10 Minimalist Hacks To Live With Less

Summary

The video script offers a guide to simplifying one's life with ten practical tips. It starts with the concept of 'over minimizing' to understand true needs, followed by shadow work to address underlying motivations for possessions. The speaker suggests committing to one thing at a time, clear communication to avoid unwanted accumulation, and limiting storage space to prevent clutter. Recognizing the true value of possessions, embracing emptiness, and engaging in decluttering challenges are also highlighted. The script concludes with advice on digitalizing documents, participating in the sharing economy, and maintaining a balanced exchange of borrowed items. The speaker also celebrates reaching 20,000 YouTube subscribers and offers a discount on their 'Simple Life Blueprint' course.

Takeaways

• 😌 Embrace minimalism by intentionally living with fewer possessions to discover what you truly need for contentment.
• 🤔 Engage in shadow work to understand the underlying reasons behind your need for certain items and to address insecurities or societal pressures.
• 🔒 Commit to focusing on one thing at a time, whether it's an app, passion, or simplifying one area of life to avoid distractions and maintain clarity.
• 🎉 Celebrate milestones and offer special rewards, like discounts, to acknowledge growth and support the community.
• 🗣️ Practice clear communication to avoid misunderstandings and overcommitment, ensuring you live according to your true desires.
• 🚫 Limit your storage space to naturally reduce clutter and maintain a clean and tidy living environment.
• 💎 Recognize the true value of your possessions and practice gratitude to avoid unnecessary replacements or upgrades.
• 🏆 Set challenges for yourself to keep the process of decluttering fun and engaging, preventing it from becoming a chore.
• 🍃 Accept and embrace emptiness in your living spaces for a sense of calmness and clarity, using plants to fill spaces if needed.
• 📚 Digitalize your life by taking pictures of important documents and storing them in the cloud to reduce physical clutter.
• 🔄 Participate in the sharing economy to reduce the need for ownership, borrowing items when necessary and sharing your own resources with others.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the video?

The main theme of the video is about simplifying life by living with less and decluttering, sharing 10 ways to achieve a simpler and more meaningful life.

What does the speaker mean by 'over minimize purposefully'?

Over minimizing purposefully means to temporarily adopt an extreme minimalist lifestyle to understand how many things one actually needs to be content, by living without many of the things one normally would have.

Can you explain the '10/30 rule' mentioned in the script?

The '10/30 rule' is a decluttering strategy where the speaker tries to find at least 10 items to declutter or spends 30 minutes decluttering during each session, aiming to keep the process from becoming exhausting or emotionally hard.

What is the significance of doing 'Shadow work' in the context of simplifying life?

Shadow work refers to understanding the mental and emotional reasons behind why one accumulates possessions, such as filling emotional voids or addressing insecurities, which can help in making more conscious purchasing decisions and decluttering.

Why is it important to commit to one thing at a time according to the speaker?

Committing to one thing at a time helps in focusing on what truly matters, avoiding distractions, and making significant progress towards a simpler life without spreading oneself too thin.

How does clear expression play a role in living with less?

Clear expression is crucial for setting boundaries and communicating one's desires and intentions effectively, which helps in avoiding unnecessary commitments and possessions.

What is the advice given for dealing with storage space in the context of decluttering?

The advice is to limit storage space, as it naturally restricts the accumulation of stuff, forcing one to either declutter or make conscious decisions about what to keep.

Why should one recognize the true value of their possessions?

Recognizing the true value of possessions helps in appreciating what one already has, avoiding unnecessary purchases, and maintaining a clutter-free environment.

What are some examples of challenges that the speaker has tried to simplify and declutter their life?

Examples include putting more than 50% of one's clothes in a box for a set period, or decluttering more items each day than the previous day for 30 days.

How does the speaker suggest dealing with digital clutter?

The speaker suggests digitalizing documents and information by taking pictures or storing them in cloud services, which helps in reducing physical clutter and simplifying one's digital life.

What is the concept of participating in the sharing economy as per the speaker?

Participating in the sharing economy involves borrowing or renting items that are not needed permanently, reducing the need for ownership and promoting collaboration and resource sharing within society.

What special offer is the speaker providing to celebrate their YouTube milestone?

The speaker is offering a 30% discount on their 'Simple Life Blueprint' course using the code 'simple 30' at checkout to celebrate reaching 20,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Outlines

00:00

🧳 Embracing Minimalism and Decluttering

The speaker introduces the concept of minimalism and the importance of decluttering to lead a simpler life. They share personal experiences with minimalism, starting in 2017 and later with an experiment of living with fewer than 50% of their clothes for over 100 days. The speaker emphasizes the psychological aspect of minimalism, suggesting that one should engage in 'shadow work' to understand the underlying reasons for material desires and purchases. They also propose the idea of committing to one thing at a time, whether it's a passion, a phone, or simplifying one area of life at a time. The speaker promotes their online course, 'Simple Life Blueprint,' offering a 30% discount with the code 'simple 30' to celebrate reaching 20,000 YouTube subscribers.

