I can’t live without it?

Why do I continue to insist on having this?

Asking your self a bunch of questions whenever you want to make a purchase no matter how small, Will enable you to keep the clutter to the minimum. I have gone through stages of my life, Where I have decluttered, Then later my room is more full then it ever was. It’s because I didn’t change my beliefs. So my core behaviors didn’t change.

You can’t just make a tiny change and expect everything to be different! You have to dig deep and change your brain.

Buy everything carefully and consciously. Make sure you need it before you get it. Having less gives you so much more in life, You don’t have to waste as much time cleaning or “managing” stuff. I feel the burden of stuff more and more everyday. It’s incredible how much time you end up wasting over one stupid thing. As the holidays are rapidly approaching I am amazed by the desire people, have to accumulate more. They give gifts that sometimes won’t ever be used; They buy things for themselves that will just take up space.

It’s one thing if you need that item in your life, But try taking a step back and taking in all the crap you have Do you need it?

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Everyone wants “Self-development”
By: Malone R Lopez
Tags: Self-awareness, Minimalism, Self Improvement, Hustle, Self

There are three things that I notice:

They always sound the same

Looking back from self-development journey and minimalism, it always rings that same bell, different approach but it all revolves to one thing, to share how it works and hopefully it will work for you and I too.

How it was presented, captures the audience

This applies to YouTube, there are great content that presents their journey in such a way, that you would like to click that thumbnail and keep watching them all day.

There are Steps-How-To-Guides

Most of them follow a certain rule, follow these guides, steps, and eventually you will get the hang of it. And who knows, you might be the next big thing and having a good life, by following their steps to success and self-development.
Minimalism: De-cluttering rarely used belongings And Less Stressed Soul
By: Tanmay Arora
Tags: Minimalism, Tidying Up, Toxic, Stress

1. Stop making fancy purchases.

After you buy it, you’re often allowing some other person to convince you to shop for something. Had you actually thought of it,does that purchase even generate some sort of necessity, add value to your life, you would possibly not have made the acquisition. Making frequent foothold can result in accumulating plenty of goods you would later desolate. If you haven’t used them in years, take them to the parsimony hoard.

2. Eliminate yourself from the venomous people in your life.

If someone is usually taking some time and energy and doesn’t give much or anything back reciprocally, you would possibly want to ask yourself how deep your affection is for him/her. Are you amenable to still be this person?

3. Finish off with miscellaneous tasks and spruce your room.

After you awake and you see chaos, it does lead to an unproductive day? So tidy your space before kick-starting your epoch.Having plenty of random pieces of paperwork lying around is stressful.De-cluttering your external life will help to de-clutter your internal life.
Triple Eyelid — a glimpse of woodcraft in Singapore
By: Khoo Yong Lin
Tags: Minimalism, Woodworking, Sustainability, Upcycling, Local Crafts

To many of us, being environmentally conscious is the frequent (sometimes, occasion) use of metal straws instead of plastic ones, purchasing from “sustainable” retailers, or choosing to consume organic foods. The talk of the town recently is all about being environmentally conscious. It is a notion that gave rise to a multitude of “green” trends and movements we see permeating social media sites. These trends come in waves and subside as soon as they lose their freshness and novelty, and we move on, awaiting to target the next fad.

Closer to home, Jackie, a passionate local crafter, view eco-consciousness as a way of life. With over 10 years of experience in woodcraft, Jackie established his very own brand — Triple Eyelid, where he aims to promote eco-consciousness through his crafts. As the founder of Triple Eyelid, Jackie explores sustainable concepts such as upcycling and minimalism and integrates these concepts into his everyday life as well as the products he creates. Upcycling gives “old” products a new lease of life, by transforming them into better and more valuable products. For instance, jam jars can be transformed into plant pots, and wooden pallets can be converted to benches. Minimalism reduces wastage of materials yet maintains the functionality of a product, which is evident in all of Jackie’s works. At Triple Eyelid, Jackie skillfully incorporates the idea of sustainability into his wood crafts, creating unique pieces with simple, yet functional designs. Every piece of his work represents his commitment to a more eco-conscious lifestyle, and he hopes that through his work, he can prompt people to make sustainable lifestyle choices and promote the idea of eco-consciousness to the masses.

Besides encouraging a sustainable lifestyle, Jackie also aims to promote the local crafting scene and bring awareness to local crafters and brands like him. Having multiple experiences working as a crafter locally, Jackie empathises with the struggles of his fellow crafters trying to find their footing in the local craft scene. Thus, through Triple Eyelid, Jackie frequently holds workshops for the public. These workshops not only allow people to have a fun and engaging experience doing wood crafts but also develop an understanding of the intricate work done by crafters. Jackie hopes that by building his brand, it will also help to provide recognition to local crafters’ hard work and efforts.

