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How to Become Minimalist with Children

Written by joshua becker · 69 Comments

Minimalism with children is entirely possible. However, it does require a little more effort, a little more thoughtfulness, and a lot more patience.

“Simplicity, clarity, singleness: these are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy.” – Richard Halloway

The minimalist life holds benefits for all.

Numbers of parents think a minimalist lifestyle is simply out of reach because they have children—as if the two are somehow incompatible. But that is not the case. As I explain in Clutterfree with Kids, the principles of minimalism are completely within reach no matter how many children you have or where you live.

And not only is minimalism completely possible with children, it is a lifestyle filled with benefits for them! Since becoming minimalist, I have been continually amazed at some of the lessons my two young children have learned. Over the past years, they have learned:

That we don’t need to buy things to be happy. We own far fewer things than we did years ago. We purchase far fewer things than we did years ago. Yet, we are far happier than we were years ago. Go figure.
That we don’t need to live life like everyone else. Even though they are not quite old enough to understand all of the intricacies of our minimlist life, they completely understand that we have made a decision to live different than most people in our neighborhood. Our lifestyle has given them permission to live a counter-cultural life.
That we live within our means. Although our children are not balancing our checkbook, they do hear us speak often about debt, the joy of not being in it, and our desire to stay out of it.
That we think carefully about our purchases. Because we believe in giving them ample opportunity to find/grow in their interests, we still need to buy things like toys, school supplies, art supplies, and sporting goods. We just think through our buying decisions more carefully. This is an invaluable lesson for children to learn as they get older. We no longer buy something just because we have the money, we buy things because we truly need them.
That we gladly share with others. Since we became minimalist when they were young, they have grown up watching us donate many of our belongings to others. They have seen generosity in action.
That clutter is a drag. They have seen how minimalism creates a home where clutter is scarce. And when it does show up, it can be quickly remedied—and usually is.
That we love spending time with them. Our minimalist home has allowed us the opportunity to spend less time purchasing, cleaning, organizing, and sorting things. We have gladly replaced that time managing stuff with spending time with them.
That we are in control of our stuff. Not the other way around.

Minimalism with children is entirely possible. However, it does require a little more effort, a little more thoughtfulness, and a lot more patience. As you embark (or continue) on the journey, here are some practical steps to consider:

1. Explain your decision. Your children are thinking human beings. Therefore, no matter their age (our son and daughter were only 5 and 2 at the time), sit down and explain your decision to them – include the reasons why you are choosing to become minimalist and the benefits you are hoping to receive from it. And because teenagers typically jump to far-reaching conclusions, assure them that your decision does not mean you are no longer going to buy anything… it just means you are going to intentionally think through your purchases in the future.

2. Begin minimizing your possessions first. Minimize your personal belongings first and your shared family belongings second. It would be unfair to ask your child/teenager to thoroughly adopt the lifestyle until you have done it personally. Also remember, you will learn valuable lessons when you remove your personal clutter – valuable lessons that will put you in a better place to help your son or daughter navigate their journey.

3. Remove the items they do not use first. Minimalism is about paring down to only the essentials. It is about removing the things in our life we don’t need so we can focus on the things that we do. And while most homes are filled with things that are not needed, they are also filled with things that are not even used. Start there. You can begin by removing the clothes they no longer wear, the toys they no longer they play with, and the other things they no longer use. That’s an easy first step. As you begin there and talk them through the process, they may begin to naturally start asking themselves the question, “How much of this other stuff do I really need anyway?”

4. Focus on the positives. As you begin to see the benefits of minimalism in the life of your children/teenagers, point them out and focus on them. Just because you are observant enough to notice them, doesn’t mean they see it quite as readily as you. Does their room appear tidier? Do they spend less time cleaning? Is it easier to find things? Can you notice less stress or less distraction? Are you more relaxed as a parent? Encourage each other with the positive benefits that you notice.

5. Treat them to fun experiences. One benefit of minimalism is that you spend less and have more time on your hands – so you should have some extra disposable income and the time to do something with it. Use it to create fun, family experiences. Do something new that everyone will enjoy. Take a trip to the beach, the amusement park, or a weekend in the city. You don’t need to spend all of your new found savings on one trip (especially if you are trying to get out of debt in the process), but a practical experience that highlights the benefits of your decision can go a long way in helping your children understand your minimalist decision.

