You might have decluttered your home and learned more about minimalism, but you should know that you haven’t finished. Today, I will show you how to maintain a clean and decluttered home, since this minimalism thing is a lifestyle, not a blip in your life.
First of all, take a look around your flat or house. Have you decluttered enough? Is there something that still bothers you? Maybe yes, maybe not. Anyway, after having been through this process, you should feel happy, lighter and recognize that it looks better than before.
Afterwards, you enter in a maintenance mode. Half of the work is done, now it is up to you/your family/etc to maintain this state. Control what comes in, so what you buy or get, and continue decluttering once in a while.
The one year rule
Because of this maintenance, I follow one rule: The one year rule.
The idea is fairly simple: Get rid of everything that you haven’t used for a year. After twelve months and probably four seasons, you reach your ‘anniversary’ and see what you haven’t touched. All that what is just there and isn’t adding value to you should be discarded. This is the one year rule.
I will make a personal example: I have already decluttered much and was very minimalistic. I thought that I had really removed everything not useful and I saw and felt very quickly the benefits. With less stuff, I felt lighter, better and there was less to clean. However, one year later, I took a look at my clothes and noticed that there were a few that I haven’t touched. Therefore, I took them, reflected on the reason why I didn’t use them and then donated my clothes.
Finally,that’s it: The one year rule helps me to maintain a clean and decluttered home.
If you wondered about how to declutter, check out my site How to declutter my home? 3 Methods – Embrace minimalism.
Sure, you could also redo yearly the one at a time method or the packing method, mentioned in an earlier site. I recommend however to try this rule out, since I find it easier to locate objects specifically and thus not needing to go through all your stuff again.
If you are interested in how happiness depends on consumption, read this research article.