05:02

🗣️ Clear Communication and Setting Limits

This paragraph discusses the importance of clear communication to avoid over-commitment and to live with less. The speaker advises expressing one's true desires and intentions, especially when it comes to gifts or social commitments, to prevent unnecessary accumulation of items. They share a personal anecdote about refusing to take care of a friend's dog due to their inability to do so, highlighting the importance of honesty in such situations. Additionally, the speaker suggests limiting storage space as a way to control clutter, advocating for a minimalistic approach to possessions and living spaces.

10:03

🚴 Recognizing Value and Digitalizing Life

The speaker encourages recognizing the true value of possessions and challenging oneself to declutter regularly. They share personal examples, such as keeping an old bicycle because it still serves its purpose, and suggest finding gratitude for old items before considering replacements. The speaker also promotes various decluttering challenges and the '1030 rule' as methods to keep the process engaging and manageable. They discuss the benefits of embracing emptiness in living spaces for a sense of calmness and clarity. Furthermore, the paragraph covers the concept of digitalizing documents and participating in the sharing economy as ways to simplify life, reduce physical possessions, and promote a collaborative society.

Keywords

💡Minimalism

Minimalism in this context refers to a lifestyle choice where individuals aim to own and live with the bare minimum of possessions. It is central to the video's theme as the speaker shares personal experiences and strategies for simplifying life. An example from the script is when the speaker talks about living in a small 20 square meter apartment, which forced them to be intentional about what they brought into their living space.

💡Declutter

Decluttering is the process of removing unnecessary items from one's living space to achieve a cleaner and more organized environment. It is a key concept in the video, as the speaker discusses various methods to declutter, such as the '1030 rule' and living with fewer clothes for an extended period. The goal is to identify what is truly necessary for a content life.

💡Shadow Work

Shadow work is a psychological concept that involves confronting and understanding one's unconscious motivations, fears, and insecurities. In the video, the speaker uses this term to suggest that understanding the underlying reasons for material desires can help in simplifying life. For instance, the speaker mentions societal standards that drive people to own a nice car or beauty products to fill perceived voids or address insecurities.

💡Commitment

Commitment, in the context of the video, refers to focusing on one thing at a time, whether it's an app for a specific purpose, a passion, or simplifying one area of life at a time. The speaker emphasizes the importance of this approach to avoid distractions and maintain clarity in one's life, as part of the journey towards a simpler existence.

💡Clear Expression

Clear expression is the act of communicating one's desires and intentions honestly and directly. The video highlights its importance in living with less, as it helps avoid misunderstandings and overcommitment. The speaker gives an example of how they communicated their inability to take care of a friend's dog, thus avoiding an overcommitment that could have complicated their life.

💡Storage Space

Storage space refers to the physical areas designated for keeping items. The video discusses the idea that limiting storage space can naturally lead to decluttering, as it forces one to make conscious decisions about what to keep and what to let go. The speaker's example of not having storage drawers under their work desk illustrates this concept.

💡True Value

True value is the intrinsic worth or usefulness of an item, which may not always be apparent due to familiarity or boredom. The video encourages viewers to reassess the true value of their possessions before acquiring new ones. The speaker's bicycle serves as an example, where despite its age and less-than-ideal user experience, it still holds value because it fulfills its primary function.

💡Challenge

A challenge, in this video, refers to a self-imposed task or goal aimed at simplifying and decluttering one's life. The speaker mentions various challenges they've undertaken, such as decluttering more than 50% of their clothes or decluttering an increasing number of items each day for 30 days. These challenges are presented as a way to maintain motivation and make the process of decluttering enjoyable.

💡Emptiness

Emptiness, as discussed in the video, is the concept of having unoccupied or open spaces, which can contribute to a sense of calmness and clarity. The speaker suggests that rather than fearing emptiness, one should embrace it, as it can lead to a more peaceful living environment. The video also offers a practical tip for dealing with too much emptiness: introducing plants.

💡Digitalize

Digitalizing refers to the process of converting physical documents or items into digital formats, which can be stored and accessed electronically. The video promotes digitalizing as a way to simplify life by reducing physical clutter. The speaker shares their personal practice of taking pictures of important documents and storing them in the cloud, as well as digitizing notes from books, which helps in maintaining an organized and clutter-free space.

💡Sharing Economy

The sharing economy is a socio-economic system where individuals share access to goods and services, often facilitated by online platforms. In the video, the speaker advocates for participating in the sharing economy as a means to reduce personal ownership and租借不必要的物品. The speaker suggests that borrowing items like camera equipment or power tools from friends, or renting them for short periods, can help simplify life by avoiding the need to own everything.

