We always hear about minimalism especially when we talk about trying to declutter your home. However, one of the relevant questions is: how to apply minimalism to declutter your home?
Minimalism is a philosophy. It introduces the kind of living that has reduced dependence on material possessions.
According to Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, minimalism is a tool "to rid yourself of life's excess in favor of focusing on what's important."
Clutter at home
There comes a point when we feel we already have excess things in our homes. No matter how much we say we will eventually donate, sell or recycle these things, we still end up cluttering our homes.
According to experts, the clutter in our homes is caused by two cognitive phenomena: sunk cost fallacy and loss aversion.
The sunk cost fallacy is when we continue to keep something because we would not want it to go to waste. Loss aversion, on the other hand, is related to the sunk cost fallacy. It is when a person is more focused on being bothered by losing something compared to earning the exact thing.
No matter the spiral of clutters, there is a way to declutter homes: MINIMALISM!
The next question though is how to apply minimalism to declutter homes. According to experts, there are several ways to apply minimalism. Here are some of those ways:
Remember the behaviors you intend to change.
In this step, you are using loss aversion to your advantage. For example, instead of thinking that a sale can get you a good deal, remember the amount that you are going to lose when you purchase an item that you do not necessarily need.
Through this, you are focused more on what you are about to lose, and you are also changing the way you behave in terms of accumulating clutter.
Make a mental note: Money spent is never coming back!
Another effective way to apply minimalism in decluttering homes is to remember that the money spent is already gone.
Because of the cognitive phenomena sunk cost fallacy, decluttering is difficult to do. Whenever you feel like throwing away something or giving it away, you always think of the money spent for that and how you have not returned your investment yet.
Experts say that the mantra during decluttering should be, "Money spent is never coming back!"
Slow down
When something depressing happens, one of the common things people do is idle on Amazon or Facebook marketplace. Experts say that when you do so, try to slow down and look at how these actions are affecting the next events in your life.
One should be reminded that purchasing something is only a quick relief to depressing news. This feeling quickly subsides or wears off.
