I’ve always been fascinated by minimalism. I love learning how people live with less. However, I also have a family of 5 and don’t see myself becoming a minimalist anytime soon.
Today, we are questioning if you can become a minimalist in certain areas of your home without getting rid of all your stuff.
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A to B Updates
First, we have Trunk or Treat update. If you missed the whole start of this, go back to Episode 71, Birthday Parties Made Simple, where Bethany first started planning this. She also gave a few updates in Ep 73 Organizing Classroom Papers.
Drumroll please… As you tell from the picture below, it went great!!
See the red tongue? Yes, that is a red blanket covering up a few errands that Bethany didn’t get to. However, as two student informed her, Cookie Monster doesn’t have a tongue! Who knew?!
In the end, it was a success! Thanks Max/Mod/Min strategy! Again, check out Ep 71 to hear how we used Max/Mod/Min strategy for planning parties!
Listener Question: Student Work
In Ep 73 Organizing Classroom Papers, we discussed a few systems Bethany can implement in her classroom to get her desk back in order. (Be sure to check out Episode 73’s Show Notes for all the visuals we shared!)
In response to Episode 73, we got listener question about what to do with unfinished student work, especially if you don’t have desks only tables. Bethany had a few ideas.
The first idea is how she personally handles student paper in her kindergarten classroom. She uses two turn-in baskets, one for finished work and one for students if they need more time.
With the “More Time” basket, Bethany is able to flag individual papers she would like her students to finish. If it is a whole class assignment, she uses binder clips to keep the papers together, then places it in the “More Time” basket to finish at a later date. Sometimes, if the assignment is just practice, unfinished work is sent home or recycled.
Another idea she has seen another teacher use, is to have a “catch-up folder” kept in the students cubbies. Then you can have students go back to their folder and finish any work as needed. Here is a more detailed description of how one teacher uses a Ketchup and Pickle folder.
We love listener questions and we hope that helps! If you have a question for us, you can send us an email Hello @ AtoBpodcast.com or you can leave us a voicemail (858) 480-7722. You can find us hanging out on Instagram @AtoB podcast or Facebook.
Becoming a Minimalist with stuff
Let me start by saying, I don’t consider myself a minimalist nor would my home looked like a minimalist lived there. But I do love questioning what’s in my home and looking for areas where I can move towards becoming minimalist-like.
Bring on the Abundance!
Now before I get ahead of myself, we’ve also talked about the many benefits of having duplicates. We even recorded a whole episode about in Ep 12 Simplify with Duplicates! I love having multiple pairs of scissors. I even bought a pack of 3 to spread throughout my home!
I also really enjoy having mints, chapstick, lip gloss, etc. in both my car and my bag so I can find them when I need them. It sounds simple but having duplicates is a nice luxury that brings a little everyday joy into my life.
When does Abundance become clutter?
As much as I love having duplicate, have you ever noticed when you have one single item, let’s say one pair of sunglasses, you tend to take care of better and know where it is?
When I have multiple pairs of sunglasses, they tend to be strewn about and I don’t know where they are when I need them.
Now this might not always be the case for you but go with me on this little thought experiment. Could you imagine if you had more than one cell phone? With one phone, don’t you always know where your cell phone is (for the most part)?
So I’m here to present the counter argument to simplifying with duplicates. There can areas of your home or specific items to keep a minimum number of. This allows you to take better care of your items and keep track of it as well as freeing up more time for other aspects of life!
I don’t think we all realize how much time and energy is spent on just on moving “stuff” around. Tidying up the house takes time! So let’s get some of our time back and get rid of some of our stuff!
Becoming a Minimalist in a few small categories
We go into detail in the episode so I encourage you to listen to the episode if you haven’t yet already. Here are a few area that I like to keep a minimum number of items:
- pans and cooking supplies
- baby bottles
- reusable water bottles
- kitchen towels
- bath towels
- sheets
- canvas bags
- workout clothes- yoga pants, sports bra, etc.
- toys
- photos
- children shoes
Of course, some of these areas might not speak to you personally or there can be many more areas than this!
As you are looking through your home for areas to minimize, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Do you really use all of them or are there a specific few you always grab?
- How soon are you going to use it? Next week or in 5 years?
- If you got rid of it, could you replace it in less than 20 minutes for under $20?
- When you are in a store, and you want to buy something new to replace something you already own, are you ready to say give away what you already own?
Links Mentioned:
- We love the resources that Kelly shared on her podcast and blog Simply Organized Teacher. (We shared our interview with Kelly on Ep 62 Tips for an Organized Classroom.)
- Ep 64 Progress on Projects
- Ep 48 Five Ways to Be Productive in the School Pick up Line
- Ep 41 Organizing Photos with Molly Bullard
Let’s Connect!
What area are you already a minimalist in? Or what area are you going to work on becoming a minimalist?
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