What is minimalism?
Minimalism is a mindset with which you only let things in that bring values into your life. It’s a way of living with lesser possessions and mindfully choosing what to have and what to get rid of.
Minimalism is not only for your wardrobes and shoe racks. But it’s necessary to implement minimalism in all areas of life to experience its positive impacts. This includes your home, career, business, and many more.
The ultimate aim of minimalism is to have fewer things so that we can have more time to focus on the important stuff. What more than focus and time can you ask to be productive? And, that’s how minimalism goes hand-in-hand with productivity.
How does minimalism helps improve productivity?
Imagine, you have to deliver a report in an hour. You opened a new document to work on along with 10 other open tabs. Suddenly, there comes a pop-up of a new mail. And, hola! You’re already distracted from your current task.
The report represents your goal and the 10 open tabs represent your distractions. It’s a myth that keeping notified of the updates will help us be on track. But, the truth is they are only distractions that don’t serve any purpose. And, that’s where minimalism comes to the rescue. Even at work being a minimalist can improve your focus, efficiency and thus helps in productivity. In this case, closing all the tabs other than the one where you work on is considered to be an act of minimalism.
Here are the benefits of minimalism that improve productivity.
1. You can save time and energy in decision making
I was brought up with this very thought in mind – “Want a new dress? Take one out of your wardrobe.” Back then I had no idea there is a concept called minimalism. I didn’t follow it religiously as it was tough to let go of my possession. But, gradually I understood the reason behind it.
It really helped me in one of my weaknesses – Decision Making. Recently, I decluttered my wardrobe. Took off all those which I don’t like, which don’t fit anymore, and which I like but didn’t use for more than a year now. After this, I only have countable items in my wardrobe. Now, mornings are much easier and you know why.
If decluttering your wardrobe can make your mornings easier, think of decluttering every other space in your life. It can create wonders and make the grandest possible ways to elevate your productivity
2. Organized environment can improve efficiency
An organized environment requires less attention from us. Imagine a workplace, where there are piles of papers, notepads, used coffee cups, pens, and many more than what is necessary. We say it’s because we’re so busy with our work that we can’t take time to clean the table. But, the truth is if you have an orderly workspace, you don’t have to be busy all day.
Yes! Instead, you can be productive. Because the efficiency of what you do depends on your environment as well. A study published in “Harvard Business Review” showed that people exposed to the messy environment were 1.5 times less effective than those who were exposed to the neat environment.
As part of this study, more than 100 undergraduates were divided into 2 groups where 1 group was exposed to a messy workspace and the other one to a neat workspace. When asked to solve a challenging task, the group of people exposed to a messy environment gave up in 1.5 times lesser time than those of the other group.
The study concludes that the mess posed a threat in the senses of people and thus they lack persistence, efficiency, and self-regulation. How surprising is that? Now, go clear the clutter around your workspace to enhance your productivity. No more busy days!
3. You can Save Money
Of course! Once you’ve adapted minimalism, you no longer fall for those tempting offers. Beyond that, since you want to own less, you shop less. Ultimately, you save a lot of money than you could imagine.
Do you think a minimalist should own only 10 outfits, 2 pairs of shoes, and 1 watch? Certainly not! There is no right measure here. It differs from person to person. But when you know the concept and reasons behind being a minimalist, you can definitely get to know the difference between your needs and wants.
Even when you go shopping, you’ll end up buying only those on your list. Because -“Do you really need this?”, “What’s the use of this?”, “How often would you use this?”, “Are you falling for the flashy sale?” – thoughts like these won’t allow you to buy any extra.
So, you won’t go shopping often and even when you shop you won’t clutter your space. Thus, your space can be neat and tidy. You will have time saved gazing at the offers of your fave brands. And most importantly, you can save big bucks. Aren’t they amazing ways to improve your productivity?
4. You will have your priorities and system in place
When you’re into minimalism, you only have things (or tasks or thoughts) that really matter to you. So, now it’s all about prioritizing. As you exactly know what needs to be done, it won’t take much of your time and energy to set priorities.
Minimalism demands you to have your system in place. The system is nothing but a series of tasks or action items organized considering your priorities. Simply put, any routine can be categorized as a system. How can you miss being productive when you have both your priorities and the system well-organized?
Look at this scenario. You want to visit the library and you made a list of the books you need. Say, the first one on the list is “Unbreakable” – By Mary Kom. (Yes, That’s my current read!). Now, you know the exact path. English -> Non-fiction -> Biography/Autobiography -> Alphabet ‘M’. It may take not more than 10 mins. Because you exactly know what you need and the library is well-organized.
But consider, you don’t have any specific BTR list in place and you visited the library randomly. The books overwhelm you. You may end up spending more time than you expected as you don’t have any idea what you need. Hope you get the difference now.
5. You can enjoy life with clarity and confidence
Minimalism filters out any kinda clutter you hold onto and thus helps you enjoy life with utmost clarity. If you ask me to choose only one thing to be productive, I’d pick clarity over anything else. That’s how important it is. Most of us lack productivity just because we’re not clear with our goals, our why, and our needs.
Imagine you have a neat and tidy space, clear priorities, improved efficiency, and of course abundant savings. What more to be confused about? When there is no confusion, confidence is assured. Minimalism can offer you this supreme factor called clarity and with that, it furnishes your life with confidence too.
Wanna enjoy your life? Choose minimalism. And you’re done. Productivity is no more a tedious journey for you. Doing things that work for you is all it takes. Sounds simple right?
Final Thoughts:
Minimalism for sure would guarantee productivity. But it’s not going to happen overnight. You need to understand, it’s a complete lifestyle change and it really needs that time to adapt.
The journey towards a minimalist lifestyle should be satisfying and soothing. Don’t urge yourself to throw away all the unwanted today and become a minimalist tomorrow. Also, be aware minimalism is not only about possessions.
Minimalism starts from doing more of the things that work for you and minimizing the count of what doesn’t. Anything extra which doesn’t serve the purpose can be eliminated. It includes even thoughts, tasks, apps, emails, and whatnot! Implement minimalism in any possible space of your life and see how you grow there.
Oh wow! we covered a lot here! But before leaving here is the 3 step formula towards minimalism.
Declutter -> Organize -> Prioritize