This is the type of article I may look back on and completely disagree with in a couple of years. If you don't disagree with yourself from time to time, then you are not growing! So here we go...

The minimalist movement is still gaining momentum. The basic premise is that possessions own you, or that the more things you have in the physical world, the more space they occupy in your mind. So you’ll be happier and feel freer if you have a tiny house, no storage, tiny car. Better yet- no house, all possessions in a backpack, no car.

I’m here to challenge this notion. The math isn’t that simple. 1 possession does not equal 1 thought consuming stressor.

Less is not necessarily more. The mistake I see here is that it’s not the possessions themselves that cause mind clutter it's the management of possessions, emotional attachment, and budgeting that take up mental resources.

My perception, albeit antidotal, is that people who are happier in a tiny house are probably happier because the normal house they came from was either disorganized, a strain on their budget, needed too much work (a budget problem) or a combination of all three.

How to feel like you have less without throwing out the furniture:

1: A place for everything and everything in its place.

In Getting Things Done, David Allen lines out some strategies for eliminating the stress of stuff, instead of the stuff itself. His systems can be difficult to get in place 100% but he does provide some great insight. Things occupy your mind when they need attention. Some of us tend to ignore the super small things that demand attention, then get stressed out because we don’t see that we're dying from 1,000 paper cuts.

If you have a possession that requires little to no maintenance, cleaning, moving, upkeep, and isn’t in the way of your normal flow of activities, then there’s no reason for it to be taking up space in your mind. The exception here are items in storage. Especially if you are paying for storage or you're experiencing clutter due to overused storage.

As Mr.Allen points out, if you have a system in place to deal with the upkeep of an item then you don’t have to hold that item in the back of your mind. The system has to have two attributes for this to work:

1. It must not rely on you remembering to do something. It’s automated to the point where you set it up once, then the system reminds you later when there is a step to do, at just the right time, and in a way that fits within the normal flow of your life. (Easier said than done!)
2. It needs to be reliable 99.999% of the time. You must have full trust and confidence in the system in order to clear your mind and “let go” of the object or task.

Owning an object does not necessarily cause mental weight. Owning an object that interrupts your life is what causes the weight. It’s not the possession that’s the problem, it’s the lack of proper placement into your life’s rhythm.

2: Sometimes more is less

By adding certain possessions, I have reduced my mental baggage. It’s a matter of how the item is used and how it relates to the other items and activities of your life.

For example, my smartphone allows me to save ideas on the fly using Evernote. I can set reminders and appointments, and access just about every financial tool I have from anywhere. There are many ways that my phone actually reduces the mental load.

People really like to criticise this because it tethers you, and I do agree that smart people have developed ways to capture your attention. Notification tags are not a feature for users as they are presented, they are a feature for the businesses to capture your attention. However, if your cell phone rules over you, that can be an easier fix than you think.

Media connection is pretty important to me. I’ve met some of my closest friends through facebook and since I’m a writer and entrepreneur, it’s important that I reach out and develop an audience. But if you’re just on Facebook to socialize with friends you already know, I would consider deleting the app. You can still access it through your web browser when you’re ready, but it won’t prompt you at random times throughout your day. Avoid the dopamine hit by creating some friction between you and the addictive activity.

The key is to take ownership of how your possession is used in your life. It’s up to you whether your phone is a stressful interruption or a valuable system for reducing stress.

3: The budget.

It’s foundational knowledge, and basic math, that to get ahead on your finances you need to live below your means. But it’s easy to trip over items that cost you money without planning for it. Most people know that a boat is just a hole in the water into which money is thrown. But there are plenty of other examples of possessions that will end up costing you more money than you realize. When that happens, that item can then become your master.

But this is not a reason to throw out the baby with the bath water. Babies are expensive, but to some, they are worth it!

My last bike was a money pit. I thought I was being smart by getting an older bike that was within my budget to purchase with cash. I ended up with a bike I could hardly ride. I spent more time turning wrenches than I did turning corners. I spent more than twice the original purchase price on upgrades and repairs. Ironically, after all the work I’ve done up to this point, it’s probably a pretty reliable bike now. But I’ve begun to associate it with stress. It will be a weight off my shoulders when I sell it.

Most people in America are house-poor.

I’ve always struggled a bit with how expensive housing can be for families. I have three kids, so finding a house that we could be comfortable in and afford has been challenging in our younger days. But as my friend JD Roth points out, it’s one of the largest expenses. Often people overspend as a percentage of their income to the point where their house is the single biggest factor for their financial struggles. In other words, people here in the US tend to live in more house than they can afford and this puts enormous pressure and stress on them. Oddly enough, even though it may be their largest expense, it’s the one they look at as inevitable or are less likely to sacrifice on- even if it means the difference between constant hustle and financial freedom.

My suggestion here is to be willing to think outside the box. Can you down-size temporarily? Can you rent out rooms in your home? Do you need a house at all?

 

• Payments = mental space
• Having to move / store items = mental space
• Having to frequently clean or maintain items = mental space.

Bottom line: It’s not possessions that own you, it’s often mismanagement of them that take up mental and emotional resources.

Emotional Attachment to Outcomes.

It’s not only the possessions we have that can use up mental resources. It’s also the time we spend on people, work, and leisure. What is stress? Worry? Frustration? Disappointment?

I think these are all manifestations of the same thing: an attachment to outcomes over which you have no direct control. The great news is that we can train ourselves to let go of the attachments to outcomes.

I indirectly touched on this in my article about goal-setting, which you can read here. I’ll be fleshing out these ideas in greater detail in upcoming articles, but here is one way we can begin to train our brains to be less worried...

Treat your possessions and goals as an if/then option, rather than a needed outcome.

If I achieve this, then I will do that.

If I don’t achieve this, then I will learn, pivot, and do that.

When you treat future outcomes like an experiment, you become far less dependent on the outcomes to make you happy. When your happiness no longer depends on the achievement of a specific outcome, then your attachment to that outcome evaporates.

It’s a subtle shift. It’s not that I don’t care about my hopes and dreams. It’s just that I’ve trained myself to look less for the specific achievement. Instead, I look for the results with a sense of wonder and curiosity. If I get the desired results from my work - awesome! If I don’t - awesome! I will have learned something that will likely get me closer to my vision anyway.

What does this have to do with possessions? Letting go of future outcomes helps to train your brain to be less emotionally attached to your predictions, and can carry-over to being less attached to physical items.

The irony is that if you treat every goal as an if/then outcome experiment, you are also training yourself to have more of an abundance mindset instead of a scarcity mindset. This boost in confidence often leads people to greater prosperity. So oddly enough, letting go of the attachment to things can bring more of the desired things into your life.

I’m all for decluttering your life. In fact I’m in the process of selling quite a few of my assets and giving away many more. But I think you can cultivate the benefits of the minimalist mindset without necessarily getting rid of any possessions.

It’s not letting go of things that creates the mental space for happiness. It’s letting go of the maintenance and attachment to things.