The Pros and Cons of Minimalism

Happy Tuesday, friends! Today I wanted to talk a little bit about the impact of my minimalism journey. I shared a little bit in my last post on minimalism how I've become especially passionate about it since moving into our condo and having Adelaide, and I want to take that discussion further and tell you how minimalism has affected my life, for better or for worse. It's all been mostly good, but there may have been a couple downsides!




First, let's talk about the pros.

1. Our house is cleaner. When we first moved into our condo, I felt like every waking moment was spent cleaning, and at the end of the day, the house still looked messy. A big part of that was just having too much stuff. Once I decluttered and purged a massive amount of excess, the house became easier to clean and keep clean. My husband recently made the comment that, even when the house is a mess, it only takes about 15 minutes to get it back in order. That made me feel like a such a success!

2. I'm less stressed. I was a giant ball of stress in the first few months after having Adelaide. I was constantly overwhelmed, I had postpartum issues, and I was irritable and snapped at my husband, which made me hate myself. I knew I had to simplify my life and remove stress, and minimalizing was a big part of that. I also minimalized my schedule and learned to say "no," which was such a hard thing for a people-pleaser, but has really been a load off my shoulders.

Also, visual clutter equates to mental clutter. Eliminating possessions made for a calmer atmosphere in our home. I'm a fan.

Anyway, the jist of it is, less stuff equals less stress, and less stress equals happy mama bear.

However, this isn't to say I'm never stressed...Like this past week, Adelaide's been working on her front teeth and it's been an absolute nightmare for all involved. Much ice cream has been eaten and my jaw is sore from being tense.

3. I have more time to focus on the important things. Since I don't constantly have to worry about cleaning and such (especially now that miss baby is crawling everywhere!), I can focus on doing things I actually want to do, like blogging, yoga, devotions, my transcription work, playtime with baby, and spending time with my hubby. It's helped me be more intentional with my time.

4. We're saving money in the long run . There are a lot of different facets to this, but just focusing on minimalism in general, it's helped me to be more intentional with my spending. I will only bring something into my life if I (or my husband) absolutely love it or will get frequent use out of it. I've also learned not to settle and make purchases of pieces with the idea that they'll do for now, but I'll upgrade in the future...now I will just save for the piece I really love and that will suit our family the best. I also have a better mental inventory of what we have, so I don't buy duplicates or similar pieces, and there's no waste.

Those are some of the positive ways minimalism has impacted our lives. Now onto the not so positive impacts:

1. I'm always thinking about what I can get rid of next. Honestly, I got a little obsessive with minimalizing, and went through everything multiple times searching for ways to pare down more. I got a bit of a high after taking that first load to Goodwill, and I wanted to keep that up. I had to force myself to relax. I still edit often once I notice things starting to accumulate, but I'm no longer just focused on what I can get rid of next. On the flipside, I do occasionally stress about bringing things into the house, particularly around Christmas and birthdays, because that means more decluttering is on the horizon.

Though really, if you want help minimalizing, hit me up. My dream is to be Marie Kondo and help others declutter/reorganize for a living.

2. The house still gets messy. This isn't really a con as much as a fact of life. But I do think that a lot of times when we think of getting rid of stuff, we think that our house will magically be clean all the time. And well...you still have to clean it, even if you get rid of everything. It's irritating, but the bonus is that we shouldn't have to spend as much time cleaning.

3. It's hard. It's hard to go through your entire life and simplify it; it's absolutely overwhelming, especially if you do it by yourself. It's hard to get rid of things you have sentimental attachments to. It's hard to get rid of things you spent a lot of hard-earned money on. It takes a lot of hard work and determination to pare down your possessions. Finally, it can definitely hard when everyone else you know isn't a minimalist.

But in the end, it can definitely be worth it.

Honestly, the pros kinda outweigh the cons for me. My tiny list of downfalls seems pretty insignificant next to the list of positives. What are your thoughts? If you've tried minimalism, what are its pros and cons for you?