Another year, another #minsgame. January marked the eighth time I started the year with a minimizing challenge. The rules of The Minimalists #minsgame are simple. For every day of the month, you get rid of that corresponding number of items. Toss ’em, donate ’em, or sell ’em — just get them out of your home. So on the third day of the month, you’d get rid of three things, on the 16th, sixteen things, etc. January’s 31 days total 496 items. This year, 149 items in to the challenge, I forfeited #minsgame.
7 years of minimizing
I’ve become a minimalist over the past seven years. I’ve eliminated possessions that aren’t useful or don’t bring me joy, and cut back on my commitments. I spend my money carefully and prioritize relationships and experiences over “stuff.” I have no desire to accumulate material objects that don’t serve a practical or higher purpose. My dream is to be free from the shackles of debt and the burden of clutter. I love the space it’s created not only in my home, but also in my head.
Minimalism is part of my every day life. When I buy something new it’s often replacing something that needed replacing like running sneakers, jeans or make-up. If time goes by and I haven’t used something, I question if I actually need it. I toss things during seasonal cleaning and when I reorganize closets and drawers.
After all these years, #minsgame is more of a tradition; a fun annual challenge I look forward to.
Forfeiting #Minsgame
I felt odd at first about quitting #minsgame 149 items in. If absolutely necessary, I could have “won” by scouring my apartment, but it would have been difficult, not fun. As I contemplated what else I could do without, I wondered why “winning” was important to me. I remembered the spirit of the game that turned me onto minimalism in the first place. #Minsgame appealed to my competitive nature while making minimizing fun. It provided structure and a goal. “Winning” provided a sense of accomplishment.
I no longer need that structure and goal to inspire me to declutter. I do it all year.
Why I love #Minsgame
I’ll definitely play again, I have no doubt! Right now I live alone and have a lot of time on my hands. Hopefully I’ll cohabitate again and life will get full and with it will come the detritus of a well lived life.
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t benefit from a month playing #Minsgame. It’s especially perfect for people like my Mom who struggle under the weight of the task at hand and have physical limitations. And once you win, you’ve been minimizing for 30 days so you’ve inadvertently created a minimizing habit! The first time I played, I started again the following month — I was hooked (and had A LOT to minimize).
#Minsgame makes minimizing simple and fun.
When and where to start #Minsgame
You can start today (there is zero need to wait for a new month). Get up right now and toss one item and bask in the satisfaction of your accomplishment. Don’t know where to start? Here are some “quick wins” to motivate you and provide some momentum.
1. The fridge
I know you have some expired food in there.
2. The medicine cabinet
I know you have some expired medicine in there.
3. The junk mail pile
Recycle it!
4. The sock drawer
Toss those socks with holes and stains and missing partners. (Count each sock as one!)
5. The junk drawer
Take the whole drawer out, turn on a good show and empty that sucker out. Toss the bent paperclips, the matchbooks with a single match, the loose birthday candles, the old chopsticks and hot sauce packets, the brittle rubberbands… the junk drawer is a gold mine!
Damn, now I’m a little jealous I don’t have anything left to #mins. I could really go for a good junk drawer right now…