Triple Eyelid emphasises on minimalistic and functional products.
Creating Has Never Been So Easy
By: Connor Hearld
Tags: Minimalism, Motivation, Change, Inspiration, Entrepreneurship

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Never in any other era has it been so easy to create. The internet has become our canvas.

Take a moment to think on that.

We are now able to make a sustainable income with hardly any work at all if we choose to. It’s not easy starting off, but hard work has never paid off so much. There used to be an expected path to follow in order to live a successful life. Gradually, we’ve moved away from the expectation that you need to have a large house, fancy car, and college degrees in order to be considered successful.

Of course, if you have those things you may very well be successful, but those things no longer determine success to a lot of us. Spending less on fluff has let us get closer to the things that actually give us happiness.

From the comfort of our home we are able to speak to our coworkers through instantaneous messaging and video calls, growing the possibility of connecting with new people at a never before seen rate. We can build an online business, become a designer, a developer, journalist, or even a rights activist. Without moving anything but our fingertips and our scanning eyes, we can build from nothing at an impressive rate.

Our minds have the ability to be set free with just an internet connection.

We can connect with others around the world nearly instantly. See parts of the world we could have never dreamed to see. Access worldwide information from our fingertips and contribute to great causes. Technology has empowered us to develop our passions further.

We live in an empowered era.
Simple Living — Samu. Don’t think about work as labor.
By: Connor Hearld
Tags: Minimalism, Motivation, Productivity, Simple Living, Time Management

Don’t think about work as labor.

Photo by Katie Drazdauskaite on Unsplash

This concept has many names but mostly remains the same.

Buddhists prior to migrating to china received food & money from supporters whereas after moving to the mountains of china, they were no longer able and had to come up with their own means of survival. Cultivating their own crops & fields became a form of practice.

Working and eating became closely attached.

Primarily, if you didn’t work for what your food, then you wouldn’t be allowed to eat the food harvested.

Working allows us to forget our own problems and escape our thoughts for long enough to see the clarity to solve or approach our problems.

Seeing our work as “Samu” allows us to think of our work mindfully, showing it to ourselves as an educating process where there is the potential to learn something we didn’t know before starting the work no matter how grueling.

There is a certain respect that our work deserves, this mindfulness is exactly that. When our work is respected by our inner monologue, we not only show respect to the work but also to ourselves.

Caring for what provides for us, it in return, provides for us if we allow for it.

Living simple is much like caring for a simple houseplant. Too much intrusion and we can harm the plant, too little attention and the plant can also be harmed. There is a careful balance to which we will only find with practice and dedication. Such dedication that can only be revealed with time.

A simple life becomes only that when we work out the unnecessary complexities.

Take a moment to think about things in your life that have unnecessary troubles, just this step alone is how you begin your journey.

Where there is a will, there is a way.
“Anı” Biriktirmek mi, “An”ı Yaşamak mı?
By: Aykut Gül
Tags: Minimalism, Anı, Mindfulness, Zaman Yönetimi, Türkçe

AgEcon | no social media | simple life | mind mapping | loves IT only for productivity | NGO volunteer | aykutgul@gmail.com
How To Be ‘a minimalist (sense-able)’
By: Yash Ahire
Tags: Minimalism, Sensemaking, Tech, Dilemma

In a Documentary ‘the minimalist’ Directed by ‘Matt D’Avella’ he explains that being a minimalist isn’t about having the cleanest setups or the best setups, rather its more of living with the minimum required things, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn't have anything with you but, only those things that you actually require For Example: if a new iPhone is Out , most likely you will upgrade to it or think of an upgrade to it even when you know its not a necessity, you know your phone can last 2–3 years more , than why buy a new one , this is something every one faces its like a dilemma Large Organisations and society have created, that if you dont have the latest , your life is gonna be outdated, or you wont look ‘cool’.

the point here is phone and other things that humans rely on are just tools , that we as humans should use to make out day-to-day tasks easy , but in the past decade it quiet the opposite we have become the tools and the tools are deciding how we should function, they have took over our lives, now we are the plane and they have become our pilots.

just like the phone, their are many other stuff that we think we need but we dont really need it , and if you ever feel like you need something use the ‘9-Days Rule’ that is if you really think you need something dont just go and buy it wait for the next 9 Days and think let your mind process and if after 9 days you still feel you need it then you can buy it.
Inequality of information, yes!
By: Bianca Zagan
Tags: Budgeting, Consumerism, Minimalism, Sustainable Lifestyle, Millennials As Consumers

Inequality of information, yes!

But rather, lack of ‘cool’ role models for sustainable consumption.

We are exposed daily to ~5,000 advertising messages. They all say ‘Spend on this and you’ll feel happiness’

We need to develop a culture where you are told that you can be happy without buying all you dream of NOW, but in a more sustainable fashion.

Also, we need to develop the habit of questioning everything. Otherwise, we’ll be poisoned by fake news, often spread by those who point fingers at others.

