Minimalism in business
Minimalism, but with a twist
Let’s talk about minimalism and why it’s benefited me specifically as a work from home mom, but also some favorite tips and struggles from a few of my friends who consciously practice minimalism in their everyday life! Listen to Episode 06 of Her Messy Bun Podcast to learn some of Etsy’s best kept secrets or keep reading.
Minimalism as a Work From Home Mom
There’s in no clear definition to minimalism, it’s different for everyone. For us, it goes hand in hand with organization, as well as only owning what we need and truly love. There’s no set number to how many we own of something or anything crazy like that - except when I had to share a closet but that’s a story for another time. I started practicing minimalism just a few years ago, probably 4 if I had to really look back and count. I started off slow, looking at things differently when I was shopping or cleaning, asking myself do I need this or do I want it. Then when it was time to move for the 9th time in 6 years, I had decided there had to be a better way to live and mayb I could go even further than just consciously paying attention to what I’m buying. I like most listened to Mari Kondo, search the Youtube scroll hole of every video I could find on minimalism. In short I found a common phrase being used and it went something like this.
I started realizing that this was so true for me! When I own physical things that I don’t need, use or doesn’t make me happy to own, then I mentally feel like I'm surrounding myself with crap that’s just weighing me down. So when Blake and I were moving into our last apartment, I went hardcore and purged all the things in my life that I no longer needed, wanted, and didn’t enjoy. I kept practicing this on a smaller scale and now as a self-employed mom I realized that minimalism has transitioned into how we raise Emmett, it helps us keep the house clean, and it allows me to put more focus into my businesses vs constantly cleaning, or feeling overwhelmed.
I’m sure kids are all the same when it comes to how they start playing with toys, which is that they just keep pulling out toy after toy to play with and after 5 minutes of letting them play your house can look like a tornado just hit. Well, let me tell you, minimalism has really helped us make tidying up with Emmett so much easier. He just turned one about 3 months ago and he’s already starting to show interest in cleaning up after himself. It’s not that Blake and I don’t have baskets full of toys for him to play with, it’s that we don’t have an overwhelming abundance of toys.
Another thing we do is we created different stations or play zones throughout the house. So in his room he has his reading and writing zone, where he’s got book shelves on the walls and next to that his chalkboard. Then he has two baskets that sit out at all times filled with motor skill toys like his cups and blocks, and his favorite electronic toys that sing to him. Then in his closet he has a shelving unit that has different baskets all organized differently. He’s got his cars and trucks in one, his alphabet toys in another, teething styled toys in another and then his last one is a noise makers from rattles to electronics. It may sound crazy but after about a week Emmett realized where his toys were and now we watch as he crawls to the car bin and grabs a car to play with. When he’s done and moves on to another toy we ask him to put it away, sometimes he does on his own, sometimes he watches us do it before he continues playing with his new toy but the system works.
Even when we’re lazy and don’t want to be on him about cleaning up, when we are cleaning his room we both know where everything goes, and then it's just a game of basketball at that point.
But like I said we have different zones all over the house. On the main floor he has a sensory table, and then in the basement he has what we call his gym. He’s got his tent set up, a tunnel set up, balls to play with, and an open play area. Then outside he has his water table and water toys. So when he’s done playing and want to move to a new area, he learned that he just has points to where he wants to play and we take him there. This helps avoid him getting frustrated and helps us stay calm throughout the day.
One of my favorite tips is to make sure everything you own has a home of it’s own. Which is why we’ve broken down Emmetts play zones this way. It helps us be able to keep him occupied, work while he’s playing and as he’s getting bored with a zone we can move and start playing and learning in a new area. It keeps Emmetts schedule moving and it allows Blake and I to juggle working from home and taking turns being the primary parent while the other is working.
When everything belongs somewhere, it's easy to clean as you go, it’s easy to find things, and your brain doesn’t have to go into overdrive trying to figure out where you’re going to put something. Everything is in cruise control and it allows us to focus on more important things like family and accomplishing business tasks.
One of my biggest struggles with minimalism is also making sure that everything has a home. Especially right now. As you know we just bought our first home, and moved in back in April. Trying to assign a new home for everything is surprisingly difficult when you have more space.
Last week I reachout on facebook asking all of my friends who consciously practice minimalism what their favorite tip is and what their struggle is. This is what some of them had to say:
“Purge before you buy! Nothing comes in unless something goes out! It’s getting harder with toys since I like to rotate toys out... so we don’t practice it with our daughter since she is growing and needs that. We also allow her to be bored so she can be creative... but for me, I usually make sure I really want it before I buy it.”
“For me the most helpful thing was telling relatives and friends about our minimalistic lifestyle change and that we would appreciate it if they didn’t give gifts—instead share moments & give experiences etc.....because the hardest things to get rid of for me are gifts from people. So that has helped. Also, having a set day in the week to purge unnecessary things is always helpful and having a special “home” or place for every item in the house has been key”
“My favorite tip would be to have an organized labeled space for where everything goes, to make sure that everything has a designated space and that everything you own has a purpose. My biggest struggle would be finding pieces that have duel purpose, and target. ”
“Literally everything. Living in a smaller space was harder to adjust to. But it really makes you get rid of all the things you don’t ~need~ bc there’s no space for it which is a great thing. Letting go of clothes was probably the hardest for me. I like to be trendy as a teacher and love having cute outfits, but downsizing my wardrobe allows me to be creative with accessories!! Also, having everything have it’s own place is key. I HATE clutter and having to search for things. So organization is wonderful. I don’t shop unless we *need* it, or we plan/coordinate for something. We’d rather have experiences than materialistic things.”
“Don’t focus on how many spoons or towels or sets of sheets you have - don’t be legalistic about it. Focus on what brings you peace - it is SO much more about our mental health and habits than it is about how little we own.”
“One thing cannot come in unless at least one thing goes out. I wait at least a month if I am considering purchasing something. My biggest struggle- it sometimes conflicts with my values of environmentalism to reuse, too many things I’ve held onto because they could be reused or serve another purpose. That’s stressful.”
“My biggest struggle is how I can JUSTIFY any purchase. (Especially for the kids) that’s probably the thing I’m working on the most. ”
I also get rid of things that don’t serve a purpose anymore. For example, we had a kitchen table/chairs in our kitchen that we never use because we have a table in the dining room. That table mostly just collected clutter! So yesterday I took it out to the curb. I plan on leaving that space bare or “shop” from my home to fill the space with something we already owned.
I'm not sure who wrote this, but I’ve seen it in the past that I’m trying to live by: “Save for your future, not your fantasies.”
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xo Danielle
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