Implementing Principles of Minimalism for the D.I.Y. Rock Star ⭐ (Podmas 2022)

This post accompanies our Podmas 2022 series (listed at the bottom of this post).

Podmas videos playlist: https://bit.ly/podmas2022playlistvids

Minimalism and the D.I.Y. Rock Star ⭐️ 😎🎸💡

On Day One, welcomes you all to the topic. While Day Two answers the question, “What is minimalism?” For our purposes, minimalism is a framework of decreasing clutter, NOT amassing new things (until you can figure out where to put the things you have), and being honest with yourself with whether or not keeping—and storing!—items (IRL and digital) is worth the effort.

Here's the back story....

On Day Three, we answer why we would even TRY minimalism?

I was raised by what by a mom, who, by today’s standard, would be considered a “maximalist.” --She wanted as MANY of an item as she could get. She kept things that might ONE DAY prove useful. And ALWAYS had room to accept—and keep—ALL gifts and hand me downs. We moved around a lot, so when an apartment became full, she would simply move off and leave what she couldn’t afford to move behind and start again. Needless to say, the longer we lived at a place, the fuller it became with things. Though, I have struggled to “NOT be my mom,” I have carried much of her philosophy with me over the years.

But needless to say, I am NOT moving from place to place, so over the years, I have had to find ways to manage my collecting of things. —Bruce, on the other hand, came from a background with a mom who kept her spaces neat and tidy, and was not emotionally invested in keeping anything that DIDN'T serve her. —While I never actually discussed this with her, the proof was in the pudding; her house was always immaculate and beautiful and not stuffed with things. Surfaces were clear, wiped down, and beautifully decorated, as if she was ALWAYS ready for company. —THAT'S something I LOVED about her house from the first time I walked into it in 1986.

Fast forward to 20 years in our house. The way we would keep things “clean” overall is to find new places to hide things. —We built hutches, bought more filing cabinets, and bought dressers with bigger drawers. Another “hack” I found was to throw parties each season as a motivator to address, at least some, of the surface and floor clutter. That worked okay for MANY years, but drawers and closets were STILL stuffed with random assortments of stuff. We promise that in this post—and in the Podmas series—we will share nine days of ideas on how minimalism can manifest itself in your life with your spaces—home, studio, work place—and with your finances.

Reasons why we would even consider trying minimalism:

1. In need of a whole declutter (it’s been 20 years AND transitioning to empty nest)

2. Would love to keep things tidy (so that the house is always company ready)

3. Would like to be able to clean easier (less things means less things to move to clean)

4. Mental space (seeing clutter stresses me out more than I had realized)

5. Have less stress and enjoy life MORE (by being intentional)

6. Get the most value out of things

What is DIFFERENT than typical folks:

Not TRYING to make from scratch all of my own cleaning and personal care products.
Not necessarily TRYING to save the planet—but not trying to destroy it either! 😬
Cannot throw out clothes that I haven’t worn for a year (some outfits are JUST for photos and Gab & Jam),
Can’t NOT buy (because I need a constant flow of new outfits to help me feel creative and to continue to look interesting),
Cannot have a sparse, spartan house (the ultimate goal is to create an inspiring space to create, which DOES require decor and knickknacks).

Ways I can implement minimalism where it works for us:

1. Found out that the homemade deodorant REALLY works and feels better (because it’s all-natural —and it saves money too! 😬),

2. Taking one area, drawer, shelf at a time (previously I had been overwhelmed by the idea of tackling it, but watched a YouTube video where the woman said she took one drawer at a time and that it took about a year to do. I figured that could be me. It took 20 years to make it this way, so even moving at what seems like snail’s pace would be super-fast in comparison),

3. Be careful NOT to make shopping a hobby (increase the chances that I am going to bring home more things that I PROBABLY don’t need),

4. Combining cleaning with decluttering with financial fitness (seems like a win all the way around, because as I declutter, I clean out that spot (and add shelf liner), and I think twice before I consider buying ANYTHING related to the area I am cleaning out.

Important idea:

There’s “math plus feelings” associated with minimalism and budgeting. So, KNOWING what you SHOULD do (based on the math) sometimes doesn’t line up with HOW you feel about actually doing it. Once you understand why you WANT to live better with less, then you’re well on your way to making it happen. (Inspired by Minimalist Budget Tips: https://youtu.be/-PTnfom24e4 )

Digital Decluttering:

Here are some ideas to engage in digital decluttering or “detox your inbox”

1.

Here are some ways of getting rid of digital clutter, like

1. unsubscribe to unwanted emails

2. put spam in the proper folders EVERY TIME you see it

3. be thoughtful enough on the front end to put downloaded files

4. put screenshots into the proper folders

5. rename screenshots right away (so that you don’t lose track of them and so that you can put them in their proper files)

6. cancel unnecessary subscriptions

2.

All of this helps you better declutter your digital storage space, keeps you better organized, so that when you are ready to do something creative—like make that next music video—you can find all those amazing clips you’ve been saving, and keeps you easily able to delete all files from your “downloads” folder without feeling like you’re going to delete something you really NEED but hadn’t taken the time to address it at the time.

3.

Don’t download every electronic freebie (including ebooks and fonts). They eat up storage space, so much so that something that SHOULD be “free” ends up costing you in cloud or harddrive storage. Also, if you are not taking the time to organize these assets when you first download them—by putting them in their proper folders—eventually, these will end up as more digital clutter, which something we are looking to avoid at all costs now.

How to get started in a minimalist schedule?

