I like to call myself a minimalist, because I only keep that of which has value to me, and like to de-clutter regularly to make sure I don't own anything that is cluttering my life. This was definitely due to having a tiny bedroom built, which I had to cut down a lot of my things after I moved into it, allowing me to assess whether I would miss it if I got rid of it, most of which the answer was "nope". This process can involve through getting rid of things that don't mean anything to you, minimising your wardrobe, or buying things that make your life simpler. I can definitely say it has benefited my life so far, and will continue to do so as my life becomes simpler and less stressful, which leads nicely to my first point.

1. It reduces stress
"Tidy home, tidy mind". Having less clutter around your home means it seems like there's less unfinished work, and avoids that unease you feel when surrounded by random things, leading to less stress. This clutter is known as 'kipple', which is like old magazines and other things you'll likely never use again but are keeping 'just in case', or just can't be bothered to throw away. Getting rid of this is like lifting a weight of your head, and allows you to concentrate better and think more clearly in a clean environment, without being distracted by unnecessary clutter which only brings you stress.

2. It saves money
If over time you learn to buy less things, you will ultimately save money. Especially if you adopt a 'capsule wardrobe', which is something I've been trying to do, which will save you a lot of money if you normally buy a lot of clothes. By buying fewer, versatile pieces which you can wear all year round, your wardrobe will be cleaner and it will be so much easier to pick out an outfit in the morning! This can apply to everything else as well, as if you assess the value of something before you buy it, you will avoid many unnecessary purchases.

3. It improves focus
Having less clutter allows you to focus on any tasks you need to complete, inevitably leading to increased productivity, as there's no unwanted clutter to distract you from your work, so you can fully focus on what you're doing. It also allows you to focus on the things that benefit you in life - you learn to focus on your experiences as being more valuable than possessions, and won't feel the need to hold on to as many possessions when you focus on the present, and what benefits you now.

4. It makes you more organised
Generally having less belongings will mean you will likely know where everything is and be able to find them when needed. It will be easier to keep up with cleaning your home when there are fewer things to clean, and a typical minimalist home is so aesthetically pleasing, you can't go wrong with it! If you haven't watched Marie Kondo's 'The Life Changing Art of Tidying Up', I would highly recommend it, as it shows the process of de-cluttering and how it's changed people's lives. She recommends having a specified 'home' for every item so it's easy to find, which I think is a great idea for remembering where things are, and making it easier when you do have to tidy, to avoid leaving things out and letting them accumulate.

5. It improves self-control
By not allowing yourself to buy things you know will not benefit you or bring value into your life, you'll fall away from the consumerist lifestyle, and over time will learn to value having less more than having more. By no means does this mean not buying things you want, because you absolutely can do that, but it defeats the purpose if you're making no changes to your buying behaviour, and you won't feel the true benefits of minimalism until you internalise the idea that less is more, even if it's just a little bit less.

First of all, welcome to my new blog! 'The Optimistic Minimalist' will be a lifestyle, productivity and student life blog. For some context, I'm a first year Marketing student at university, and thought it would be a great idea to start a blog to gain some experience. I really hope you enjoy my first post :)

We've all been there, especially if you're a student like me, when you wake up late, and then before you know it it's the evening and you haven't done a single productive thing all day, except scroll endlessly on your phone (I don't dare check my screen time). This has been basically my entire Winter break so far, but during exam season, I was great at time management and was getting so much done in a day. I thought I'd share how I planned my time effectively when I had a lot to do.

1. Plan your day the night before
You can do this anyway you prefer. Personally, writing a schedule works best for me rather than a to-do list, because I can dedicate different tasks to specific times to ensure I get everything done that I need to, whereas a to-do list can make you feel unorganised as it seems there's so much to do and too little time. If you set aside a certain amount of time for all your tasks, it will get done much quicker, and will motivate you to get it done within that time.

2. Plan time for yourself
This is important, as if your schedule just consists of non-stop work, you're never going to follow it. Be realistic and think about how much work you're realistically going to be able to do in a set amount of time. I found that as soon as I ran off schedule, I become demotivated to follow through with the schedule, and just end up abandoning it all together sometimes, so it's important that you plan breaks and give yourself enough time to finish all your tasks.

3. Wake up earlier
This is definitely something I want to do better, as if you wake up earlier, you get more done, and you can get out of the way some of the tasks you don't particularly want to do, and then have the evening for yourself. A lot of people work better in the morning, and it's worth a try to see if this is the case for you. As a night owl who does most of her work at night, this is always difficult for me, because I am not a morning person in the slightest.

4. Set yourself goals
These can be daily, weekly or as long as you feel necessary depending on how big the task is. You'll feel like your making progress if you can see yourself getting closer to your goal, whatever it might be. I like to set daily goals so if I don't meet every single goal I can carry it over to the next day, or make it a weekly goal instead. The key is to always be realistic, and I'll keep reinforcing this, because I made the mistake of being unrealistic a lot by setting myself too many tasks to do, and it made my time a lot less productive. Even if you only have one goal, you can relax after you've ticked it off.

5. Give yourself an incentive
Maybe its treating yourself to a takeout at the end of the day, or watching an episode of your favourite TV series, it's a good idea to have something to look forward to after you've finished everything you need to do that day. Otherwise, you'll keep putting off your tasks to do later, and you'll be stuck with a never ending list of things to do, with no time to relax! There should be a balance between tasks you need to do and time to yourself, or else you'll get overwhelmed with things to do. If possible, spread your tasks over multiple days so that there isn't so much to do in one day.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Let me know in the comments!