A lot to do, but every day, taking a small step will take us further🙂 than not doing anything.
A Minimalist Phone Setup
By: Dylan Morscheck
Tags: Minimalism, Productivity, Tech, Technology, Decluttering

A Minimalist Phone Setup

Photo by Lorenzo Rui on Unsplash

I use an iPhone.

iOS 14 was recently released and contains a lot of new features not previously available on iOS, particularly the App Library and Widget Stacks. While these may be useful to some, I’ve decided to not use them in favour of continuing to use the minimalist phone setup that I’ve been using for a few years now.

Here’s what it looks like.

App Organization

First, both my lock screen and background are the plain black screen offered in iOS.

Besides the Settings app, I used to keep all of my apps located in a single folder called “Apps”. Also, on this setup, both the Settings app icon and the Apps folder were located on the second screen. My default screen is kept blank to be uncluttered as possible.

I almost never access apps by locating the icon. Rather, I swipe down, type the first letter (or two) of the name of the app I’m looking for, and open it from the suggested apps that will appear. I’ve found this to actually be more efficient than looking for apps in folders.

However, with the new App Library in iOS, I no longer have any apps on the Home Screen and the only way to access the apps is through the search feature or through the App Library.

Docked Apps

iOS allows you to dock up to 4 apps on the bottom of your screen. I recommend docking the apps that are most critical to your productivity. For me, that’s Todoist, Google Calendar, Evernote, and Gmail.

Another way to look at this is that I have a task manager, scheduling app, information manager, and communication app. I recommend using a setup like this, although your particular apps might be different: you may choose the phone app or Slack for your communication app rather than Gmail, for example. Or you might use Monday rather than Todoist for your task manager.

Control Center

The customizable included controls I use in Control Center are the flashlight, calculator, camera, NFC tag reader, and screen recorder. The first three are the ones I use frequently, but the latter two are convenient when needed.

Mobile Wallet

I try to keep my physical wallet simple, only having a wallet case on my phone with my driver’s license and a debit or credit card. Similarly, I keep my digital wallet simple. Currently, I just have a debit card, a credit card, and a roadside assistance card. Apple Pay is the way I pay in most transactions and have the payment card I use most frequently as my default card.
Which Coffee Mug Best Defines Me?
By: Daniel Pohl
Tags: Minimalism, Declutter, Happiness, Life Lessons, Life

Photo Credit: Daniel Pohl

It was 7:30 on a Friday night when I walked into Publix to buy dinner for my girlfriend and myself. While walking through the coffee aisle toward the meat section, I stopped in front of the coffee mugs. I started to wonder, did one of these coffee mugs define my life? More importantly, did they define me better than the 30 coffee mugs we already owned?

The white coffee mug that says “Leave Your Drama For Your Llama” sounded like something I’d say. On the other hand, the refined wood-covered stainless steel travel mug matched my beard and flannel shirt.

So many options and they all have the same endpoint. Me, trying to stack them into an already overwhelmed cabinet.

As I have decluttered my life, I’ve also started to declutter my shopping habits. I did so by learning the right questions to ask while shopping both in a store and online.

What Value Does This Add To My Life? Is this coffee mug going to make my life better by owning it? Does Something I Own Already Add That Value? It holds coffee well, but so do all the other coffee mugs I own. Do I need another one? Will That Value Last? The people at my office will love that Llama Drama coffee mug when I bring it in. What about the day after, or the day after that? How long before it’s just another coffee mug? Why Do I Want This Thing? Do I want this coffee mug because it holds coffee, or to make myself more interesting? Is it about coffee, or about being the guy in the spotlight?

If you go to Publix, it’s on Aisle 4 that you’ll find a Drama Llama coffee mug and a wood-covered stainless steel coffee mug. Because as great as they were, they didn’t add value to my life. They would be another coffee mug in a cabinet filled with coffee mugs. In essence, they were going to add to the clutter.

I suppose, in a way, that is what minimalism is. Freedom from too many coffee mugs. Realizing every mug serves the same purpose. Owning more mugs doesn’t mean more value. It means more things to hand wash.

If you’re dealing with clutter in the home, try asking yourself these same questions in the store. Decluttering works best when you don’t bring more clutter in.
Practicing Minimalism:
Tags: Minimalism, Less Is More, Organization, Minimalist Lifestyle, Slow Living In The City

In my last article, I talked about “slow living” concept which is getting more and more popular these days during covid outbreak, today we’ll talk about the first step towards a slow living, which is adopting a minimalistic lifestyle.

The rule is simple,

Keep only and only the absolute necessary things that you need in your space.

Quality over quantity.

It's essentially de-cluttering your home and keeping only few things around.

I have always been a person who likes to collect a lot of things in my room and it's all a big mess. Even if I don't need something, I tend to hold on to it and keep it around, for the time when I might need it!

But over the period I’ve realised that this is very ineffective way to lead your daily life, it makes you feel confused, un organized and unfocused.

Plus it makes cleaning your room a pain in the ass.

