Category: Minimalism

Start Today!

~ Ben Messick

Great advice from Joshua Becker on starting today. Don’t wait. Today.

But how? Here are some helpful ideas to get you started, right now, today:

  1. Make one small step
  2. Remind yourself of all the reasons to start right now.
  3. The next time you feel the urge, read a helpful article.
  4. Find external motivation.
  5. Set a reward for yourself.

The Gift of Presence

~ Ben Messick

Josh Becker:

“Life clutter” may take on many forms: physical belongings, technological fillers (such as alarms or apps), non-life-giving calendar items, even unhealthy relationships.

It’s important for me to remember that clutter isn’t just the stuff in the corner. It’s also my notification settings.

A Life Worth Waking Up For

~ Ben Messick

Joshua Becker:

Why do productive people always seem to have so much time for everything they do? Are they working harder? Better at time management? More disciplined than the rest of us?

An interesting insight into why some people have so much time to do everything. The article that is based upon is also worth reading.

Exercise, healthy eating, sleep… all seem to be repeated over and over again as keys to productivity. I’m trying…

The weight of our possessions

~ Ben Messick

People bring stuff into their home and then keep it forever because:

    • It cost money. (I paid good money for this!)
    • It was free or a bargain. (How could I pass up such a great deal?)
    • It would just become more trash on an overpolluted planet.
    • It has significance for someone else.
    • Guilt. Someone thought enough of you to buy you a concrete garden statue of a squirrel. Your grandmother left you her teacup collection in her will.

Source:  Boston Globe

The 20 Toy Rule

~ Ben Messick

Sarah Mae via Becoming Minimalist:

20 toys sounds like a lot… or maybe it doesn’t. But you’d be surprised at how many things children can accumulate. I was shocked when we began moving towards 20 toys each. We don’t spoil our children and I already had been pretty strict about the toy situation. But when I sat with my son in his room that day, I had to face the fact that we had allowed in too much stuff.

I feel like that we are in exactly the same place. Christmas, birthdays, hand-me-downs, it’s all so much. Maybe the kids don’t feel as overwhelmed as I do when I walk into their rooms, but maybe they do. Maybe 20 toys is a good place to start…