6. Choose your purchases carefully going forward. You will still need to buy things going forward. Children will outgrow their clothes, their toys, their school supplies, and their sporting goods. They are not going to stop growing and developing. You are absolutely still going to buy things going forward… you are just going to put more thought into your purchases than you did in the past. Replace “Do I want this?” with “Do I need this?” And help your son or daughter ask the same question. It’s one of the most important lessons they will ever learn.

7. (A word about gifts). We have taken the approach of still allowing our relatives the opportunity to buy gifts for our children. It is an expression of their love. They desire to show their love by giving gifts and our children feel loved when they receive them. We did not want to take that away from our family. However, we have tried to communicate with our family ahead of time and offer them a suggested gift list of things they need prior to birthdays and holidays.

8. Be patient. Be patient with your family. Offer them plenty of time to adjust to minimalism rather than being pushed into it. Minimalism is a lifestyle that needs to be believed in and adopted. Show them plenty of patience. And after all, if it took you 30 years to adopt the lifestyle, it would be foolish to assume they will fully adopt it in 30 minutes… or even 30 days.

Let me assure you. Minimalism is completely achievable and beneficial for you and your family.

21 Life-Changing Minimalist Experiments to Try in Your Home

Written by joshua becker · 42 Comments

Maya Angelou changed my life with one simple sentence, “We need much less than we think we need.”

As soon as I heard it, in my heart, I knew she was right. I need less than I have, and I need less than I think.

But how could I go about learning this truth? How could I learn how little I actually need?

In October 2010, I tried my first “Minimalist Experiment.” A Minimalist Experiment is any intentional decision we make to challenge our assumptions about how much we need to live.

Society is constantly calling us to expand and upgrade every area of life: our home, our car, our kitchen, our wardrobe, our technology….

A Living with Less experiment provides us the opportunity to see if there is a more intentional, more focused, better way to live.

To conduct a Minimalist Experiment:

Choose an assumption in your life to test (How many articles of clothing do I need?)
Choose a new amount less than you have (I’ll try 50% less clothes in my closet)
Choose a period of time (I’m going to test this for two months)
Remove the excess from your field of vision (I’ll put my extra clothes in the attic)
After the experiment, reevaluate what you learned (That was amazing! I love owning less. I’m going to send Joshua an email about how brilliant he is)

For each of these experiments below, I encourage at least a 29-day test in your home. But the longer you go without (60-day, 90-day, etc.), the more you will learn about yourself and how much less we actually need.

Here are 21 Minimalist Experiments to Try

1. Project 333

This was the minimalist fashion experiment that changed forever the number of clothes that hang in my closet. And it’s the one experiment I think everybody should try.

Click here to find out more about Project 333.

2. Keep One Television

When my kids were 6 and 3, we decided to test out having just one television in our home (rather than the existing four) and try it out for the 3 months of summer. We loved it! And to this day (14 years later), there is still just one television set-up in our home.

3. Halve Your Decorations

It’s important to remember, before we go much further, that these are simply experiments. You don’t need to burn your extra clothes in the backyard or throw your extra televisions off the roof. Just move them somewhere else for a period of time. After the experiment, you can bring everything back if you hated it.

For two months, try fewer decorations in your home. You can cut them in half, or one-third, whatever you choose, Choose the least meaningful decor in any room, remove them, and try out keeping only your favorites. See what you think.

Maybe you’ll discover Francis Jourdain was right when he said, “One can furnish a room very luxuriously by taking out furniture rather than putting it in.”

4. Try a No-Buy Challenge

For just one month, buy nothing but groceries and toiletries. See if you find the experiment more difficult than you thought or easier than you thought—there are lessons to be learned either way.

Take note how much your bank account can change in just one month.

5. One Coffee Mug

Pick your favorite mug. Decide to use only that mug for the entire month. Store the rest somewhere else. Maybe you need fewer coffee mugs in your cabinet than you think.

6. Less Furniture

Choose one room in your home and temporarily remove 1-2 pieces of furniture. Move the items out of your way as best you can (if possible).

As you do, how does it make you feel to have the extra space in that room? Furniture often takes up more space than we think.

7. Limit Make-up Options

For one month, experiment with less make-up. This could mean wearing less make-up on your skin… or just limiting the make-up options in your drawer. Choose the colors you love best, and see if there’s any benefit to your morning routine and/or how you feel all day long.

8. Watch Less Television

Many of us got into bad habits during COVID and shaking them can be difficult. To help realign my life around greater priorities, I am currently testing out 30-days of no television. That is the living with less experiment I’m trying right now.

This type of experiment could also apply to social media or video games or podcasts or any number of activities we suspect are taking up too much of our time.

