5 Tips for a Minimalist Lifestyle in the New Year

Updated: Dec 30

The New Year is just around the corner, and you know what that means: resolutions. The New Year is an excellent opportunity for new beginnings and big goals. What better time to get fit, pick up a new habit, or finally declutter your life – once and for all? If that last resolution sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Studies have shown that people who live in cluttered homes procrastinate more, have higher levels of cortisol in their bodies, and experience more stress than people who live in uncluttered spaces.

Although clutter can feel overwhelming, you can kick it to the curb in the New Year by bringing more minimalism into your current lifestyle.

Download our free printable decluttering checklist today!

First Things First – What is Minimalism?

Don’t worry – being a minimalist doesn’t have to mean living with barren, white walls, or ensuring all your belongings fit into a backpack.

You can adopt elements of the minimalist lifestyle without moving to a tiny home and without forsaking your beloved shoe collection.

Instead, minimalism means limiting the things you own to what you value and refusing to allow junk to control your lifestyle.

Employing the tenets of minimalism will enable you to…

Get rid of things that don’t add value to your life
Be happier and less stressed
Become more environmentally-friendly

5 Ways to Minimize Your Junk This Year

Here are five smart ways to get started:

1. Start With Why

If you’re going to change a habit, you need to understand why. What do you hope to achieve? Do you want to spend less time cleaning? More quality time with your family? Make more room for the items you love? Minimize your carbon footprint? Whatever your why may be, keep it front and center throughout the process.

2. Downsize Your Wardrobe

Most of us have way too many clothes, most of which we don’t use, don’t like, or have never worn. This is understandable – we hang onto things for emotional reasons. Still, the clutter in a too-cramped closet creates stressful mornings and makes it virtually impossible to find anything.

To prevent this, go through your closet and make two piles: one of the items you love and items you feel “meh” about. When you’ve finished, donate the “main” items and keep the ones you love. If you want to take it even further, you can consider using the Kon-Mari method, or developing a capsule wardrobe.

3. Consolidate Memories

Many of us have a big, cluttered box of memories taking up space on a shelf somewhere. Packed with kids’ art projects, photos, cards, and mementos, these boxes are meaningful, but inconvenient nonetheless.

Don’t worry, though – you don’t have to throw them out. Instead, look for ways to consolidate these memories. Arrange loose photos into a compact photo book, for example, and digitize art projects and cards. Place everything else into a small box you can cherish.

4. Edit Your Bookshelf

Even if you love having books in your home, chances are good you’ve got a few volumes sitting on the shelf that you won’t read or don’t like.

To clear up space, go through your books and collect everything you don’t love or wouldn’t be willing to re-read. Donate these books to a local charity or used bookstore.

Keep your shelves neat in the future by checking books out from the library rather than buying them or downloading electronic copies to your tablet or Kindle.

5. Start Small and Get Rid of Duplicates

Pick a spot in your home – any spot. The junk drawer is a great place to start. Pick an item and employ the 90/90 rule. Have you used that item in the last 90 days? Will you use it in the next 90? If not, then let it go.

Use this time to discard duplicates, as well. Do you have seven corkscrews when you only use one? Three pairs of white tennis shoes? Free up space in your home by minimizing the duplicates. Go through these excess items and decide which ones you genuinely use and love. Throw away, recycle, or donate everything else.

What to do With the Items you Don’t Want

Environmentally speaking, there is no such thing as throwing something “away.” The junk we discard generally goes to the landfill, which damages our planet and our quality of life. To minimize the environmental impact of your decluttering, consider:

Passing things on to friends and family
Donating to charity
Recycling properly
Repurposing items in your own home
Working with a junk removal company who recycles

Here at Nixxit, we can help remove any unwanted clutter. We take your unwanted items to different donation or recycling centers and will help you declutter without feeling guilty about where your items eventually wind up.

Our team can take just about anything, as long as it is not considered hazardous waste. Some common items that we take for our clients that are looking to declutter include:

General Junk and Trash
Old or Broken Appliances
Clothing
E-Waste
Old Furniture
Mattresses and Box Springs
Recreational Items and Old Workout Equipment
Children’s Toys
Books and Paper
Televisions
+ More

Plus, Nixxit’s team will remove your unwanted items from anywhere inside your home including your garage, basement, side yard, and attic. Let us handle the hard work!

Ready to learn more about our in-home pickup services? Contact us today.

Areas we serve.