**The Power of Minimalism: 5 Habits to Transform Your Life**

As someone who values simplicity and practicality, I've found that embracing minimalism has had a profound impact on my life. From decluttering my home to simplifying my digital presence, these habits have helped me create a more streamlined and organized lifestyle.

**The Habit of Quick Tidying**

One habit that I swear by is the practice of quick tidying twice a day. For me, this means setting aside 10-15 minutes in the morning and another 10-15 minutes in the evening to tidy up my home. This can be as simple as wiping down the kitchen counters, putting away dishes, or making sure the living room is clear of clutter. By doing so, I've created a sense of calm and organization that makes my daily life easier.

I also appreciate how this habit has helped me create a sense of routine and structure in my day. With two young children who require attention and care, it can be challenging to maintain a tidy home without a system in place. By dedicating time each day to tidying up, I've ensured that our home remains clean and welcoming.

**The Importance of Decluttering**

Another habit that I've adopted is the practice of seasonal or quarterly decluttering. This means setting aside time every three months to go through my belongings and get rid of anything that's no longer needed or useful. For me, this process has been both therapeutic and liberating.

I find that decluttering helps me connect with my past and appreciate the things I've accumulated over time. By letting go of items that no longer serve me, I've created space for new experiences and relationships to enter my life.

**Clearing Digital Clutter**

One area where minimalism has had a significant impact on my life is in my digital presence. In today's world, it's easy to get caught up in the chaos of social media, emails, and notifications. But I've found that by simplifying my digital habits, I've created more space for what truly matters.

I've recently started using Google Photos to store all of my photos, which has allowed me to delete thousands of unnecessary pictures from my phone. This process has also helped me develop a greater sense of gratitude and appreciation for the memories I do have.

**Embracing Empty Space**

A habit that's taken some getting used to is embracing empty space in my home. For many people, cluttering up every available surface can be seen as a sign of productivity or success. But I've found that having more space has helped me create a sense of calm and clarity.

By leaving rooms unfurnished and uncluttered, I've created the opportunity for creativity and inspiration to flow in. Whether it's displaying family photos or adding cozy throw blankets, I believe that empty space can be just as beautiful as cluttered surfaces.

**The Power of Gratitude**

Finally, one habit that I find essential is practicing gratitude on a daily basis. For me, this means taking a moment each day to reflect on the things I'm thankful for. Whether it's writing in a journal or simply sharing my gratitude with loved ones, this practice has helped me cultivate a more positive and appreciative mindset.

By focusing on what I already have rather than what I lack, I've created a sense of contentment that transcends material possessions. This habit has also helped me develop a greater appreciation for the people and experiences in my life, which has brought me joy and fulfillment in ways I never thought possible.