Minimalism let’s you focus on working on your skills, on learning, earning diverse experiences rather than collecting things, and teaches you getting along with fewer stuffs.

It’s a lifestyle choice for the people who have dedicated their life to a greater purpose, and they need more and more time to work on it, to hone a particular skill, to create new inspiring things.

So this December I've decided to take on minimalism as a lifestyle and to gradually work towards "slow living"

Now don’t mistake me here when I say living slow for being lazy or giving excuse to not working hard!

It’s exactly the opposite,

It’s for making your focus laser sharp, it’s choosing your own battle, your own timeline for achieving things, and which things to achieve too!

I’ve already de-cluttered my space, discarded a lot of things that were just lying around and only kept things which are required for my daily work.

I still have a long way to go with minimalism, but let’s see, I’m taking it up as a experiment.

And experiments are vital to grow in your life..

I'll keep you guys updated with my experiment with minimalism, and my findings and experiences with it.

This is Akash kharote signing off,

Until we meet again!
The Muffin That Demanded Attention
By: Daniel Pohl
Tags: Minimalism, Life Lessons, Muffins, Life, Mental Health

Photo Credit: Daniel Pohl

This is the story about the best muffin I’ve ever had and how it reminded me to enjoy the simple things.

It was 9:40 in the morning, and I was standing in line at Island Roasters, a local coffee shop in New Smyrna Beach. It’s a scene that repeats every Sunday. I arrive early to get my coffee, then sit outside and read my Kindle for a few minutes. Before long, my friends will pull up to the curve across the parking lot. We’ll do a quick greeting before they head inside for their morning caffeine fix.

Coffee, however, wasn’t enough for this Sunday morning. It needed something extra. It needed a freshly baked muffin. Conveniently, the selection of available muffins sat in a case to the right of the check-out counter. They make them daily, so they always have different flavors. Today was a mix of carrot cranberry, double chocolate, mango coconut, and my new favorite, apple cinnamon.

This apple cinnamon muffin was divinity in a baked good. The muffin was filled with soft baked chunks of green apple and dotted with spots of pure cinnamon. The texture of the muffin and the apples together was welcoming. The smell was as delightful as the taste and twice as enticing. It was everything you could ever want in a muffin.

Like so many divine things, in this muffin was the beauty of life itself.

As a minimalist, I live intently. I take notice of the everyday things that bring me joy. Likewise, I remove or reduce the things that cause me stress.

As a human, I do still stress about things. Even though I have eliminated a lot of my stress, I can’t rid myself of it all. There are times I forget to center myself and focus on everyday pleasures and happiness. This apple cinnamon muffin, though, demanded I pay full attention to it.

To take in and appreciate the soft-baked chunks of green apple and dots of real cinnamon. To release the stress I was carrying and be present in that moment. After one bite, I started to notice the people around me too. The group of friends in the corner of the seating area. The couple walking by with the happiest old rough collie you’ve ever seen. The barista running around with Christmas elf socks, complete with jingling bells around the cuffs.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Moreso than I had given it credit. Better yet, my two friends had just arrived to share the day with me. They enjoyed a double chocolate muffin together.

Even now with the sun setting through the sliding glass door, my wonderful morning still sits in my mind. Sometimes, we need these little experiences to remind us of the important things. As humans, we tend to get lost and need a little help getting back on track. That help can come in the form of good friends, good love, or a good muffin. One that demands you pay attention to it.

Thanks for reading.
What Can We Do for Our Green Planet, Earth?
By: Isabella Yu
Tags: Minimalism, Sustainability, Eco Friendly, Urban Gardening, Ciss

This is an infographic that educates the public about urban gardening.

This is a poster that introduces a minimalism concept as well as a minimalist hero here at Concordia International School Shanghai.
A minimalism VSCode setup to maximize the focus on your code
By: Hung Nguyen
Tags: Minimalism, Code Editor, Vscode, Vscode Theme, Visual Studio Code

I just switch to VSCode one month ago because all of my colleagues used it. Honestly, at the first look, I really hate the UX of it, a ton of things was meshing up on my screen, that I even never use.

My habit is do everything on a separator terminal instance, the code editor was only used for coding, so I just want my code editor shows the explorer and the editor, that’s all :P

Additional, the default search explorer of VSCode is so small and it’s uncomfortable for me, I don’t want to read a lot of text in a limited space like that. Fortunately, VSCode has an option to allow me to move the search explorer to the bottom panel, so I can enjoy a larger space ❤

Below are my steps to customize my VSCode to achieve true minimalism and more comfortable to use ❤
I Burned My Family Portrait
By: Iva Ursano
Tags: Self-awareness, Minimalism, Personal Growth, Memories, Family History

The Costa Rica trip that changed my life

In May of 2015, I went on a volunteer mission trip for three weeks and came back a totally different person. If you ever need a wake-up call on life, go volunteer with those less fortunate.

I’m serious. All your troubles will suddenly seem too few and far between (and frivolous).

