Minimalism on MarkJacobsen.net

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 28

Sun, 28 Feb 2021 15:08:00 +0000

Day 28 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 389 items, but since it’s the last day of the month I threw in an extra 11 to bring the total up to a nice round 400. If you’re curious to see how the whole month went [view the Tag][1].

What did I learn in the course of getting rid of 400 physical items? Mostly that I had a lot of tech and misc wires/cables 🙂 but also that it wasn’t so bad. Looking around there’s definitely more to purge especially if we add in more family/kids items, but that’s for the whole family to decide on. For now I prob just need to move on to a shredding or burn party for old docs.

If you did the #LessIsNow #MinsGame challenge in the past, this last month, or are thinking about it for the future, drop a message in the comments. I’d love to hear your story.

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 27

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:46:00 +0000

Day 27 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 361 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Moving on to some of the kids stuff

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 26

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 26 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 334 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Moving onto the garage

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 25

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 25 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 308 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Breaking into the glassware

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 24

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 23:34:37 +0000

Day 24 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 283 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Starting to dip into the tools now too…

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 23

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Day 23 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 259 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Still more cables, but also a good deal of history

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 22

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Day 22 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 236 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Mostly old mementos I have touched or looked at in forever

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 21

Sun, 21 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Day 21 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 214 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Starting to get serious with what where some bigger purchases back in the day…

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 20

Sat, 20 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 20 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 193 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 19

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 19 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 173 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Another spaghetti mess of cables and tech

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 18

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 18 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 154 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Even more electronics and cables

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 17

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 17 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 136 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Portion of the CD collection

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 16

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 16 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 136 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Breaking into the CDs, cassettes, VHS, and books on tape!

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 15

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 15 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 120 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

I swear I’m almost done with the cables and tech…?

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 14

Sun, 14 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 14 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 105 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

More random tech/connectors

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 13

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 13 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 91 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Rando tech/cables

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 12

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 12 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 78 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

More clothes and another random computer thing. Funny thing about all the clothes the past few days… most of them I “hid away” as a type of packing party… and forgot about 😂

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 11

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 11 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 66 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

I’m sorry momma… but tonight I’m cleaning out my closet.

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 10

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 10 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 55 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Pile o’ clothes

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 9

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 9 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 45 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 8

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 8 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 36 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

More random electronics…

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 7

Sun, 07 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 7 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 28 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Old tech…

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 6

Sat, 06 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Day 6 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 21 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Old shirts and a baby pack of cards

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 5

Fri, 05 Feb 2021 12:05:00 +0000

Day 5 of the “Minimalism Game“. That’s 15 total items. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

So many shiny things!

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 4

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 12:08:00 +0000

Day 4 of the “Minimalism Game“. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Just some random old clothes

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 3

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 18:48:00 +0000

Here we go with Day 3 of the “Minimalism Game“. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

Planned to use the magnets for the RE biz but they were super weak. Don’t use the 1st gen Chromecast, and some random chord.

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 2

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:46:00 +0000

Here we go with Day 2 of the “Minimalism Game“. If you want to follow along and see how far I can make it: [Watch the Tag][1]

I still think they’re cool looking, but I don’t really need to hang onto them.

[1]: https://markjacobsen.net/tag/mins-game/

#LessIsNow #MinsGame Day 1

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 22:12:41 +0000

The new Less is Now documentary on Netflix reminded me of the “Minimalism Game“, and since Feb is the shortest month 😀 I thought I might give it a try.

No idea if I’ll be able to make it an entire month (even a short one), but any journey begins with the first step… Or in this case the first item shedd…

They were super comfy but haven’t worked or used for over a year…

The Value of Fasting (from Anything). And How to Get Started.

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 11:16:00 +0000

Have been trying this in various forms since around the beginning of this year. Thus far I’ve had success with abstaining from alcohol for almost 100 days, and intermittent fasting off and on. Haven’t had anything stick, but it does feel good to know that sometimes you can maintain some of that old self control… at least for a while.

The Value of Fasting (from Anything). And How to Get Started.

5% Less

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 11:32:00 +0000

Sometimes the solution isn’t to 10x everything, or maybe 5% less will make you 10% happier 🙂

[Read the full article here][1][1]: https://bemorewithless.com/5percent/

Clutterfree with Kids

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 06:25:30 +0000

[][1]
A few weeks ago I was honored to receive an advanced copy of “[Clutterfree with Kids][1]” by Joshua Becker for review. One of the things I appreciate most about Joshua’s writing and articles is that he’s what I consider a “normal” minimalist in that he owns a house, has kids, and has a job. In other words, he’s just like you and me – only he and his family have chosen to live a life of less so that they may appreciate it more. Even better, he rightfully acknowledges that everyone’s brand of minimalism is different.

Regarding [the book][1], I’ll say that if you’ve read one book on minimalism you’ve read them all and this is not a huge exception to the rule, but if you have not this is a great place to start if you consider yourself to be a “normal” person and are interested in how living a life of less can give you more.

I think the key if you’re married is that you have to get your spouse on-board. Otherwise, don’t expect to have a truly “clutterfree” life (not that it’s really even possible with kids). I think the most you can really hope for is a more organized chaos. Making intentional choices like limiting TV or Internet time. Choosing to eat together as a family. Choosing your activities more deliberately. Choosing to travel with less so that you experience more.

To hit on some of the high points, these were a few of my main take-aways…

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it <- Read that again
Start with small victories. Don’t tackle the hard things first.
Owning less allows us to own higher quality items.
Consider the true cost of your purchases – time, maintenance, cleaning
Less is different than none.
There is more joy to be found in owning less then can ever be found in organizing more.
Organizing more never addresses the underlying problem.
It is far better to de-own than to declutter.
Intentionally or unintentionally we are all minimizing something.
Gift giving: take time to let the fads show themselves then purge without concern. Conversely don’t force your ideas on others.
Compare downward – many people with less “stuff” are actually happier.

Bottom line, for a couple bucks and a few hours of your time, there are much worse things you could be doing, and on the bright side, it just may change your life. Can’t go wrong with that.

[Get the book today][1]

What do you think?

PS: Thanks again Joshua for allowing me to preview the book. I read every word, and it was a good refresher.[1]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HYNJKCU?ie=UTF8&tag=firenice

Now Reading Mini-Missions

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 20:10:54 +0000

Reading Courtney Carver’s latest book: Mini-Missions for Simplicity

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