9. Clear off your kitchen counters

Try clearing everything off your kitchen counter for 29 days. You’ll love it.

10. Remove half of your books from a space

Books can be a beautifully decorative item. They can also encourage reading and learning. But too many, in too small a space, can also be visually distracting—especially in open shelves and bookcases.

Test your assumptions on how many books is the right amount by removing half (or a third) of them for a period of time.

11. Leave a corner empty

Years ago, I helped a woman declutter her living room. At the end, one of the corners was empty. She said, “Are we just going to leave that corner empty? I don’t think I can do that.”

I replied, “Maybe not. But if you rush out to buy something just to fill the space, you’ll never know for sure. How about we give it one month? If you still hate it empty, go purchase something to fill the space. But maybe you’ll start to like it more than you think.”

Last I heard, a new decoration still doesn’t fill the space. There is beauty in empty spaces.

12. Limit Tupperware to 8 containers

Find 8 food storage containers with easily identifiable lids. (Bonus points if the containers nest inside each other.)

Put the rest of your food storage containers in a box, write the date on the top of the box, and take it away from your kitchen. Commit to this new experiment for at least three months.

You’ll never go back to a cluttered Tupperware drawer or cabinet again. Well, maybe you will, but I doubt it.

13. One place setting per person

Personally, we keep two settings per person—which comes in handy when we entertain.

But there are lots of people who do keep just one and love it. Maybe it’s an experiment worth testing out in your home. You’ll never know until you try.

14. Hand-washing dishes

We first started hand-washing dishes in November 2010 as a two week experiment. I immediately loved the intentional closing of a meal in this way.

Still, 13 years later, we hand wash after almost every meal only running our dishwasher occasionally as recommended by the manufacturer.

15. Rotate some toys out

Owning fewer toys benefits our kids in numerous ways. They learn how to be more creative, helpful, careful, and share.

Although you may want to consult your children before you decide to relocate their unused toys, there’s a pretty good chance that after only a few weeks of rotating out some old toys, they will be forgotten entirely.

16. Kitchen gadgets

There never seems to be enough storage space in our kitchens. Yet most of our grandmothers cooked far more often, far more elaborately, and far better than many of us today… in much smaller kitchens. The truth is that when it comes to cooking, simple is almost always better.

Check out this brilliant article from The New York Times: A No Frills Kitchen Still Cooks. Then, store all your unnecessary utensils in a plastic bin, put them away out of sight, and see if you just enjoy cooking a little bit more in your new, clutter-free environment.

17. A Simplified Meal Plan

I started eating the same breakfast and lunch several years ago. Although, my hope at the time was to make the habit change for a long while, I knew I could stop anytime and go back to my old variety.

But nope. I learned to love eating the same breakfast and lunch every day. Maybe you will too.

18. Unsubscribe from Email Lists

Try unsubscribing from every email newsletter that you receive in the next month. You can always subscribe back if you want. But maybe you’ll find the calmer, more peaceful inbox more enjoyable than the sales offers constantly arriving.

19. Spend one day a week unplugging from work and other responsibilities

Rest can quickly become a neglected priority in our busy lives. For the next month, choose one day each week for intentional rest—no work allowed.

20. Try Hotel-living in your bedroom

There is a growing movement to style home bedrooms like hotel bedrooms.

Interestingly, I’ve met a number of people who decided to become minimalist after going on a trip. As they left their typical surroundings and spent some time in a calm, peaceful, decluttered hotel room with nothing but a suitcase full of clothes, they became drawn to the lifestyle of owning less.

Of course you don’t need to leave your home to test out that same feeling of calm and order. Most of the articles online seem to focus on buying expensive linens or wall hangings to turn your bedroom into a hotel room. And that type of stuff can be fun, but it can also become distracting.

My recommendation, if you want to experiment with hotel living in your own bedroom, begin by simply removing everything from your room you wouldn’t normally find in a hotel room. You’ll be surprised how big of a change that makes alone.

21. Spend a week only using public transportation or walking instead of driving a car

If your city’s amenities allow, try one week without driving your car at all. Maybe you hate it and rush back to grab the keys on the 8^th day. Maybe you find your area’s public transportation more convenient than you thought. Either way, you’ll discover something new about yourself and something new about your community.

There are any number of experiments you can try in your home: Fewer pillows, fewer coats, fewer magazine subscriptions, fewer hobby supplies… The list goes on and on. Choose one that seems like a good fit for you and your home.

Test your assumptions. There is a beautiful life-giving joy to be found in the realization of how little we actually need. Minimalist experiments can help us discover that.