**Conclusion**

Embracing minimalism is a journey, not a destination. By adopting these five habits – quick tidying, decluttering, clearing digital clutter, embracing empty space, and practicing gratitude – I've created a more streamlined, organized, and fulfilling life. Whether you're looking to simplify your home or digital presence, cultivating gratitude, or simply finding more joy in everyday moments, these habits offer a starting point for transformation.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello and welcome back to my channel so as we're wrapping up 2020 my motto right now is out with the old in with the new leaving behind the 2020 energy and everything that's associated with that also leaving behind our stuff and baggage from 2020 so we could start fresh in 2021 because i'm about to make 2021 the best year ever it can't be worse okay and i wanted to share with you guys some of my most fundamental habits for leading a more minimalistic clutter-free lifestyle before you call me out i just want to say i do not consider myself a true minimalist do you get a lot of new things for videos and product testing as part of my job but i am very good at keeping things clutter free and as new stuff comes in old stuff goes out so that is going to lead me to habit number one if you can follow this it is truly life changing that is one in one out so when you get a new item you take something of that same type and you donate it purge it from your life so that way you remain net neutral and clutter does not build up whenever i get a new eyeshadow palette i will look at my collection what i already have and i'm not using and i will donate it usually to my mom that is how i have kept my makeup collection so minimal and it's also really high quality because the stuff that i am keeping is the stuff that i truly love you get a new sweater look through all the sweaters you already have and put it in the donate pile another thing i've been doing for years in my closet is i keep a separate laundry basket in my closet that is just for donation items it's really handy to have it there at all times in your closet because as you're trying things on and you're not loving it it makes it really easy just to remember to put it in the donate bin and you're constantly decluttering while we're in the closet another clothing-related minimalist habit if i have not worn that item in one year then i will donate it that might seem strict but for me it has always worked and i've never once had a regret one method for doing this is you hang all of your clothes up on a hanger and have the hangers facing one direction after you wear it move the hanger the other direction so at the end of the year you can see what are the items that you did wear versus the items that never got touched if it's been four seasons of life and you have not had one occasion to wear this item how much do you really need it that's my opinion another habit that i swear by is keep your counters clear in particular in the kitchen and in the bathroom those are the two biggest clutter magnets that in my experience you don't need every kitchen appliance that you own out on the counter top at all time visually that looks very cluttered it is not necessary it is taking up valuable counter space so look around your kitchen and take the things off of your countertop that you are not using on a weekly or very regular basis put them in your garage in storage put them in cabinets but they don't need to be out and about collecting dust stinging and minimalist is not black and white i would argue that every person out there is a minimalist in some things and a maximalist and other things so me for example i'm very minimalist with things like clothes shoes but other categories like children's toys for example i have way too much of so identify for yourself what are those categories of items that you tend to have way more than you need of and set a limit for yourself that limit could be something like a number for example if you tend to hoard mugs and you have a hundred mugs tell yourself okay four people in the household each person can have two mugs so we keep eight mugs all the rest get donated or you can limit yourself by physical space i can only keep the number of mugs that will fit in this one section of the cabinet if it doesn't fit then it gets donated i'm very curious to know so let me know in the comments what is the number one type of item that you have a lot of in your life mine is definitely children's toys and robes so i'm going to tell myself right now okay i got to cut it back to five huge huge habit of keeping things minimal and clean in my home is i take time twice a day to do a quick clean one is when carter is eating lunch so like midday quick tidy and then at the end of the day before bed i spent a little bit more time like 15 minutes at least picking up tidying up around the house so in the morning when i wake up we have a clean freshly i used to try to follow the habit of cleaning as you go but with kids running around the house it's just not practical so instead i've switched to a system of just doing two quick tidies a day next minimalist habit that i swear by is do a seasonal or quarterly purge the way that we do this is i pre-schedule a donation pickup every three months so whether i like it or not i am forced to look through my stuff and do a perk decluttering is not a one-time thing it is an ongoing constant continual process so you have to set yourself up and give yourself deadlines that will force you to declutter to prevent too much stuff from coming into your house in the first place a little habit i like to follow is shop your stash so before you buy a new nude lipstick go to your makeup drawer and look at the nude lipsticks you already have swatch them on your hand and really think to yourself do i need another nude lipstick or do i already have like 40. and by doing this you might rediscover something that you have but have completely forgotten about so it will bring new life to your existing things next minimal habit that i recently went through and did and i can tell you it is amazing that is clearing your digital clutter go on your phone right now i'm very curious to know go to your photos open your photo album how many pictures do you have in there right now a few days ago before i cleared out the clutter i had 6842 photos just hanging out on my phone nobody needs that many pictures on their phone it's taking up space but it's also just making your phone cluttered so i have an entire video of my favorite apps and how i organize my phone but what i use is google photos what that allows me to do is delete photos off of my phone but they're still saved onto google photos i have a whole like five minute segment where i explain in detail and i show you exactly how to do it on that video so i will link it down below for a tutorial but delete the stuff on your phone that you are no longer using next habit is to embrace space every empty space in your home does not need to be filled leave room to grow every table doesn't need to be filled with knickknacks and stuff and clutter it's okay for things to be clear in my mind i like to think of it as giving my home some breathing room and i sometimes get the criticism that it's too minimal here but that's okay i would rather have too little than too much because for me clutter really stresses me out and embracing space does not mean that your home has to be cold and empty and feeling like a museum you can add cozy elements like throw blankets and family photos and things that make it feel warm without it being overwhelming and having too much stuff and that's going to lead me to my last and most important minimalist habit if you take nothing else from this video take this and that is the habit of being grateful for what you already have another amazing way to practice gratitude is to have a gratitude journal or what i do i have a one line a day journal and i just write my most favorite moment or thing that i'm grateful for from that day that i want to remember i have actually been doing this every single day of my life since carter's been born i write down one thing from that day that i'm grateful for one motto i like to live by is life is all about who you're comparing yourself to if you're comparing yourself to people in this world who have more than you you're always going to feel like you don't have enough but if you compare yourself to people who wish they had what you had in this life it will change your mindset and bring you to a place of gratitude so that is going to be it for this week's video i hope it gave you some good ideas and inspiration if you did enjoy it don't forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe if you are new here i have my instagram is fastwar beauty as well so go follow me over there i'm pretty active on my stories we have a lot of fun over there with all of that