When I returned I was determined to do something like that again, but more permanently. Fast forward to October 2015 and I was off to Guatemala, alone, to live. I had no clue what the hell I was doing. All I knew was that my life in Canada was over.

And so began the daunting task of going through all my belongings, all 53 years of my life to see what was going to come with me, what was going to stay in storage, what is worthy of being donated and what was gonna get trashed.
Decluttering: The Things I‘ll Never Miss Again
By: Daniel Pohl
Tags: Minimalism, Letting Go, Peace Of Mind, Life, Decluttering

Photo Credit: Daniel Pohl

I remember looking over the scattered remnants of my past. Cardboard boxes that were full of clutter and dust. Things I’d collected for years yet never used. There were toys, collectibles, coffee mugs, out-of-date technology, along with an assortment of this, that, and everything else. A single thought went through my head as I took it all in. A line I heard Colin Wright say in Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things.

“Anything I leave behind would probably be left behind forever.”

I felt like that should have been a dramatic thought. The truth is that it was comforting. All of this clutter was leaving my life and never coming back. In a way, it had already left my life. That’s why it was stuffed in closets and kept in the back of a shed. I wasn’t sorting through these boxes to see what to keep and what to toss. I was touching it one last time and understanding I didn’t need any of it.

And what was it, in these boxes that I kept for so long?

…

What was in those boxes?

I honestly can’t remember. There were some Funko Pops of characters I can’t recall. I think a Chewbacca piggybank was in there as well. It might have been a Chewbacca drink bottle. These things that were so important for me to own, are now faceless clutter sold, donated, and tossed. These weren’t a few items either. There were three boxes and two bags worth of clutter.

I suppose I could read the article I wrote in April, My Clutter on Display. The one where I document my feelings while rummaging through the boxes of clutter. Remembering isn’t what’s important. If anything, it’s the unimportance that matters. The unimportance of unimportant things I once collected so desperately.

It can be hard letting go of things.

Of big things and small things.

Of new things and old things.

In the end, though, they are just things. In the aftermath of letting go of so much, I can find nothing that I truly miss. Not the things or the dust they collected.

If you’re struggling to let go of things, I hope my experience helps the process. Even if just a little.

As always, thanks for reading.
WHAT IS YOUR TIME WORTH?
By: Tyler Zimmerman
Tags: Consumerism, Minimalism, Lifestyle, Choices

WHAT IS YOUR TIME WORTH?

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnSplash

I have had this thought multiple times over the last few years. I don’t know if it’s because I am getting older or if I realized how much of my older kids lives I missed. I am trying to be better for my younger ones. Either way it has been a good question to ponder for these last few years. It makes me think about things, literally, THINGS.

I remember watching, “Minimalism” the movie, and it sparked a thought in my head and helped me to accept living in a smaller house. Instead of the idea that I needed a bigger space and more stuff. I stayed put and accepted my smaller space. I was able to stay away from just consuming and buying. Not only that, it helped me think about what I had, what I needed, and what I wanted. It helped me to slow down, picture the life I wanted to lead. What was my consumption costing me, and how was it affecting my life.

This year my life took another turn and I started all over again. I left my small house with a few things and my clothes. I didn’t have much and I was ok with that. I moved in to an even smaller space and feel really good about it. I left a lot of things behind. Out of anger or subliminally out of starting fresh and not needing much to get by. As I adapt to my new life in a smaller space I think constantly about what my time has been worth, and when I look at my bank account I see that I am not worth much.

With not many possessions, and not a lot in my bank account I have now decided that things are not worth the time we must spend to earn what they cost. I wanted a new car, but that will cost me 24hrs of work each month, may not be worth it. A new house, with how much they cost these days. I can’t see trading 67hrs a month for that. Those are just the basics of transportation and shelter. If I want to have big ticket items such as boats, or second car, or maybe some jet skis I won’t have enough time in the month to use them.
Minimalism Sucks
By: Wendy Scott
Tags: Minimalism, Moving House, Books, Science Fiction, Self

I’m living without most of my stuff, at the moment. All my bookcases, books, chests-of-drawers, pictures, photos, and knick-knacks are missing. Most of my clothes and cooking equipment are missing too.

And it sucks, big time.

The day after I had my house photographed, ready to sell, my partner heard about a restructure at work which eventually resulted in redundancy.

We had spent the last six weekends, plus a lot of leave days, de-cluttering, packing, cleaning, and painting. By the time we knew about my partner’s possible redundancy, most of my belongings were in storage on the other side of the city.

We cancelled the sale of the house. Then we went into lock-down. With no books.

Luckily we still had the TV. Prospective NZ house buyers don’t want to see any evidence of your life, kids, or pets when they view a home but don’t mind your being human enough to have a television.

It’s been nine months since the big de-clutter, and I’m beginning to forget what I own.

I miss my stuff, and I want it back.