Make time to declutter regularly (either once a week (if it’s your desk or your counter) or once a season (if it’s your closet) or once a project (if it’s your studio)

Whatever schedule you choose, be disciplined enough to stick to it, because it really will help you work smarter and not harder by clearing away the things that aren’t important to reveal—and make space for—the things you WANT to work on.

What method can you use to declutter?

1.

Use that Marie Kondo method, meaning…

If it doesn’t bring you joy, throw it out.
If it doesn’t fit well, throw it out.
If the color doesn’t wow you, throw it out.
If you CONSTANTLY reach past it when you are decided what to wear, throw it out.
If it needs repair, but you NEVER seem to get around to doing it, then it’s probably needing to get donated.

2.

Buy “less but better”

Instead of buying a bunch of cheap items, once you realize what you like, buy THE best version of it, so that you’re not wasting money, nor buying things that fall apart on you—which makes you NEED to buy it more often. Inspired by https://youtu.be/ZPxL1WmO7oo

3.

Practice Gratitude

As corny as it sounds, when we stop to figure out WHY we’re buying MANY things, we’ll realize that we are trying to “fill a hole” in our lives. By stopping often and asking ourselves what we are grateful for right now, we become more content and less compulsive, which can save you a lot of money AND keep you from buying unnecessary shit. (We’ve talked about gratitude journaling before in THIS episode; https://bit.ly/blogmas2021post )

Financial minimalism inspired by https://youtu.be/2oz1fABAXfw

Finally, the elephant in the room…

Balancing time versus money

I have to CONSTANTLY be doing the trade off to time versus money.

For instance, if I KNOW that I can keep my shit together if I spend a little MORE money in order to save time and mental bandwidth, then I am going to do it. What I mean is that, for instance, when I FINALLY decided to clean the floors in the breakfast nook and realized that the rug under the table needed a deep cleaning, I researched who and where to send it. I found out that it would take roughly 3 weeks and cost about $75 to do it. However, I was in the mood to get it done while the “clean freak” in me flared up, so I ordered a rug for $200 from Wayfair—that arrived in 2 days—so that I could check cleaning that floor AND having a clean rug under the table! —Needless to say, I put the current rug out to the curve, but I DIDN'T feel bad about it, because doing so redeemed myself time and energy, so that I could feel good about making the house habitable when I had that window of time. —So, because I only do this once every 3 or 4 years, I DON'T feel as if it’s a waste of money. As far as I am concerned, it is an investment in my ongoing well-being, as well as that of my family, since we ALL benefited from having a freshly-cleaned dining area, complete with a fresh new rug. —So, while TRUE minimalists and frugal folks everywhere might be shaking their finger at this decision, I feel calm and justified by my choices. 🤷🏽‍♀️😬🧘🏾‍♂️📝💥

The bottom line….

We are beginning to understand that keeping things simple is not as hard as you might think in the beginning. Sometimes it just takes doing some advance decision making and once the ideas or principles are in place, it’s easy to just refer back to your new checklist for what to do and what NOT to do.

Podmas 2022

1. Welcome

2. Reasons why

3. Unique to D.I.Y. Rock Star

4. Scheduling

5. Declutter

6. Financial; Spend less and Save more

7. Digital decluttering

8. Homelife

9. Healthy eating

10. Healthy personal care

11. Staying the course; “math plus feelings”

Resources:

Financial minimalism: https://youtu.be/-PTnfom24e4
6 Small Habits That Will Change Your Life Forever: https://youtu.be/ZPxL1WmO7oo
File Management for the D.I.Y. Rock Star
https://www.breakthetwitch.com/minimalism/
Minimalist Budget Tips: https://youtu.be/-PTnfom24e4

Gab & Jam Guide to Podmas 2022:

260. Podmas is coming! (video: https://bit.ly/260podmasiscomingvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/260podmasiscomingpod )

261. Why try minimalism for the D.I.Y. Rock Star? Day 1 (video: https://bit.ly/261whyminimalismvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/261whyminimalismpod )

262. Reasons WE chose to try minimalism (as D.I.Y. Rock Stars) Day 2 (video: https://bit.ly/262choseminvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/262whywechoseminpod )

263. Why we’re unique to minimalism as D.I.Y. Rock Stars Day 3 (video: https://bit.ly/263uniquetominvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/263uniquetominpod )

264. How to fit implementing minimalism into your schedule (as a D.I.Y. Rock Star)? Day 4 (video: https://bit.ly/264fitinminvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/264fitinminpod )

265. Easy ways to declutter your space (for D.I.Y. Rock Stars) Day 5 (video: https://bit.ly/265decluttervid and podcast: https://bit.ly/265declutterpod )

266. Financial minimalism; spend less and save more (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star) Day 6 (video: https://bit.ly/266spendlessvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/266spendlesspod )

267. Detox Your Inbox (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star) Day 8 (video: https://bit.ly/267detoxyourinboxvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/267detoxyourinboxpod )

268. Simplifying Homelife; Time Versus Money (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star) Day 9 (video: https://bit.ly/268timevsmoneyvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/268timevsmoneypod )

269. Healthy Simplified Eating (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star) Day 10 (video: https://bit.ly/269simplefiteatingvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/269simplehealthyeatingpod )

270. Healthy Home Products (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star) Day 11 (video: https://bit.ly/270homemadeproductsvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/270homemadeproductspod )

271. Staying the Course (Math Plus Feelings) (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star) Day 12 (video: https://bit.ly/271staythecoursevid and podcast: https://bit.ly/271staythecoursepod )