Ergonomics & Workspace Design

It’s really easy to fall into the thinking that organizing will solve the clutter in our homes. As a result, we buy storage bins, shelves, and labels, believing that if everything has a place, our space will feel more orderly and peaceful. But organizing is always, only a temporary solution. We can organize everything perfectly today—only to have to organize it again tomorrow. That is because organizing only treats the symptom, not the problem. No matter how well-organized our home might get, too many possessions still create stress, demand our attention, and consume our time. Physical possessions take up physical space in our home and mental space in our minds. …

So you want to declutter your home? Awesome! I highly recommend it. When you declutter your stuff, you find that your home improves because the environment feels more calm, visual noise is removed, things are easier to find, and you might even sleep better at night. And those are all really good things. I wish you all the best in your decluttering journey because it will change your life for the better! In fact, if you are looking for some practical ideas to get started, try these articles: The Simple Guide to a Clutter-Free Home Go Ahead. Start Decluttering with the Easiest Step. A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home Decluttering is wonderful! But…

One of the most life-changing benefits of owning fewer possessions is the gift of more time. No doubt many of you have already experienced that. When we own less, we spend less time cleaning, organizing, maintaining, repairing, replacing… even shopping for new things in the first place. Life becomes more manageable and less overwhelming at home (and in the world). In fact, the sheer amount of time saved by owning less surprises almost everybody who becomes minimalist. It’s impossible to realize how much of a burden our possessions have become until we begin to remove them. But, when you’re just starting out on the journey to become minimalist, it can feel like th…

My desire with each Weekend Reads is to provide you with articles and posts that encourage simplicity and minimalist living. Below, you will find links to blog posts and news stories that I hand-picked over the last couple weeks. I hope you find inspiration and practical help inside them. That is my goal on Becoming Minimalist: to intentionally promote simplicity in a world that needs to hear it. An Ode To Simple Living: A Summer Spent With My Grandparents | Strike Magazine by Hannah King. I know what you’re thinking: You lived with your grandparents as a 21-year-old college student for 3 months?! Yes. And I can confidently say it was one of my best decisions thi…

“The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore, to use it, not to misuse it.” —Plutarch “I could never become a minimalist.” This is a phrase I have heard countless times since starting this blog. Every time, two thoughts come to mind. First, I wonder what misconception they have about minimalism that would make it seem so difficult. But second, more importantly, I think to myself, “But you already are a minimalist—you just don’t know it yet.“ The truth is, we’re all minimizing something in our lives, whether we realize it or not. And once we understand that fact, everything about us begins to change. Every day, we make choices …

Note: The following article was published in the September 01 issue of Simplify Magazine. We often consider our food diet as the primary determinant of our health. And there is a lot of truth to that. What we eat determines quite a bit the physical body we live our lives in. But our “diet” extends beyond just what we eat. Every day, we consume countless other things: the media we watch, the books we read, the conversations we engage in, the news we encounter, and even the thoughts we entertain. Just as the food we eat impacts our physical health, these other forms of consumption significantly influence our emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. And i…

We are not infinite gods. We are finite creatures. And because of that, all of our life resources are finite. Our days are finite. Our money is finite. Our time and attention and energy are finite. The abundance of these resources may vary from person to person, but for all of us, they are limited. And because of that, every “more” comes with a tradeoff. More of one thing always means less of something else. In some areas of life, this is easier to see: More junk food means less health. More screen time means less time outside. More spending means less savings. More late nights means less enjoyable mornings. More clutter means less calm. But in other …

There is an important truth about life that is helpful to understand: sometimes, the things we think will make us happy actually keep us from it. For most of my life, I believed the ‘American Dream’ was the path to a better life—a bigger house, a fuller closet, the latest gadgets, and all the things everyone else seemed to be chasing. So I chased and accumulated those things with determination, convinced they would improve my life. But looking back, I see how many of my years were spent chasing the wrong things. It’s not easy to admit, but much of my life was wasted pursuing possessions that didn’t matter. By the time I was 33, our home was filled with stuff—furni…

The physical possessions we choose to own shape the direction of our lives more than we realize. Our possessions either help us fulfill our purpose, or they distract us from it. Every item in a home takes up space, demands attention, and requires care. The more we accumulate, the more we spend our time maintaining things rather than living life. Unfortunately, most of us were never taught to question this. Even worse, from a young age, we have been told that more is better—that success is measured by what we own, that happiness is found in the next purchase, that security is found in full closets, full garages, and full bank accounts. But deep down, we know we…

Your home is your sanctuary. Let’s keep it that way. Simplicity is about creating space in your life for what matters most. It’s about clearing the clutter from our homes and hearts so we can live with intention and purpose. As the world gets busier and noisier, embracing simplicity and minimalism becomes even more important. But we all need inspiration to keep us going. That’s why I carefully selected these articles for you. I hope they inspire you to continue on this beautiful journey towards a simpler life. Find a cozy spot, prepare your favorite drink, and immerse yourself in these thought-provoking reads this weekend. On First Principles, Consum…

There’s a strange thing that happens when someone says, “Only three left in stock,” or when a sale ends at midnight, or when a product is labeled “limited edition.” Or when we hear the phrase, “But don’t wait—these are moving fast.” Even if the item wasn’t on your shopping list a moment ago, all of a sudden, the item starts to feel important—urgent, even. There’s a name for this: The Scarcity Effect. This experience is, of course, not unique. You knew exactly the scenarios I mentioned in the first paragraph because you’ve heard them countless times before. Even more, not only is the phrasing recognizable, most of us have felt the internal nudge that we sho…

There’s something natural about the way people hold onto sentimental items from their past. A child’s toy. A handwritten card. The trophy from the winning game. Souvenirs from concerts attended or trips taken. Boxes of items once owned by our parents, grandparents, or other loved ones. For many of us, these things aren’t just household items like extra Tupperware in the kitchen cabinet that can be decluttered when a lid goes missing. They represent the people we love, the experiences we’ve cherished, or the accomplishments we worked hard to achieve. For that reason, the attachment is emotional. That’s why we refer to it as sentimental. And it can be one of th…

According to some studies, the average person touches their phone 2,617 times every day. And, on average, we now spend an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on our phones. When I was young, our phones were just a tool for communication with others, but those days are long gone. They are now an almost essential device to get through our days. Even more, when you think about it, they have become the screen and lens through which we experience life. We scroll, text, shop, track, plan, capture, play, and navigate every day—all from a device we carry in our pocket. With a device that has become so powerful in our lives, it is important that we are intentional in…

For the past 15 years, the driving passion behind this website has been simple: to inspire and help people own less and live more. I hope, in one way or another, it’s been helpful to you in your pursuit. At first, this blog was the only resource I offered. I published articles three times per week and made them freely available to anyone who subscribed by email. (You still can, by the way.) But a website built on one-off articles has its limits. It becomes a stream of consciousness—topics shared in no particular order, simply based on what I was learning, thinking about, or wanting to articulate at the time. The articles were helpful—and still are—but now,…