Here is why:
RIP Harold Budd
By: Steven Hale
Tags: Minimalism, Brian Eno, Meditation, Ambient Music, Music

A quiet musician has left behind beautiful quietude.

Photo by Kaleb Dortono on Unsplash

Deep fans of Brian Eno or The Cocteau Twins are likely to know the music of ambient composer Harold Budd, who died recently at 84 of complications from the coronavirus.

Budd began as an avant-garde composer in the vein of John Cage, but reacted against the tyranny of that style by creating stunningly beautiful melodies and textures.

Most ambient and new age music passes through the listener with hardly a ripple. Budd’s shimmering, meditative compositions reshape the listener with a vision of trance-like calmness and harmony. THIS is the antidote for our anxious era.

No more words. Here’s the first track from The Pavilion of Dreams.

Complete list of Musical Obituaries
Social Media Distancing
By: Adityo Pratomo
Tags: Minimalism, Social Media, Self Improvement, Mindfulness

Photo by Alex Jones on Unsplash

I’ve been running a short experiment on my personal life. I stopped tweeting for a week. For me, as a person who’s pretty much active on Twitter for the past ~10 years (I even promote it as a place to do quick user research on my latest writing), this is some achievement.

Achievement? Yes.

If 2020 teaches me something, it’s that I need to be mindful of every single thing I do because I’ll never know when I can’t do it again. I take “hanging out with a friend over a cup of coffee” for granted and look where we are now, few weeks before the end of the year and I’m longing for that. Heavily.

So, how do I achieve that level of mindfulness? In short, I have to remove all the distraction, in order to focus my attention and complete the task and responsibility in hand.

After being silent on Twitter, with the side effect of opening it less, I realize that I can gain more focus. This enables me to enjoy working on whatever stuff happening in front of me. Cutting back on information coming in, really helps me to put my head on where it matters the most: the immediate responsibility.

I can’t help but noticing that what causes this is the reduction of stimulation that triggers me to impulsively tweet out anything I have in mind, simply because I see this barrage of words coming out from everyone I follow, displayed on my timeline. And I have no bad words for that, it’s just simply how Twitter works. I think this also applies to other source of information as well. Yes, I think that a lot of us will reap benefit from being up to date on whatever domain that matters to us. But at some point, this never ending stream of news, articles, opinions, jokes will become nothing but noise that doesn’t help us moving the needle (whatever that needle points to).

So, what’s next?

Seeing that I’m better off this way, I decide to continue this new habit. I may tweet again, but I’ll try to restrain myself from doing it too often. I may need to just limit it to certain time, maybe during lunch break. My Facebook account is pretty much obsolete now, since I’m pretty much inactive there. The only thing keeping me hanging to that platform is because of several groups that I join that are related to my hobbies (horror movie, West Ham and synthesizer).

However, having said that, I observe an interesting pattern that happens to me. In the same small scale spirit outlined by Paul Jarvis in his excellent book, Company of One, I’m pretty much content with the small scale social media that I utilize on a daily basis. WhatsApp group formed with bunch of good friends from university, and another groups for families, or even to some extent, various recreational Slack channel to discuss non work things with colleagues. Small circle can be a good thing, at least for me.

Maybe I don’t need to be famous on social media after all. All I need is friends that I can count on.
Do you know what is the common underlying principle for the concept of minimalism, sustainable…
By: Asmita Karanje
Tags: Minimalism, Climate Change, Ecology, Society, Sustainability

Photo by sergio souza on Unsplash

What is the common principle underlying the concept of minimalism, sustainable fashion, and eco tourism?

They all stem from this same ideology — we have much more than we ever need.

Thanks to technological revolution in the last few decades, as a civilisation we have moved from shortage to abundance.

We have more of everything (food, clothing, possessions and information) than our ancestors ever did.

We spend a lot of thought in creating, manufacturing and building but very little thought in disposing, recycling and reusing.

We have only recently started segregating our waste or reducing our dependence on plastic. But we still have a long way to go.

To give you an example — I bought a very expensive mattress which I never used because it wasn’t comfortable. I couldn’t return it or sell it (no one wants to buy a second-hand mattress.)

My options are then very limited — either I might have to discard it as hard waste or donate it. Both of them aren’t easy — there isn’t readily available information, and the means are quite limited.

We need to create easier options and business models for aware consumers to become environment-conscious disposers. This will only happen when we spread awareness and educate masses on sustainability and recycling.
Clutter — Out With The Old And In With The New
By: Katherine Bennett
Tags: Ryan Nicodemus, Decluttering, Minimalism

A Short Story

Have you ever practiced unconscious writing? In other words, taking a pen and a blank piece of paper and just writing. No filtering, editing or thinking about what you’re doing.

Ryan Nicodemus put all his belongings into bags and boxes and began again with an empty house, his own pen and blank bit of paper. His entire belongings filled one room with boxes, bin bags, and storage crates. But in their place were several empty rooms and cupboards which then allowed him to move on with his life and start to free himself of crippling debt.

