For those unfamiliar with the concept of minimalism, it’s basically thought of as owning less stuff. The rising tide of consumerism that has taken over the past couple of decades has really taken a toll on our culture.

Minimalism is about reversing that tide. Minimalism is about taking a step back and really examining what is important in life. When you sit back and actually think about life, you soon see that the material things that we lust for and crave are just things that we use to feel better about ourselves and our lifestyle choices.

Keeping up with the joneses is a real phenomenon and it’s hurting all of us. Do we really need to spend 50k on a car, when a car for 5k will get the job done? Of course not but when you see your co-worker or neighbor down the street with a shiny new car you can’t help but to compare your life to theirs. It’s human nature and that Ok.

Turning that switch off and not caring what your neighbors are doing or buying is the hard part. So what does minimalism have to do with becoming a better writer?

How can minimalism help you be a better writer?

More Time to Write

This is a major benefit of adopting a minimalist lifestyle. Owning less means that you don’t have to waste your time cleaning, organizing, putting away and maintaining “things”.

• Did you know that the average American owns 300,00+ items? (LA Times)

• We spend on average 153 days of our lives looking for misplaced stuff.

• There are 58,000 storage facilities in the U.S. today.

Needless to say, we own a lot of stuff and it’s stifling. Minimalism helps alleviate this problem. Imagine, instead of shuffling things around your home you had time to sit down and write that book you always wanted to get done.

Minimalism allows you to achieve that goal. The less you own, the more time you have to write and get better at it.

Less Distractions:

Adopting a minimalist lifestyle also means less distractions in your life. Clutter drives me absolutely crazy. Can’t stand it. Clutter makes it incredibly hard for me to organize my thoughts, therefore before I sit down and write the area where I am writing needs to be a nice clean space.

It is well known that clutter causes a high-level of stress and impairs your ability to think clearly. How can you write if you can’t think? Getting rid of clutter allows you to focus on the task at hand, which is writing!

More Energy:

This is a big one. Minimalism helps you embrace what is important in life. Family, friends, and your passions in life. All other things tend to fall by the wayside. With rekindled passion for what you love, you will find that you have boundless energy to get things done. Go ahead and write that novel, my friend!

More Money:

Minimalism will also help your wallet or purse get a little thicker:) The less money you spend on frivolous items, the more money you will have in your pocket to spend on important things such as giving to your favorite charity or investing in a good writing app.

I encourage everyone to give minimalism a try today. It has been transformational for me as a person and as a writer. I promise you that you will not be disappointed.

Here are a few links that helped me get started on the path of living a minimalist lifestyle.

Becomingminimalist

The Minimalists

Nosidebar

Robert Hall is a blogger and brand promoter. Connect with him @roberthallbws.

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