Becoming Minimalist’s Top Posts of 2020

Written by joshua becker · 7 Comments

A special thanks to each of you for making 2020 such a memorable year at Becoming Minimalist. Memorable? Is that a good way to describe 2020?

This website continues to reach people beyond my wildest dreams as we grow every year in new ways. As before, this growth has occurred because of the support from readers like you—thank you for helping to spread the inspiration.

Thank you for sharing this website on social media. But even more, thank you for sharing the life-giving message of owning less with your friends and family.

Here are some numeric representations of our growth:

This website is now read by over 2 million people each month.
Our Facebook page grew from 1,700,000 to 2,100,000 followers.
Over 68,000 people follow us on Twitter.
245,000 people currently receive Becoming Minimalist posts via email. Sign-up here to do the same.
Simplify Magazine, our digital, quarterly magazine grew from 150,000 to over 175,000 subscribers.
14,800 new people went through our Uncluttered Course last year.
Our YouTube channel grew from 77,000 to 135,000 subscribers.

But some of our most significant successes this past year are not found in the numbers above:

Our app, Clutterfree, was released in March. It is the first app on the market to provide a personalized, step-by-step to-do list to declutter your unique home. Since March, over 20,000 people have used the app to own less and live more. It is a brand-new, powerfully effective resource for people to use.
The Hope Effect, our non-profit continues to change how the world cares for orphans by focusing on new initiatives in Honduras and Mexico. To date, we have raised more than $1.3M for family-based orphan care around the world and are being asked by more and more state and local governments to begin work in their area.

In case you missed any, here are the top posts on Becoming Minimalist from 2020.

Most Popular Posts from 2020 (as determined by readers):

Your Stuff is Only Taking Up Space. The items in our home should serve a purpose. If they are not, they are no longer serving their purpose. They are only taking up space.

Spend Your Money on These Three Things to Increase Happiness, According to Science. How can we spend our money in ways that improve our subjective well-being? Not based on conjecture, but science. Here are the studies.

The Problem with Turning Your House into a Toy Store. Don’t you want to spare your kids the bondage that comes with having too much stuff? Start early to teach them that less is more! It’s one of the best ways you can show them your love.

The Perfect Home. It seems our entire economy is built on making people feel dissatisfied with what they have. And nobody is immune to the meticulously crafted persuasion.

7 Ways Minimalism Will Impact My Children. I’m happy to know we chose a minimalist life while our kids are still at home. They’ve learned valuable lessons (or at least I hope they’ve learned some valuable lessons from us).

My Personal Favorite Posts from the past year:

Someone Has More Than You. Get Used To It. There is no end to the comparison game. There is always, always going to be someone in the world with more.

Busyness is Laziness. Of all the distractions that keep us from living a fulfilled life, the most prevalent in our world today may be busyness.

The Person You Want to Be Won’t Happen By Accident. The good things in life we achieve and become are the result of intentional effort pursuing those things.

Most Popular Guest Posts in 2020:

How Many Towels Do You Need? by Rose Lounsbury. My wish is that this simple question starts you on a journey toward a more peaceful life, full of the possibilities of open spaces.

Big Family Minimalism by Jillian Johnsrud. Less clutter. Less cleaning. Less overwhelm. Less hectic. Less appointments.

10 Things Minimalists Don’t Do by Melissa Camara Wilkins. You might think that minimalists are all about white walls and clutter-free countertops, but that’s not the whole story.

7 Reasons Why You’ll Love Apartment Living by Julia Ubbenga. If you’re looking for a way to simplify your life and focus on what matters most, why not give apartment living a try?

Most Popular Outgoing Links from the past year:

11 Things You Should Get Rid of Right Now, According to Professional Organizers by Ashley Abramson. Whether you’re extremely low on cabinet real estate or you just want to get things tidier than they have been, here are 11 things you should get rid of right now — according to professional organizers.

60 Wasteful Things I Stopped Buying As A Minimalist by Ray Arya-Caspersen. In the following list, you’ll find things I no longer buy because they are senseless to buy, distractors, overpriced, time-consuming, or unsustainable.

I tried ‘Kakeibo’: The Japanese art of saving money—and it completely changed how I spend my money by Sarah Harvey. Our spending habits are deeply cemented into our daily routine, and the act of spending also includes an emotional aspect that is difficult to detach from.

The Ultimate Guide To A No-Buy Year by Joshua Becker. With a new year approaching, it’s the perfect time to think about adopting a no-buy year challenge.

