Name: The Joy of Less
Rating: 4.4 (178 reviews)
Author: Francine Jay

What’s in it for me? Find out what’s truly important to you.

We live in a time ravaged by over-consumption and over-production. We’re churning out more stuff than we need, and our rubbish dumps are piling up at an alarming rate.

To curb materialism, we have to ask ourselves: Do we have too much stuff?

Probably.

Most likely, you’ll realize you own many things that you don’t actually need. These blinks will show you how to determine what should be kept and what shouldn’t. You’ll learn how to develop a minimalist mind-set, which will not only help combat your stress but also ease the strain on your wallet.

But most importantly, by looking more closely at your possessions, you’ll realize that the valuable things in life aren’t necessarily items that you own.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how to develop a sense of detachment from your belongings;
what STREAMLINE stands for; and
about the usefulness of baking powder.

Divide your stuff into three categories and declutter with a sense of non-attachment.

Take a look around your house. Do you feel overwhelmed by all the things you’ve collected over the years? Is your credit-card debt rising and rising? If so, it’s time to start developing a minimalist mind-set so you can gain control of all your belongings.

To develop a minimalist mind-set, you need to first divide your stuff into three categories: useful, beautiful and sentimental.

The useful category contains all the things that are functional and practical. Obviously, this includes items that are necessary for our survival, such as clothing, water, shelter and food. But it also includes Items that make our lives easier, like beds, pens, laptops, plates, and so on.

Beautiful possessions are those that give us a deeply satisfying feeling, and they deserve to be part of our lives.

Sentimental items are reminders of people, places and events that are important to us.

Before you can become a minimalist and start decluttering, you need to form a sense of non-attachment to your possessions.

The usefulness of a minimalist life can be observed in this example: It’s the middle of the night and you’re fast asleep, when suddenly a fire alarm goes off. Is your first instinct to gather your laptop, important files and photographs? Of course not, the most important thing would be to get you and the other people you’re living with out of the house.

In other words, when it comes to your health and happiness, the most important things aren’t material items. And while we all get attached to beautiful and sentimental items, it’s important to develop an unattached, minimalist mind-set to keep things in perspective. These beautiful and sentimental items aren’t the most important things. Understanding that is the first step to successfully decluttering our homes and truly valuing the things that are worth it.

The STREAMLINE method will help you declutter your home.

Now that we’ve developed our minimalist framework, we can start putting it into practice. The next step to decluttering your home is to follow the STREAMLINE technique.

The first half of STREAMLINE involves: Start Over; Trash, Treasure or Transfer; Reason For Each Item; Everything in its Place; and All Surfaces Clear.

The second half of the STREAMLINE method can help you keep your belongings in check.

The remaining half of the STREAMLINE technique is: Modules; Limits; If One Comes In, One Goes Out; Narrow Down and Everyday Maintenance.

Modules are groups of items with a similar function, like a first aid kit. So when you’re in need of a band-aid, you know to look in your first aid kit in the bathroom cabinet. After consolidating all your belongings, you’ll need to remove any excess supplies. Ask yourself if you really need all 63 pens, if realistically you only use five of them. It’s important to consolidate and cut so that excess supplies don’t end up spreading throughout the house. Color-coded and labeled drawers, shelves, boxes and plastic containers are excellent ways to store your sorted items.

Maximize living-room space and boost productivity in the home office by decluttering.

Scan your living room. What state is it in? Are there magazines and toys littered across the floor and table? The living room is where our family and friends spend a lot of time, so it’s important to free up space for entertainment.

The first question you should ask when it comes to optimizing living-room space is: What’s the Reason For Each Item to be here? When the author and her husband lived overseas, they had no use for a couch or television. They didn’t receive many visitors, and most evenings and weekends were spent out of town. For their situation, a coffee table and two lounge chairs were enough.

Cull excess items to create a functional kitchen and relaxing bathroom.

Ever flicked through a kitchen catalog or walked through a showroom wishing that your kitchen was as clutter-free and functional? Well, if you follow the minimalist mind-set, that dream kitchen can be yours.

Once again, we need to get rid of excess items to improve the functionality of your kitchen. Create Trash, Treasure and Transfer piles to determine what is and isn’t necessary.

Key ideas in The Joy of Less