Over the next three weeks, he just unpacked the stuff that he needed and got rid of everything he never unpacked, either by donating it to charity, selling it or throwing it away.

Now, I’m not suggesting you sign up to the cause and become a Minimalist. This is the extreme end of the scale but as Ryan is one-half of The Minimalists alongside his friend Josh, you’d expect him to practice what he preaches and then some.

What you can do, is commit to decluttering.

Want to know my best decluttering tip…?

Just start!

But start small.

It’s the biggest hurdle and most people never get that far. So if you can, you’ve got what it takes and the rest will follow…

Start by doing the same as Ryan did with your own stuff. Grab an empty bag, empty your mind and go around the house (or one room if this seems too overwhelming). Don’t think about what you’re doing or the outcome of doing it.

Sort your haul into sellable, donatable and disposable. When you’ve finished, put the resultant bags out of sight so they’re also out of mind. Don’t be tempted (as I have in the past) to get stuff back out of the bag because you think you’ll miss it, need it, or simply can’t bear to part with it. Or do what I do each time I now carry out this exercise and put them straight in the car ready to go to their new homes.

Think of your home in terms of who you are rather than what you have. And I promise you, once you do that, you’ll have so much more clarity and energy. Eliminate the zeit noise, free up headspace…, make space for mental decluttering.
Living in a Third World Country is Not What You Think
By: Iva Ursano
Tags: Minimalism, This Happened To Me, Solo Travel, Third World, Moving

Let the adventure begin

I honestly had no clue what I was in for. Not one. The climate was perfect for this girl and cost of living was super affordable. Good enough for me. But, those aren’t the only reasons I was heading down here. Poverty and hunger was staggeringly high and I was coming down to see if I could put even a little dent in that.

So without going into ridiculous detail about my first year of living here which I should let you know, was culture shock times a bazillion, I’ve settled in quite nicely and have adapted to the somewhat baffling ways of life down here.

The first thing I had a really hard time getting used to is that it’s dark at 6 every damn day. For the first 7 months or so I lived here I didn’t leave my apartment after 5. Nope. I’ll stay in tyvm.

Then there were the noises. All day, every day all fucking night long. Dogs barking, fighting and howling, roosters and chickens going at it, firecrackers (oh the endless firecrackers), church bells, cats moaning, bombas (oh ya, that’s a thing and it will make you jump outta your chair sometimes), trucks with 7ft speakers in the back blaring some unrecognizable music along with some guy with a mic yelling something that I’m sure for the life of me, I will never understand.

Yup, it’s fucking noisy. All the time.

And then there are the critters. O…..M…..G!!! My first apartment had it’s fair share of scorpions. Mm hmm. Good times. Spiders, scorpions, snakes, 2 legs 4 legs 8 legs and how many legs does THAT thing have?

Oh ya, the critters. Eeeeeep!!! (did I forget to mention I’m critter phobe?) You might like this fun article on my encounter with the ugliest fucking centipede I’ve ever seen in my life.

And then there’s the street chaos. Dogs, tuk tuks, scooters, motorcycles, chicken buses, shuttle vans, bicycle, chicken and other random food carts and people, everywhere. Some guy on the street corner is holding a speaker and yelling into a mic something about Jesus.

Surely we’ll all be saved, amirite?

Imagine an 80’s video game, everyone is on acid, and they’re all desperately trying to win some imaginary race while laughing and honking their horns. It’s kinda like that.

It’s dirty, there’s dog shit everywhere, garbage gets tossed on the streets and sidewalks, there are broken beer bottles on the side of the road. It’s chaos and clutter. All the time.

So why on earth am I still here, right?
To control your spending, understand your desires.
By: Erik Bassett
Tags: Minimalism, Personal Finance, Mindfulness

To control your spending, understand your desires. Not the desires for a bigger X or more luxurious Y, but the “missing piece” you think the X or Y will fill.

Odds are this missing piece was never for sale anyway. Only by finding it and naming it and extricating it from the grasp of your subconscious will you a) spend less and b) be happier.

Sure, you can try to control excess spending without addressing the gap you thought the spending would fill. You can also try to fell a tree by pruning it. Pleasantly busy-feeling, even outwardly productive, but futile.
How I started Living Simply
By: The Girl In A Red Scarf
Tags: Minimalism, Happy, Living With Purpose, Decluttering, Mental Health

Decluttering the Physical Excess

Photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash

Decluttering can be overwhelming in the beginning. And, thoughts like ‘what if I need it later’ or ‘I am going to use this later for sure’ are some of the lies we tell ourselves to avoid letting go of our things.

Hence, I started with some simple rules to avoid falling into this trap:

The 6-month rule. If there is an item that has not been used in the past 6 months and we will not be using it in the next 6 months; it goes. Most likely, we won’t be using it ever. Like those old pair of jeans, we have not worn in a year or craft papers we never used or old wallets that we bought in college but aren’t work-friendly now.

