Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

I didn't sleep well last night, and today is headed for 90°F (32°C) again , still , even though it's the middle of October.  I'm definitely not feeling motivated to do much of anything. None of us can feel motivated every day.  Maybe your weather is dark and dreary, or you face a task that you're dreading, or things have just felt muddled and discouraging lately.  This is real life – not every day is a marvelous, fantastic day. But you don't have to roll over and pull the blanket over your head on such a day.  You may not feel motivated, but you can still be disciplined. The little things are key. I don't mean you have to falsely manufacture energy and excitement.  The key to discipline isn't how you feel, it's how you act.  It's your habits.  And those habits can be tiny. In fact, for best results, the tinier, the better.  The small, consistent steps you take day after day can get you where you want to go.  Those tiny steps are the path to ...

We all know (at least in our minds, if not our emotions) that those aspirational minimalist photos on Pinterest or TikTok aren't real.  They're spiffed up and styled for the photo shoot, and if you try to actually live that way you're going to be defeated.  After all, you're alive, which means that things are always in flux, entering and leaving your home.  It's important to let go of impossible standards. But that doesn't mean you should let go of your desire for reasonably ordered rooms.  Accepting that there will sometimes be game pieces and snack plates on the coffee table, or that the laundry baskets will never stay empty for long, is a simple case of facing reality.  Giving up on a level of order that makes you happy is something else. Clutter clues How can you tell the difference?  Is disorder caused by the fact that people actually live in your house, or by an underlying clutter problem?  Is it clutter, or is it simply life?   Here are the...

If you're like me, you find excuses for why you "can't" do without a flavored latte in the morning, a post-workout smoothie, "just a small serving" of dessert, an evening glass of wine, or waffles with the family on Sunday morning. And now Sugar Fest – I mean Halloween – is almost here. These behaviors are normalized and celebrated in our society.  We joke about how we're "addicted," perhaps not realizing that we really are . We can do hard things. It might seem almost impossible to get healthier and fitter in today's society.  Fast food and junk food are everywhere, all filled with some combination of sugar, salt, and fat that we find hard to resist.  We're overscheduled, sleep-deprived, and sedentary. There's a ton of health and fitness information on the web, in books, even on TV.  It can feel overwhelming to try to wade through all of it, which might just make you feel like giving up and ordering a pizza.  (I know I've had ...

I can't believe I've written nearly 525 posts for Maximum Gratitude Minimal Stuff .  As I revise, update, and check links on older posts, I'm pleased to notice that some of them are really interesting and useful. But many of you are newer readers, and have never seen posts that were written in 2018 or 2019, or even last year.  And if you've been a faithful reader for quite a while (I appreciate you), you've probably forgotten.  I keep coming across posts I don't remember, and I actually wrote them! It's worth visiting what we've written, read, or thought before, as both a reminder and for new insights.  So on selected Thursdays, instead of posting new content, I'm going to direct you toward posts of the past that I think are worth a re-read. Inspiring minimalism Most of us don't just wake up one morning and say "I want to become a minimalist."  Maybe we look around our homes and think, "I need to clean up around here.  Where did al...

This morning, I have a phone call to make about a topic I don't know well.  I hate those.   I tend to procrastinate on them, because I know I'll have to ask a bunch of probably dumb-sounding questions.  And the whole process of working my way through a phone menu and dealing with a robot before I can finally (hopefully) get to a real person makes me anxious and annoyed. Then I have a dental appointment to replace a crown that just won't stay on (this is the third try).  They're removing part of my gum, with no guarantee that that will finally work.  I'm a little phobic about the dentist anyway, partly due to all of my 1960s-era orthodontia experiences.  I've been feeling tense about this appointment since I made it a few weeks ago. Choose to have a good day. So when it's time to pick up my 4- and 7-year-old grandsons for their overnight visit, will I be wearing a frown?  Will I be stressed and impatient, with my mind on many other things? It could be t...

If you're reading this, you probably already have some awareness of minimalism.  At the very least, you might be interested in reducing your clutter so you can streamline home care and feel more relaxed in your spaces.  You might also be interested in  how to downsize your own or an older relative's living situation how to create a home that's cozy, pretty, and practical with less how to curate a wardrobe with fewer pieces and more versatility how to deal with your spouse's or your kids' clutter how to break a shopping habit how to use a simpler lifestyle to improve your health how to be less busy and more focused how to develop better habits how to reduce debt, increase savings, and maximize giving how to be thankful and content with what you have how to remain hopeful and positive I've written about all of these subjects; obviously, some more than others. But maybe you have questions about minimalism and how it can make such a difference in your life.  How can...

If children are bored and unable to play well by themselves or with others, the answer is simple – at least according to toy manufacturers and retailers.  Buy them something new!  Obviously, finding just the right toy will solve the problem. But what tons of research (and perhaps our own experience) tells us is that kids can be happy with fewer toys.  In fact, they're more creative with less.  Preschools and kindergartens that remove all toys discover that children learn to deal effectively with their boredom, cooperate together to play games, transform found objects into playthings, and enjoy more exercise and outdoor time than when they are given finished toys to play with. What makes a good toy? How often do we joke about kids playing more with the boxes than the toys that come in them?  Or see them spend hours in a fort built of chairs, cushions, and blankets? When I was a child, my brother, sister, and I usually visited my grandparents for a week or two in...

What does it mean to be wealthy?  Different people have different ideas.  Many think it means a six-figure salary, although a "mere" $100,000 per year is less and less acceptable as living costs continue to rise.  According to a recent Bankrate survey , the salary Americans said would make them feel rich hovered above $480,000 per year.  However, according to Charles Schwab's June 2023 Modern Wealth Survey , many people are starting to equate wealth with things other than a high salary. More valuable than money That's right – nearly two-thirds of survey respondents included physical health and good relationships among the assets that would make them feel wealthy.  Nearly 70% agreed that being generous toward others and enjoying special experiences makes them feel rich.  Owning high-end merchandise, having more money than others they know, and leaving a large estate fell much further down the list than we might expect. Perhaps less surprisingly, among th...

You know you have a problem with clutter, and you're working on it.  When you look at the "before" pictures of your home, it's obvious you've made progress.  That's fantastic, and you should be proud!  Plenty of people would be inspired by your work. However, you still have a long way to go, and sometimes when you look around at all the clutter that remains, you feel discouraged.  It's hard to keep working, 10 minutes a day , or with tiny tasks here and there, without feeling that you'll never be done.  You fear you'll never have the beautiful, serene, streamlined home you dream of. You long to make your home look less cluttered today .  Is that even possible? I'm certainly not going to tell you how to hide clutter.  And this post isn't about doing a radical, super-fast purge .  But I can give you some tips that will make your space look better even if some clutter remains.  Visual noise Have you heard the term visual noise ?  As with ...