The minimalist lifestyle has now become a trend among people. The concept of living in a minimalist style was first introduced by people from the land of Sakura, namely Japan. Simplicity and functionality are at the heart of this minimalist Japanese lifestyle.
Life is like making a knife, so the main focus of making the knife is wood, stone, and steel. Minimalism has long been associated with art. However, the popular movement of less-is-more, which began in the 1960s, has seeped into various aspects of human life.
What is a minimalist lifestyle?
According to Break The Twitch, minimalism is a lifestyle that focuses on minimizing distractions that can get in the way of doing the things that matter.
According to Joshua Becker, author of Becoming Minimalist, minimalism is a lifestyle of having the things that will make you happy and eliminating the things that won’t. It can have meanings like living a simple life. You can live with the things you need, although maybe not too much but of sufficient quality. The slogan that is quite well known and in harmony with this minimalist concept is less is more.
Minimalism is not only limited to physical goods, but you can also apply it to various fields such as fashion, social media, the use of gadgets, the internet, and so on. The minimalist lifestyle is very personal, everyone who runs it has a different application, because of different mindsets and needs.
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Benefits of a minimalist lifestyle
Here are the benefits that you can get if you apply a minimalist lifestyle in your daily life.
1. Financially healthy
A minimalist lifestyle will help you to know what are your needs and what are your wants. As we know, that human wants are something that will never end, while needs are something that must be fulfilled.
By knowing this, you will only buy what you need. This will help you reduce consumption and will save you more money.
2. Save time and energy
Minimalism means you don’t have too much of something. For example, you don’t have a lot of excess stuff at home so you don’t have to spend a lot of time taking care of, tidying, and cleaning all the things that are there. The time and energy you have can be diverted to use by doing more useful and productive things.
3. Reducing stress levels
Seeing other people’s lives and comparing them with your own life, of course, there will be no end. However, by adopting a minimalist lifestyle, you can reduce the sense of belonging that can make you stressed.
The first thing you need to do is ask yourself. How much do you need with this item? Do you need it or are you just following the trend?
4. Adding space for more important things
You can sort things that are not too important so that you can add space for more important things. For example, by clearing piles of things in your room, you will have more space to move freely and rest comfortably. You will also not feel distracted by the various piles of items that exist and make your focus focused on the activity at hand.
5. Focus on hobbies and health
Not only talking about goods, but this minimalist lifestyle also means that you can make the best use of what you have, including using your daily time.
Subconsciously, maybe you have spent a lot of time on less useful things. By reducing this, you can focus more on exploring everything that is your hobby. In addition, you also have more time to maintain a healthy body by exercising.
The principle of Japanese minimalist life
Before knowing more about applying minimalist lifestyle tips, below are 6 Japanese minimalist living principles that you can apply if you want to live your life as a person who holds a minimalist
1. Get rid of things that can hinder your life
The key to the efficiency of Japanese life is to get rid of things that hinder life or do not spark joy in yourself. This includes lifestyle, food, to relationships with other people.
Blocking life is meant here is something that can be troublesome for your life, something that can drain your energy, something that will make you lose motivation, something that always makes you feel guilty and feel regret.
You have to let go of things like this in life because the accumulation of all this will only reduce your happiness in life. How to? You can be realistic, not idealistic.
2. Negative space: love emptiness
Negative space is a space between objects. In Japan, this concept makes a way to achieve an aesthetic called amor vacuii, or a love of emptiness.
The use of negative space in Japanese tradition can be seen in the building’s interior, architecture, and the arrangement of a flower arrangement.
The existence of this space will make you learn that the empty area left behind from a particular object or object becomes as important as the existing object if its existence is not more important than the existing object or object.
That is, the existence of certain objects or objects is better removed if they are not so important compared to the existing objects.
How can you know that the object is not more important than the object or objects that exist? Try to get rid of its presence from your room first and feel whether the object is better there or is removed to create negative space in the object’s place.