The Item-quantity balance. Knowing the balance between the items we need and how much of it is enough is indispensable in avoiding clutter. Choosing items that have multiple uses also reduce excesses like buying more black pairs of denim over blue pairs of denim, as the former can be worn for both formal and casual settings.

The items that spark joy. The items we bring into our house should spark joy in us. Hence, if there’s an item that does not make me happy looking at it or using it on me, I choose to let it go. Like that old top which we wear only when we forget to do our laundry or that gift, we don’t use.
Why buying a 2015 MacBook in 2021 is the only way to go.
By: Nick Mastis
Tags: Minimalism, Apple, MacBook, Refurbished Laptops, Second Hand

Hey friends, this is a piece explaining why a Mid 2015 MacBook Pro is the only laptop worth your hard — earned money.

[Edit: Releasing this piece in the dying embers of 2020 after having witnessed a great Apple Silicon unveil using the ridiculously fast chip for every MacBook this year is really hard to support this piece anymore if you are willing to give away at least a 1.000€.

If you don’t however and you are on a tight budget, these lines were written for you. Pro tip: Prices have dropped even more. Enjoy!]

Here’s why:

OS: Mac OS has and always will be a better (for the most part) looking OS. It has a tremendous amount of features and it’s just better to keep up throughout time. Even for a 2015 model like the one I’m suggesting, Apple’s going to support it at least until 2022–23.

2. Looks: Hands — down this minimalistic industrial design Apple has incorporated in its products seems to be a true piece of art. Maybe I’m subjective in this one, but so are others.

3. Performance: It is straight up funny how easily a 2015 machine just breezes through whatever you throw at it: Video and Sound editing, even Photo customisation and I’m not even mentioning simple tasks like web browsing or Netflix — binging.

4. Price: For the same money you can get right now a 2015 MacBook Pro you can get a top — notch PC from an inferior brand such as HP or Lenovo. Here though, it’s one of our biggest selling points. At these laptops you have to spend at least 750€ to get a decent CPU or a capable amount of RAM. MacBook Pro mid 2015 though comes with the same specs if not even better than these choices. (You’ll have to make amends with a previous generation Intel processor though.)

5. Ports: One of the biggest problems after the 2015 generation of MacBook Pros is the removal of all ports and the introduction of only 2 type-C ports. We’re talking about whole USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and even the classic MagSafe port. You just can’t go wrong.

All things considered, setting the example for this article a mid 2015 15’’ MacBook Pro, is the best thing money can buy right now if you are on a budget like me. Packing a whooping i7 2.5 Ghz processor with an alliance of 16GB of RAM and a 512 SSD there’s nothing more you can ask even for today’s standards.
What It’s Like To Own Just 95 Things
By: Charlie Brown
Tags: Minimalism, Consumerism, Self Improvement, Personal Development, Self

Because It Wasn’t Really About Things

It was about creating space in my head.

All that time I spent tidying and cleaning my three-bedroom house? Gone. Time spent online (or, when desperate, physical) shopping? Into the ether.

Anyone who gives minimalism more than a brief glance will soon find out that it’s not about what it takes away but what it gives, and that is time.

My head is clearer, more spacious. The physical decluttering led to some mental decluttering too. Although stress and anxiety are still a strong presence, a lack of possessions means there is one less thing for me to think about, to take up space in my jumbled mind.

What if I Regret It?

I love not knowing the answer to this question.

For many years, I ruled my life with an iron fist, holding myself accountable to exceptionally high standards. It’s how I achieved some of my proudest moments — quitting my corporate job to open a wine store. Selling said store. Learning how to invest and saving enough to semi-retire. Selling all my possessions — the very tenet of this piece.

I’m ready to relinquish that control. I’m saying yes to things and opportunities I would ordinarily excuse myself from. So I don’t know if the regret will come or not, because I’m no longer forcing myself to feel one way or the other.

I am acutely aware of the exceptionally privileged position I have been born into — I had all the opportunities my white, middle-class family could give me. The position I now find myself in is a luxury. So I get to say things like, if I regret it, what’s the worst that could happen? I move back to the UK. I buy another house, I buy some stuff.

At least this time I get to start from scratch. I get to purposefully buy what I require, not what I think I deserve or what society tells me I need. The mindless accumulation has disappeared.

Should You Give Away All Your Stuff?

Only if you want to.

That’s the thing about minimalism — or whatever you want to call it — it’s personal. I am so alike my brother in so many ways that we often get mistaken for twins, despite our three year age gap. But he finds his peace in setting down roots, he always has. He loves collections and he finds serenity in the safe world he has built for himself, full of items he loves and cherishes. Would he give everything away? Absolutely not.

Eliminating almost everything you own is a big life decision. For some, anxiety may be found even in just small life changes but for others, it’s staying still that threatens their mental health. Big gestures have always been my way of dealing with life, to make me feel alive, but they might not be yours.