How decluttering taught me about the power of less

A casual conversation with a fellow passenger changed my mind.

A single sentence met me with the best of intentions. Keep it simple, no one likes complications.

From removing excess at home to quitting processed foods. From conversing in simpler words to addressing the meaning behind my shopping patterns. The idea of simplification seemed larger than its implication.

How might my life be if I made it simpler?

Here are a few thoughts on it so far.

Minimalism is more

Simplification began when I started to downsize my home. With time, I realized I used only 20 percent of the things at home. We had collected things with time, stuffed our cupboards with memories of the past, future plans, unsure of both while living in the present. Discounts, sales, bargains, stuffed storage spaces, and never-ending cycles of cleaning and packing needed to be addressed.

Decluttering helped me address a darker space where I needed to relieve myself of everything that did not serve me. Clutter spoke deeply of all the feelings within. We had turned into stuff managers where clutter would accumulate more clutter. Overstuffed closets, maintenance slips, and storage solutions were burdening us. Not only did they need more time but also spoke greatly of our need to constantly accumulate.

As I cleaned and removed items from every room, I felt lighter. Donating unwanted items allowed stagnant energy to be released. With time, the spaciousness and ease of open spaces spoke of contentment. The joy of opening cleaner closets improved my clarity and increased my sense of gratitude within. I was living in the present with what I owned and surrounded myself with it as it sparked joy. Simplifying my external environment improved my internal world. How did a simple act of decluttering do that?

Decluttering also helped me with mindful future purchases as I valued the spaciousness at home. The fact that the common American throws out 80 percent of their clothing and invests in contributing to the national debt of $1.2 trillion on non-essentials spoke to me. The biggest gift of simplification was that once things left home, I never missed them anymore.

The 80/20 Rule

Richard Koch spoke about the powerful idea of a small minority ‘who have a major dominant impact’ to give the best results. 20% of factors were responsible for 80% of results. For example, 80% of a company’s profits come from 20% of its customers.

When we identify 20 percent of priorities, we get powerful results.

I implied this rule to my home, to begin with. I downsized to having 20% of quality products that were functional and beautiful. They ignited joy, had a story within, and the credibility to be passed on with time.

With time, I valued a mental and physical cleanse to improve the quality of my life. A psychological cleanse through journaling and meditation coupled with the physical cleanse of exercise required 20 percent of my time. With time, routines turned sacred and each task reached an immense magnificence as I constantly remembered — the most sacred parts of life are in the functions required to sustain it.

The rule of One

Once I learned the rule of one, simplification moved from the chaos that surrounded the task of multitasking to now working on a singular task.

Let us examine a question in conjunction with this thought- “What’s the one thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” The answer was to go small by narrowing my focus. By narrowing, we become selective and understand what it would take to get that first powerful result. In the process of finding a singular goal, subtraction happens.

What goes into editing a video?
We sit with hours of footage to reach the perfect 5-minute video of condensed beauty. As I began to edit my life, the focus slowly shifted within. For example, a singular health amendment caused me to focus on my diet, my wants, my everyday patterns where I worked towards editing the excess. With the majority of goods donated or repurposed, I felt I was cleaning my slate to focus on what was needed. There was more energy to focus on my hobbies and space at home to breathe well.

What began as a simple act of decluttering led to an internal cleaning that removed the old, welcoming the new. Inside and outside.

It's not about deciding what to get rid of. It's about deciding what is important to keep.