Most Popular YouTube Videos of 2020:

Top 10 Things To Declutter Right Now. Decluttering is hard. Sometimes we have to make difficult choices, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. That said, some things are no-brainers, and here’s a list of the top ten things you can easily get rid of right now.

How to Stage Your Home For Living. Most of the time while staging our home for sale, I wondered why we had never put in the effort to stage our home for living.

Messy House? Maybe You Own Too Much. When we have more than we need, there is less incentive to clean up along the way. If your home feels messy all the time, you should try owning less.

Whether you have been reading Becoming Minimalist for one week, one month, one year or longer, thank you. This blog owes its success to the support of its readers. Thank you for reading. And thank you for sharing these posts with others.

We look forward to an exciting 2021.

I am excited to launch the New Year’s Edition of Uncluttered—registration will open on January 3rd. Uncluttered continues to help people around the world own less and live more. And I look forward to hosting it again with brand new, updated video content.

No doubt, in the coming year, Becoming Minimalist will continue to evolve and be redefined. I will be finishing my third book: Things That Mattter: Overcoming Distraction to Live a More Meaningful Life.

But this website will always stay true to its core message that there is more joy to be found in owning less than can ever be found in pursuing more. We will continue to invite as many as possible to discover this truth in their lives. And I hope you will join us.

7 Ways Minimalism Will Impact My Children

Written by joshua becker · 9 Comments

My son is 17 and my daughter is 14.

But when we first began pursuing minimalism, my son was only 5 and my daughter was 2. Which means, they’ve seen us trying to live a minimalist life as young kids, as elementary-aged kids, and now as they enter the end of their high school years.

And whether we like it or not, our kids are learning from us. They are learning about values and worldview and how to live their lives when they become adults.

I know this isn’t the case for everyone. But personally, I’m happy to know we chose a more minimalist life while our kids are still at home. They’ve learned valuable lessons (or at least I hope they’ve learned some valuable lessons from us).

Here are seven ways minimalism has impacted my kids:

1. They’ve learned that they don’t need to buy things to be happy.

For the rest of their lives, advertisers will barrage them (and us) with the message that our life needs more. That happiness will appear if we buy whatever they’re selling.

Many people will believe it and buy into it, and start chasing and accumulating things that they don’t need to be happy. My children have seen, from us, that you don’t need to own a lot of things to be happy.

2. They’ve learned that you don’t have to live like everyone else.

You don’t have to live like everyone else on your block… or in your neighborhood… or in society. Everyone else may be chasing bigger houses and nicer cars and changing fashion, but you don’t have to live like that if you don’t want. In fact, you’ll probably be happier if you don’t.

3. They’ve learned the value of living within their means.

No matter what their income level might be, as they get older, they won’t need to overspend it to find happiness. In fact, quite the opposite is true: When we begin overspending our income is when we start adding unnecessary burden and stress to our lives—rather than finding contentment with what they have.

4. They’ve learned the importance of being deliberate in their purchases.

As my kids have gotten older and found new hobbies and passions and pursuits, there are purchases that have accompanied those new pursuits and new passions.

But each time, they’ve seen us be deliberate and intentional thinking through the next purchase asking questions like “What do you actually need in order to begin playing this new sport or starting this new hobby? What do we already have that will work? What are the needs that you have in order to do it well?”

5. They’ve learned the importance of sharing with others.

Generosity is the byproduct of minimalism. My children have seen us get rid of the things we don’t need and donate them to be shared with others. They’ve seen us become generous with our finances. And that our time and excess can be used to solve problems around the world.

6. They’ve learned the value of spending time together.

As we’ve owned fewer possessions, we’ve wasted less time cleaning and organizing and maintaining all the stuff that we used to have. We’ve been able to spend more time together, making memories together, enjoying experiences together.

The greatest gift we can ever give to someone else is our time. I’m confident my children have learned that over the last decade.

7. They’ve learned they are in control of their stuff, not the other way around.

The old adage is true, “The more stuff you own, the more your stuff owns you.” I’m just convinced most people don’t realize how much of a burden their possessions have become until they begin to remove them.

That being said, to live is to consume. There are needs that we have and things that we own in order to fulfill our purpose and live the life that we want to live.

But you don’t have to own so much stuff that your possessions begin to dictate your life. You own your stuff, not the other way around.

There are countless values and life lessons that I want my kids to learn from me, but the importance and value of owning less is definitely near the top. It will set them up for a lifetime of potential.