3. The Danshari concept: get rid of 80% of the things that are owned by
the Japanese. Japanese people like space and its optimal use, so the Japanese have a concept called Danshari.
Danshari itself if translated has a meaning that will be divided into three basic concepts, namely rejecting, getting rid of, and separating.
When this becomes the basis of the birth of the concept of pure, clean, neat, and balanced which is usually used to describe a Japanese-style interior with a touch of minimalist style.
4. Eat what the body needs
In Japan, food is not a mathematical equation or a bargaining chip. Japanese people only eat three times a day. Eating the food your body needs is the same as you have participated in making the body healthier.
As the saying goes, “eat before you’re full and stop eating when you’ve had enough”. Thus, you will not be easily hungry and then spend money just on food which is not included in the application of the principles of a minimalist lifestyle.
5. Money is not everything
Japanese people are very stylish without being a slave to fashion (after they pass the age of Harajuku). They shop for essentials and take care of them.
Opt for high-quality fabrics and simple clothes. Same with the things they buy for homes or hobbies. Prioritize quality, not quantity.
6. Time is irreversible
Most people’s habit is to have some vices in terms of wasting time. For example, playing on social media until you forget time and obligations.
However, how much pleasure should be given to each activity you are in? The thing you need to realize is that time cannot be repeated and should be used as well as possible.
Tips for implementing a minimalist lifestyle
Did you know that the lifestyle you are living will greatly affect the number of expenses you spend each month?
Logically and rationally, the costs you have to spend on a luxurious living are much more expensive, compared to a simple and minimalist lifestyle.
Due to considerations such as those described above, Flokq advises you to adopt and implement a minimalist lifestyle in your daily life.
How to apply it? Below, are 6 minimalist lifestyle tips that can make your life more structured.
1. Start small
Starting a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t always mean big and significant changes. You can start a minimalist lifestyle with small things for example by cleaning a room in your house.
Of course, there are some items in your home that are of course never used but are still kept for various reasons. This can be overcome by cleaning items that are not used.
2. Decluttering
Simply put, decluttering means sorting things out. Which items can still be used, which items are rarely used, and which items can no longer be used.
Items that you can still and often use, can be stored. While items are damaged, you can throw them away. Then, items that are still fit for use but are no longer needed, you can sell or donate. In essence, you can choose which items to keep and which items to get rid of.
tip easier decluttering, you can use the 90/90 rule. “Have I used this item for the last 90 days?” Or, “am I going to use this for the next 90 days?” If your answer is no, then you don’t need these items.
3. Use or throw away
If you already know that these items can not be used or do not want to be used again within 6 months, then you should start to consider throwing away or giving these items to people who need them more.
Try to make an effort to get rid of stuff you haven’t used in the last three months, and then stuff from the last month.
4. Prioritize quality over quantity
For goods to be used for a long time, you must also buy products of the best quality. So, you don’t need to make purchases of goods repeatedly or periodically because the quality you buy is less and it becomes damaged more quickly, for example.
5. Don’t be lazy to take care of your belongings
When you have more items, then of course you will tend to be lazy to take care of these items. This habit turns out to make the life of the goods owned shorter and the consequence is that the purchase of new goods, like it or not, is done when the goods are damaged.
This is not realized to be a waste that you should not do. The care that is taken on these items will make the life of the item last longer and you won’t have to buy replacements too often.
6. Replace, not add more
Buy new things, of course, you can, especially if it’s important and necessary. However, do not overdo it and cause buildup. In order not to accumulate, you can apply the principle of replacing instead of adding.
Adopting a minimalist style means that you live in awareness, not limitations. Be aware of what is important, what can make you happy, and what is of value to you.
If you feel some things are not important and even harmful, get rid of them and replace them with something more useful. Thus the discussion article about the minimalist lifestyle and how to apply it in everyday life. Hopefully, this article can be useful for you.
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