How To Get Rid Of Your Stuff

Last week I talked about the benefits of not having too much stuff. It’s easy for me to spout off the benefits since I’ve been living like this for a while, but how to actually get to the zenful state of not being tied down to so much stuff in the first place can be fairly challenging for people. Here are some tips for those interested in living with radically fewer things:

1. Make A Conscious Choice To Downsize

I’ve come across many people who show the symptoms of being fed up with their stuff, but who refuse to accept the medicine of downsizing to cure them. In order to actually follow through with getting rid of stuff you first have to acknowledge the situation and make a commitment to going through the difficult process of deciding which stuff to keep, and which stuff to part with.

2. Be Okay With Letting Go

Once you’ve made the commitment to downsize, you must realize that it’s not just a cake walk from there on out. Whatever you think you can get rid of, you probably need to double it, and then double it again. This will involve getting rid of a lot of things that have some sort of meaning to you or memory you’ve attached to it. A lot of people, myself included, get emotionally attached to stuff, and have a hard time parting with the things they accumulate. Being able to let go is a very hard life skill in general, but you will either have to possess it, or start to develop it during the downsizing process.

3. Have Constraints

In the first place I lived in after college, I simply moved everything I had accumulated in my life into my new place. The space I had wasn’t huge, but it was big enough that it allowed me to avoid making any decisions since everything I owned fit. Contrast that to two years ago, when I decided to downsize. I was living in NYC but was staying in Airbnb places from a few days to a few months at a time. Because I had to move so often, I had no choice but to decide what really mattered, and in the end was left with a small suitcase and laptop bag worth of stuff. While I had always wanted to downsize, without this constraint I may have continuously deferred the downsizing to ‘the future’, and still be burdened with all my old stuff today.

4. Eat Out

I’ve had other people gather, prepare, and serve my food to me for the last two years. This means that I didn’t have to worry about storing food, dishes, utensils, and cooking apparatuses - let alone the hassle of grocery shopping and cooking! This was a great way to downsize, and in NYC it ended up being a wash financially since grocery stores are so expensive. The only thing I put in my refrigerator is water, because I’m very thirsty.

5. Get Creative With Your Fashion Standards

Living with only a few pieces of clothing may be the hardest part for most people looking to downsize. For me it’s easy since I wear pretty much the same thing every day but just cycle through a few button down shirts. For some people, this just wouldn’t fly - they need lots of different clothes and shoes and what not. But even to the fashionistas out there - I bet there are a lot of things you can do to mix and match different pieces of clothing to create the illusion of having more clothes that you do. Maybe you throw on a tie a few days a week, a pair of hipster frames on others, and even a scarf once in a while. Clearly I’m not the best fashion advisor, but I’m convinced it’s possible to downsize your wardrobe and still look good.