Why You Should Try Minimalism

Digital Minimalism

Minimalism isn’t just about your physical environment, however. Many other authors and speakers are thinking about what minimalism could mean for our social media and connected lives. Georgetown Professor (Hoya Saxa!), Cal Newport, is perhaps the leading voice in this space. His excellent 2019 book, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, provides an incredible survey of many of the negative effects that stem from the advent of our increasingly connected world. More importantly, he provides clear, actionable insights that can help interested readers understand how to set boundaries for how they engage on the internet and, in particular, social media.

Minimalism and Brain Health

Regardless of whether you are inspired to reduce the time you spend on social media or perhaps even to clear out all of your belongings so you can move into a new micro home, there are some important lessons to be taken from the minimalist movement. None, though, are perhaps more pressing than understanding how a lack of clutter can positively affect the brain.

While all of the minimalist gurus out there will talk about how the change has improved their lives, you don’t just have to take their word for it. No doubt driven in part by the rising popularity of minimalism, academic research in the space has also blossomed recently. There are now numerous scientific and peer-reviewed articles on how minimalism can reduce anxiety and related disorders or simply promote general wellbeing. From these and many more studies, it is clear that minimalism can have a positive, lasting effect on one’s brain health.

How to Incorporate Minimalism into Your Daily Life

The deep connection between mind and body has long been understood, with the recent findings about minimalism and mental health and wellness only deepening our understanding of this incredibly important space. While this research is only just emerging, the consistency of the findings make it clear that adopting some minimalist practice into one’s daily life can be rewarding for the body, mind, and soul.

With that, here are four simple things you can do to start incorporating minimalist concepts into your habits:

1. 1. Put down your devices. The internet has fundamentally changed the world and helped us connect for the first time with a truly global network. With that, some aspects of it—particularly social media—have made it harder for us to have real connection with people. The next time you are thinking about sending a friend or family member a quick note on Facebook or liking their post on Instagram, consider picking up the phone instead, to give them a call. Or, better yet, pen them a note (if you still have pen and paper), which is something they can cherish for years to come.
   2. Get outside. It is amazing what a little sun and activity can do for you. Countless studies underscore the importance of being physical in the great outdoors as a means for improving one’s physical and mental health. Better still is if you can find a friend or a loved one with whom you can share the experience.
   3. Declutter your home. Spring cleaning can do amazing things for your mental health. Even better, it doesn’t actually have to be the Spring to do it. Just tidying a desk, a drawer, or even a closet can go a long way toward helping to clear out some mental (and physical!) clutter.
   4. Eat a whole food, plant-based diet. Minimalism can apply to your diet, too. Eating whole, unprocessed, plant-based foods has been consistently shown to improve one’s physical and mental health. Even better, this approach to eating is less expensive than buying packaged goods and is much, much more nutritionally sound.

Once you start to incorporate some of these suggestions into your daily routine, you’ll likely find, like so many others, that minimalism has a lot to teach us about living our best life.