Highlights

The concept of 'less is more' is introduced as a way to simplify life and achieve clarity.

The 10:30 rule is mentioned as a method to declutter and simplify possessions.

Becoming temporarily an extreme minimalist to understand what is truly needed for contentment.

Personal experiences of living in a small apartment and decluttering clothes to gain perspective on minimalism.

The importance of shadow work to understand the mental reasons behind material needs and purchases.

Challenging societal standards and expectations that drive the desire for material possessions.

Committing to one thing at a time to avoid distractions and maintain focus on simplicity.

Clear expression principle to communicate desires and avoid overcommitment.

Limiting storage space as a strategy to prevent clutter and maintain tidiness.

Recognizing the true value of possessions and finding gratitude for items to avoid unnecessary buying.

The benefits of challenging oneself with minimalist or decluttering challenges to maintain simplicity.

Accepting and embracing emptiness as a source of calmness and clarity in living spaces.

Digitalizing documents and minimizing physical clutter by using cloud services.

Participating in the sharing economy as an alternative to owning everything.

The importance of aiming for a 50/50 balance in sharing to ensure mutual benefit.

A special discount offered for the Simple Life Blueprint course to celebrate 20,000 YouTube subscribers.

Transcripts

I believe that less is more less clutter

more clarity less distractions more life

in my own journey to simplify life I

have learned a lot of ways to keep

things simple and live with less in this

video I will share 10 of those like the

1030 rule which has helped me to

declutter so many things the first one

is to over minimize purposefully and

what I mean by this is to become

temporarily an extreme minimalist put

yourself in a situation where you have

to live without many things that you

normally would live with and you do this

to see how many things do you actually

need to be content in life because many

times we think we need X Y and Z to be

happy but then when we are forced to

live without those we realize actually

they were not that important after all I

have done it basically twice now first

one was pretty much when I started

minimalism that was like 2017 something

like that I moved abroad and lived in

this maybe it was like 20 square meter

apartment something like that but very

very small and I needed to at some point

even divided it divide it with another

person like have a roommate so I need to

be very intentional what stuff what

things I bring in there it gave me a lot

of perspective and now the second time

was maybe year two years ago when I ran

this experiment of getting rid of more

than 50% of my clothes for I don't

remember how many days I think 100 days

so a bit more than 3 months to see can I

actually live with so few clothes and I

could so then it was easy to declutter a

lot of stuff after that but you can do

this with basically any area of life it

doesn't have to be just clothes or

possessions in your home the second hack

to live with less is to do some Shadow

work and this means to work on the

mental side understand and why do you

need some things in your life in the

first place is there some hole that you

are trying to fill with stuff or buying

things or with something else are there

fears or insecurities or some

conditioning behind certain purchases

for example for men I could say there's

this standard or a thing that we should

have a nice car and for women this could

be some beauty products that that you

need to have this you need to buy this

because that's the that's the standard

and that's a way to deal with some

insecurities or for everyone probably

it's the latest technology why do you

need to have the latest iPhone because

you think that it says something about

you maybe it's the external validation

that you are seeking so then to think

why do you need that external validation

and I'm telling you thinking this before

making some purchases can save you so

much time space

energy money especially the third one is

quite interesting commit to one thing at

the time at least this could again mean

so many things depending what's your

life situation but for example one app

for one purpose one passion or interest

at the time one phone not upgrading

before the previous one is in a bad

shape or you cannot really use it

anymore and also simplify one area of

Life at the time you need to find what

are the key actions that will make the

biggest impact and then follow the

vision that you have for your simple

life without getting distracted this is

exactly what we do step by step in my

online course simple life blueprint

remove the noise declutter and organize

your life and then build lasting systems

to create calmness and mental Clarity a

few days ago I passed 20,000 subscribers

on YouTube finally I've been growing

quite slowly so this is a huge milestone

for me as a special celebration I'm

offering a discount on the course to all

of you people who are watching this

video right now use the code simple 30

at the checkout to get 30% off I know I

could have given 20% to match more the

subscriber amount but I felt like 30% is

a more proper way to celebrate this

Milestone if you're interested in a

calmer simpler and more clutter-free

life click the link in the description

and enroll today it's also the best way

to support me as a Creator thank you so

much the fourth one is clear expression

principle I think it's very important

that you communicate clearly what you

want and you say what you mean because

if you say things that you don't mean

you get things that you don't want and

if you want to live with less this is

very important for example if you don't

want physical presents when it's

Christmas time you need to express these

things to your loved ones or your

partner or whoever it might be or this

could Al be about social commitments not

saying yes to things that you actually

don't want to do by really meaning what

you say you avoid this over commitment

and pushing yourself too much for

example I have a friend who asked me to

take care of his dog while he went away