said i will see you soon with a new video bye carter what are you doing i'm putting my card back you'll never release i found them all hiding their box in the garage really wow look at that you found them all have you ever operated in the garage by mistakehello and welcome back to my channel so as we're wrapping up 2020 my motto right now is out with the old in with the new leaving behind the 2020 energy and everything that's associated with that also leaving behind our stuff and baggage from 2020 so we could start fresh in 2021 because i'm about to make 2021 the best year ever it can't be worse okay and i wanted to share with you guys some of my most fundamental habits for leading a more minimalistic clutter-free lifestyle before you call me out i just want to say i do not consider myself a true minimalist do you get a lot of new things for videos and product testing as part of my job but i am very good at keeping things clutter free and as new stuff comes in old stuff goes out so that is going to lead me to habit number one if you can follow this it is truly life changing that is one in one out so when you get a new item you take something of that same type and you donate it purge it from your life so that way you remain net neutral and clutter does not build up whenever i get a new eyeshadow palette i will look at my collection what i already have and i'm not using and i will donate it usually to my mom that is how i have kept my makeup collection so minimal and it's also really high quality because the stuff that i am keeping is the stuff that i truly love you get a new sweater look through all the sweaters you already have and put it in the donate pile another thing i've been doing for years in my closet is i keep a separate laundry basket in my closet that is just for donation items it's really handy to have it there at all times in your closet because as you're trying things on and you're not loving it it makes it really easy just to remember to put it in the donate bin and you're constantly decluttering while we're in the closet another clothing-related minimalist habit if i have not worn that item in one year then i will donate it that might seem strict but for me it has always worked and i've never once had a regret one method for doing this is you hang all of your clothes up on a hanger and have the hangers facing one direction after you wear it move the hanger the other direction so at the end of the year you can see what are the items that you did wear versus the items that never got touched if it's been four seasons of life and you have not had one occasion to wear this item how much do you really need it that's my opinion another habit that i swear by is keep your counters clear in particular in the kitchen and in the bathroom those are the two biggest clutter magnets that in my experience you don't need every kitchen appliance that you own out on the counter top at all time visually that looks very cluttered it is not necessary it is taking up valuable counter space so look around your kitchen and take the things off of your countertop that you are not using on a weekly or very regular basis put them in your garage in storage put them in cabinets but they don't need to be out and about collecting dust stinging and minimalist is not black and white i would argue that every person out there is a minimalist in some things and a maximalist and other things so me for example i'm very minimalist with things like clothes shoes but other categories like children's toys for example i have way too much of so identify for yourself what are those categories of items that you tend to have way more than you need of and set a limit for yourself that limit could be something like a number for example if you tend to hoard mugs and you have a hundred mugs tell yourself okay four people in the household each person can have two mugs so we keep eight mugs all the rest get donated or you can limit yourself by physical space i can only keep the number of mugs that will fit in this one section of the cabinet if it doesn't fit then it gets donated i'm very curious to know so let me know in the comments what is the number one type of item that you have a lot of in your life mine is definitely children's toys and robes so i'm going to tell myself right now okay i got to cut it back to five huge huge habit of keeping things minimal and clean in my home is i take time twice a day to do a quick clean one is when carter is eating lunch so like midday quick tidy and then at the end of the day before bed i spent a little bit more time like 15 minutes at least picking up tidying up around the house so in the morning when i wake up we have a clean freshly i used to try to follow the habit of cleaning as you go but with kids running around the house it's just not practical so instead i've switched to a system of just doing two quick tidies a day next minimalist habit that i swear by is do a seasonal or quarterly purge the way that we do this is i pre-schedule a donation pickup every three months so whether i like it or not i am forced to look through my stuff and do a perk decluttering is not a one-time thing it is an ongoing constant continual process so you have to set yourself up and give yourself deadlines that will force you to declutter to prevent too much stuff from coming into your house in the first place a little habit i like to follow is shop your stash so before you buy a new nude lipstick go to your makeup drawer and look at the nude lipsticks you already have swatch them on your hand and really think to yourself do i need another nude lipstick or do i already have like 40. and by doing this you might rediscover something that you have but have completely forgotten about so it will bring new life to your existing things next minimal habit that i recently went through and did and i can tell you it is amazing that is clearing your digital clutter go on your phone right now i'm very curious to know go to your photos open your photo album how many pictures do you have in there right now a few days ago before i cleared out the clutter i had 6842 photos just hanging out on my phone nobody needs that many pictures on their phone it's taking up space but it's also just making your phone cluttered so i have an entire video of my favorite apps and how i organize my phone but what i use is google photos what that allows me to do is delete photos off of my phone but they're still saved onto google photos i have a whole like five minute segment where i explain in detail and i show you exactly how to do it on that video so i will link it down below for a tutorial but delete the stuff on your phone that you are no longer using next habit is to embrace space every empty space in your home does not need to be filled leave room to grow every table doesn't need to be filled with knickknacks and stuff and clutter it's okay for things to be clear in my mind i like to think of it as giving my home some breathing room and i sometimes get the criticism that it's too minimal here but that's okay i would rather have too little than too much because for me clutter really stresses me out and embracing space does not mean that your home has to be cold and empty and feeling like a museum you can add cozy elements like throw blankets and family photos and things that make it feel warm without it being overwhelming and having too much stuff and that's going to lead me to my last and most important minimalist habit if you take nothing else from this video take this and that is the habit of being grateful for what you already have another amazing way to practice gratitude is to have a gratitude journal or what i do i have a one line a day journal and i just write my most favorite moment or thing that i'm grateful for from that day that i want to remember i have actually been doing this every single day of my life since carter's been born i write down one thing from that day that i'm grateful for one motto i like to live by is life is all about who you're comparing yourself to if you're comparing yourself to people in this world who have more than you you're always going to feel like you don't have enough but if you compare yourself to people who wish they had what you had in this life it will change your mindset and bring you to a place of gratitude so that is going to be it for this week's video i hope it gave you some good ideas and inspiration if you did enjoy it don't forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe if you are new here i have my instagram is fastwar beauty as well so go follow me over there i'm pretty active on my stories we have a lot of fun over there with all of that said i will see you soon with a new video bye carter what are you doing i'm putting my card back you'll never release i found them all hiding their box in the garage really wow look at that you found them all have you ever operated in the garage by mistake\n"