Becoming Minimalist’s Top Posts of 2019

Written by joshua becker · 6 Comments

A special thanks to each of you for making 2019 such an enjoyable year at Becoming Minimalist. It was my eleventh.

Thank you for sharing this website on social media. But even more, thank you for sharing the life-giving message of owning less with your friends and family.

Here are some numeric representations of our growth:

This website is now read by over 2 million people each month.
Our Facebook page grew from 1,300,000 to 1,700,000 followers.
Over 65,000 people follow us on Twitter.
225,000 people currently receive Becoming Minimalist posts via email. Sign-up here to do the same.
Simplify Magazine, our digital, quarterly magazine grew from 113,000 to over 150,000 subscribers.
14,500 new people went through our Uncluttered Course last year.
Our YouTube channel grew from 10,000 to 77,000 subscribers.

But some of our most significant successes this past year are not found in the numbers above:

The Minimalist Home was released last December. It is the most practical and comprehensive room-by-room guide to a decluttered, refocused life. Since its release one year ago, it has been translated into 9 different languages and has sold over 70,000 copies.
The Hope Effect, our non-profit continues to change how the world cares for orphans by focusing on new initiatives in Honduras and Mexico. To date, we have raised more than $925,000 for family-based orphan care around the world and will raise our millionth dollar early next year!
My most exciting project in a long time will be announced in February. So, stay tuned for that.

In case you missed any, here are the top posts on Becoming Minimalist from 2019.

Most Popular Posts from 2019 (as determined by readers):

We Don’t Buy Things with Money, We Buy Them with Hours from our Life. This is a life-changing principle. When we begin to see our purchases through the lens of exchanging life, rather than dollar bills, we begin to fully appreciate the weight of our purchases.

Love the Home You Live In. By doing a minimalist makeover of your home, you can set out on a new course toward better fulfilling your purpose and potential in life.

7 Reasons I Wear The Same Thing Every Day. I have come to love wearing the same thing every day. And I’m not alone. A lot of people are doing the same thing. Here are some of the reasons why.

How to Be Happy: 8 Ways to Be Happier Today. Looking for ways to learn how to be happier? Try out these 8 ways to be happier today.

99 Clutter-Free Gift Ideas. What then can we give that won’t add to the clutter problem? Here are 99 ideas.

My Personal Favorite Posts from the past year:

Everything Could Change Tomorrow. They say the only constant in life is change. They are right.

I Am Thankful for My Past. I’m Just Not Moving That Direction. The possessions we keep should represent the person we are trying to become, not the person we were.

What Makes a Home Beautiful. When our money, time, and energy is not spent accumulating and caring for things that don’t matter, we have more resources available for the things that do.

Most Popular Guest Posts in 2019:

Please Stop Buying Plastic Crap for Kids by Denaye Barahona. If we want children to value relationships over stuff, we have to be intentional about the way we bring it into their lives.

This Is What Swedish Death Cleaning Taught Me About Life by John P. Weiss. We can declutter and embrace minimalism at any age. Doing so will unburden you, allow more time for loved ones, and create an abundance of memories to cherish for a lifetime.

7 Things I Learned When I Stopped Drinking Alcohol by Courtney Carver. Alcohol removed me from my life and I removed alcohol so I can show up for my life.

The Single Most Important Factor in Leading a Happy, Fulfilling Life–According to Science by Jay Harrington. The root of happiness is not money, fame, or good looks—it’s the people we choose to surround ourselves with and how well we nurture our relationships with them.

Most Popular Outgoing Links from the past year:

Seven Decluttering Tips I Discovered in The Minimalist Home by Caitie Wiersma. Picture your dream home. I bet it’s not filled with clutter.

The Unbearable Heaviness of Clutter by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi. A cluttered home can be a stressful home, researchers are learning.

‘Throwing Things Out Gives You Time to Look After Yourself’ – How to Get Better at Decluttering by Sally Walford as told to Sirin Kale. You might feel that shedding possessions is difficult, but once you start, you will realize how great it makes you feel.

We Asked Two of our Female Editors to Wear the Same Thing Every Day. Here’s What Happened by Elizabeth Segran. We assume that other people are paying attention to what we are wearing when they are all really more focused on their own lives.

We look forward to an exciting 2020.

I am excited to launch the New Year’s Edition of Uncluttered—registration will open on January 2nd. Uncluttered continues to help people around the world own less and live more. And I look forward to hosting it again.

No doubt, in the coming year, Becoming Minimalist will continue to evolve and be redefined. I will be announcing a huge new project early next year. And I intend to begin writing another book next year.