on a holiday for a couple of days even

though I wanted to say yes and I wanted

to help him I knew I couldn't so I sent

this friend a message explained the

situation and really meant what I said

and he understood the situation and it

was much better this way than trying to

take care of the dog while I really

couldn't limit your storage space the

more space you allow for your stuff the

more stuff you will get this is useful

especially in Living Spaces like bedroom

this one or living room or office room

things like that where you usually don't

want to have a lot of clutter that you

want to keep clean and tidy because of

course you could always always buy more

drawers and fill up your house with

those but probably you don't want your

living space to end up being like an

archive when you simply don't have the

space for those stuff you are left with

the choice whether you declutter it or

keep it but declutter something else in

that case for example in my work desk I

don't have any storage drawers or

anything under that because I want to

keep it clean and I'm not planning to

buy anything there either so setting

boundaries or limits like this for

yourself I think it's a very good way to

stay clean and tidy number six recognize

true value many times we buy new things

because either we get bored with the old

things or then we just simply stop

seeing that they are valuable but this

doesn't mean that the thing is actually

not valuable it just became ordinary you

got used to it even though you could get

a better version or a new one it doesn't

mean that you should or you need to

before buying something new or upgrading

try to find the gratitude for that old

thing and really try to see if you can

still use it if it still has value a

good example of this is my bicycle it is

somewhat old the user experience is not

really great it's very bad when some of

my friends have used that they say what

a horrible bike buy a new one but for me

it still does its job because I can

still ride the bike and go from a point

A to point B and that's enough for me

not everything in life can be

extraordinary but of course if the thing

doesn't bring any value anymore it's not

useful then buy a new one replace it or

declutter it number seven challenge

yourself throughout the years I have

tried many different minimalist or

decluttering challenges for example as

mentioned before putting 50% of my

clothes or more than 50% in a box for x

amount of time or then trying to

declutter every day um more items than

the day before for 30 days so like day

one one item day two two items and so on

and so forth and I believe that

challenges like this keep simplifying

and decluttering fun that it doesn't

start to feel like a forced chore that

you need to do or you could have some

systems in place like for example the

1030 rule that I use so every time I am

decluttering which is at least once a

year sometimes multiple times a year I

try to find at least 10 items to

declutter or then do it for 30 minutes

so if I do it for 30 minutes and can

find only eight then that's fine but if

I find already 10 items in let's say 15

minutes I don't need to do it for 30

minutes this is really good to not get

fatigued in the whole decluttering

process that sometimes can feel very

exhausting or hard emotionally number

eight accept and embrace emptiness don't

be afraid of having empty space in your

house at least for me these empty spaces

give a lot of calmness and Clarity and

they make me appreciate the things that

I have in that room somehow it's the

same in in cities if the city is very

dense where I'm living there's just so

much more anxiety than if there's this

space and I can live freely I don't know

it's kind of weird but it really works

and one tip if you feel that you have

way too much empty space then you can

just get plants number nine digitalize

you can for example take pictures of

documents that are not that important

but you never know so rather than

keeping them forever in your closet or

office or wherever take a picture of

them and for example upload it to the

cloud so you don't have have that even

in your computer I done this with for

example all the lessons that I'm

learning from books before I used to

write everything on a notebook and then

basically never read read them again but

these days I am storaging everything or

writing everything on a cloud service

and there I can always access them they

are organized nicely I understand

physical things are nice but you cannot

have it all so for example if you have

DVDs in your warehous hundreds of them I

know people like that but then they

don't even have a DVD player or they

never watch them what's the point of

that there are so many streaming

services available so digitalizing the

life a little bit to simplify it in this

case especially is not so bad idea in my

opinion number 10 participate in the

sharing economy I believe that you don't

need to get or own everything yourself

so many things in this life in this

world can be just borrowed from somebody

because you need it only once or twice

there are a bunch of websites these days

where you can rent stuff if you only

need them for a short period of time

kind of the same if you're going on a

holiday you wouldn't buy a car from that

location of course you rent it so why

not do it in your home City with some I

don't know power tools for example I've

done this with camera equipment sharing

with Friends people that I know you have

that and I have this and then we kind of

collaborate I think this is what the

whole Humanity or Society should be

about that we all help each other you

have something I don't and then we can

collaborate we can help each other out

and when you're doing this try to aim

for a 50/50 balance especially if you're

not like renting paying to somebody for

that item so not become a burden to

somebody that you all the time just

borrow borrow borrow but never share

anything that you have check out the

simple life blueprint course the link is

in the descript description and make

sure to use the code simple 30 at the

checkout thank you so much for watching

remember to stay kind and meaningful in

your own beautiful Journey see you in

the course or in the next video ciao