This Guy Loves To Party

In that backpack is every item I own. The cat wouldn't fit.

In May of 2008, I followed the dream of just about every one of today’s 20-somethings: I got rid of all my stuff, quit my job, and left to travel the world.

At the time, my collection of “stuff” was pretty average. I had a bedroom filled with everything I assumed I needed. I had a closet filled with clothes. I had furniture and electronics out in the living room. My kitchen was filled with some handy gadgets.

My ultimate goal was to cram everything I owned into a 35 liter backpack that I could lug with me around the world. This is roughly the size of the standard school backpack that you used to carry your books around in.

Why did I want to do this? Mostly because I saw that the guys over at LifeNomadic had done it and I thought it was a cool idea.

What I realized while doing this, though, is that minimizing your possessions down to only the necessities also has a lot of benefits for people who don’t plan on packing up and leaving the country. The peace of mind and relief I got from clearing out almost everything I owned was amazing.

Whittling down all my possessions to only those that fit in a teenager’s backpack was a four-stage project, and took about two months in total. This is about how long it took my mind to adapt to the idea that I really didn’t need everything I had.

The Four Stages of Decluttering and Minimizing

In the first stage, I mostly went through the stuff I had that was literally junk. Broken electronics, old papers I had no use for, stupid little toys I had bought that served no purpose.

This first stage took a lot of time — I had a lot of crap — but actually inspired me. I found containers full of college orientation papers I hadn’t seen for three years or so (and never actually had a use for), and I had lugged these containers around with me through three different apartments in that time.

Obviously I really didn’t have a lot of use for stuff that my mind used to think was a necessity.

The second stage involved collecting stuff that was functional, but that I just didn’t need. This means clothes that I hadn’t worn for months, electronics that were collecting dust, and small items that I forgot existed. These items were all put in a giant pile and either sold or donated.

The third stage was exactly the same as the second stage. I just took a week off to reflect on the items I really needed, and ended up tossing even more stuff on this next go-around. The more time I sat and thought about it, the more I realized that I hardly used the majority of my stuff.

The final, and fourth, stage also took place after about a week of rest from my purging. In this final go-around, I had had enough time to sit and think about what I really use. The final result: getting rid of almost all my clothes, all the furniture I have no use for, and literally almost every item that did not serve a necessary utility for me.

Getting Into The Right Minimalist Mindset

Getting into the minimalist mindset is difficult. Here are a couple things I realized that helped me clear out my stuff:

• How many items of clothes do you actually wear? When I looked into it, I realized I really only rotated between three or four shirts of mine that I really loved. The rest sat in my closet, getting worn maybe once every few weeks. I also almost exclusively only wore two pairs of jeans — one light, one dark — so all the others got tossed. Most people have way too many clothes — this will be the biggest relief to clear out.
• How many uses does your computer provide? If I didn’t have my laptop, I would probably have a lot of junk. But, with my laptop and a good Internet connection, I have a TV, a DVD player, a book reader, a music player, a photo album… the list goes on and on. Can you get rid of electronic devices that can be replaced by your computer?
• When you look at an item, think to yourself: have I used this in the last 3 months? If so, how many times have I used it in the last 3 months? If I hadn’t used this item, what would I have done? Is this an item that, if I absolutely needed it for only one or two tasks in the last few months, I could have borrowed from a friend or neighbor?
• Look at an item and ask yourself, “If I didn’t have this thing, would I still be able to do the task it helps me with?” Usually the answer is yes. If yes, get rid of it — you’ll get over the hurt in a week or so.
• If all else fails, think about how much money you could make selling the item on eBay or Craigslist.
• Sentimental items — this one is tough. I had a tendency to hold onto things with sentimental value. The truth is, though, that you usually forget you even had those items until you find them. If you run across a sentimental item that you forgot you even had, then it obviously doesn’t really mean too much to you. Toss it.
• Don’t forget bigger items. This might be a little extreme for most people, but I realized that where I was living (Los Angeles) I could easily get to 99% of locations by bus. I sold my car about a month before I left the country and actually survived perfectly fine without it.

Try It Out

Clear out your stuff as though you’re leaving the country, even if you’re planning on staying at home.

This is a hard project to approach. Post any suggestions or ideas you have in the comments.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Minimalism.