Minimalist living can be liberating. Freeing yourself of clutter and the debris of life can be a great way to start a fresh chapter in your personal journey. All too often we carry with us pieces of our past that we have left behind, or should have put behind us by now. Hanging on to sentimental keepsakes is important, but often this can turn into hoarding.
Reducing the clutter can help us to rediscover the spaces we inhabit, and can sometimes let us rediscover a little of ourselves on the way. Shedding some literal dead weight in our lives may lead us to lose some the emotional weights we have been carrying for too long, and so having a clear out of old possessions can be a breath of fresh air to the soul.
New beginnings can start a journey across the world if you can travel light, with minimal possessions. Having only a little can work to your advantage if you like the idea of island living in the Mediterranean. Here is a quick guide to decluttering your life, and living a minimalist lifestyle that you may take to one of the world's most beautiful small island paradises, Malta. Please be sure to take these tips to heart before you start looking for houses for sale in Malta.
Do a Little Bit Each Day
Making a start on minimalizing can be the hardest part. Once you get going, you will find it starts to get easier, and the job of sorting out all your belongings will soon start to snowball into hardcore minimalizing. Set yourself a small goal of doing a few minutes each day. Maybe spend just five minutes in one room each day, sorting through some clutter and deciding what needs to go.
Play Some Number Games
Using numbers to set yourself goals can be a good idea. 5 a day is a good one. Find 5 things a day to throw away, give away or sell, and pretty soon you will start to see the clutter disappear. Another is the simple game of 3 twelves. Set a day to find 12 things to throw away or recycle, 12 things to give away and 12 things you can sell. Doing this once a week for a month will clear a lot of clutter from your home.
Take Some Photos to Study
If you are struggling to find a place to start, start by planning instead. Take some photos of your spaces and study them to find areas to concentrate on, or find specific items to move along. You can even use the photos to try and place the items you keep in a new space. There is some excellent Malta property available to view online, and you can use the photos of the island apartments and villas to see if your new minimalist life will fit on the Mediterranean isle.
Get a Set of Boxes
Buy a set of boxes to keep next to the trash or recycling, and label them 'SELL', 'DONATE', 'THROW AWAY. Now when you are removing clutter around the house, you can easily sort it. If you are walking around and notice something, you know exactly what to do with it and have no excuse not to act.
Be Ruthless with Your Wardrobe
The wardrobe is a clutter cluster zone, and is probably filled with clothes you may have only worn once and will never wear again. Old shoes and belts, clothes that don't fit anymore, and any number of forgotten items can be pulled from the back of a wardrobe. Be ruthless and get rid of as many clothes as you can.
Stop Filling Your Space
A great idea is to simply stop buying things. Some people fail to reach their minimalist goals because they keep replacing their clutter with yet more clutter. Give yourself a purchasing ban on clothes, trinkets and other unneeded items.
Living the minimalist life can open up a lot of opportunities. The extra space you make could make way for some inspirational art works, or you could even afford a holiday from any profits you make from selling your unwanted things. You may even be able to downsize and save money on rent, or easily make a big change and live a minimalist life in a new location, like the island paradise of Malta.