When I left home for university, I hauled pretty much everything I owned with me. I couldn’t imagine my life without every single one of my possessions. It took days to pack, move and unpack it all. But when I left college four years later, I realized to my dismay that a lot of the things I brought with me had gone completely unused. I decided not to take them back home, which was not an easy decision. It still hurt, despite the fact that I knew I could live without all those things I was getting rid of.

And you know what? As painful as it was to get rid of them, I barely even remember what most of those things were. I’m definitely happier without them. I’ve learned that – over time – people forget, or their need for a particular object eventually diminishes. No matter how many things we own, there is always a small number of select things that we use and value more than all the rest. Those are the things worth keeping.

And because I know how daunting a task cutting down on your possessions can be, here are my top tips to make it easier and less painful.

My first and only disclaimer before I list my suggestions, however, is this: A lot of people going into minimalism for the first time will come across videos like the 100 Item Challenge. These suggest that you always keep the total number of your belongings under a specific number. Personally, I find that to be fairly arbitrary and doesn’t leave much room for the individuality of different people’s lifestyles. I’d rather suggest you first select your preferred method of culling your belongings, then count what you’re left with and try to remain at or below that number.

Of course, keep in mind that as you and your circumstances change, there’s no real reason you can’t adjust that number as you see fit. The point is to feel comfortable with the items you own, not to feel suffocated by the strict rules of owning a rigid number of things.

So here are my top methods for trying out minimalism:

This is the most time-consuming, but also the most thorough way to cull your items down to a practical minimum. Put everything you own into labelled boxes according to the room and category they belong to. This labelling method serves to make it easier for you to know where to find any item, as you need it. Once every item you own is packaged in a box (save for the very large things, like furniture and vehicles), you may only remove it from its box and place it back in its rightful place in the house when you absolutely need to make use of it. After a year has elapsed, get rid of (I would recommend donating) anything that’s still in a box. I recommend waiting a whole year because certain items don’t get used at all during one season, but quite a bit during another. For example, if you only did this for the six months between January and June, you may not have used your Christmas tree at all, but it might be something that brings you joy and you find a lot of use for during December. Get my point?

This one only works for clothes that are hanging in your wardrobe. You turn every single hanger to face toward the outside of your closet. Then as you wear an item of clothing, wash and replace it on its hanger, turn the hanger to face the inside of your closet. At the end of the year, or season (if you only keep seasonal attire in your wardrobe), donate any clothing that still has its hanger pointing outward.

Make a comprehensive list of everything you own – big or small. Every time you make use of something, place a tick next to it on the list. Every time something brings you joy, put a smiley face next to it. At the end of the year, give away or sell anything that doesn’t have any ticks and seriously consider whether you need the things that don’t have any smiley-faces.

This is similar to the Check-List Method, only it requires that you write down only what you use during any given day, as you use it. You wear a particular shirt, describe it in your journal or take a picture of it and print it off so you can staple it to that day’s journal entry. This method shows you which items get used more often and during which time of the year. It may take a while to go through all 365 pages at the end of the year in order to figure out which items haven’t been used, but this process can be simplified by writing each items you come across into a word document and then categorizing it in alphabetical order. That way, when you need to check if you’ve already written something down, it’s easier to look up. Plus, Word’s “Find” tool can really help you in this regard.

This method is more useful for after you’ve already culled down your items to a manageable amount. Instead of keeping a mental tally of how many things you own, just tell yourself that any time you buy something new, you must get rid of something you already own. This not only ensures that you never increase your number of belongings, but also that you always put conscious thought into everything you purchase.

When you know you will have to let go of something old, you will really learn to prioritise your items in order of importance and you will start to seriously consider whether the new purchase you’re making is really necessary. Of course, if something gets broken, lost or stolen, it goes without saying that you can either choose not to replace it, or to buy a new version of it.

There are many ways that sellers and advertisers are trying to make it easier for us to buy things on impulse. One-Click Purchase on sites like Amazon and 24-hour Flash Sales like Black Friday are all designed to bypass our logical thinking process, because they appeal to our emotional side. They entice or scare us into rushing into a decision, because they know we won’t make a rational choice that way.

To overcome these schemes, commit to always waiting at least 24 hours before buying something that catches your attention. And for every $10 that item costs, wait an additional 24 hours. So if something costs $100, wait 5 days after you decide you want it, before you actually buy it. Most of the time this time spent waiting gives your brain time to rationalize the decision properly and really analyse the pros and cons.

If the purchase has an urgent deadline, I recommend having an accountability buddy. This will be a person whose opinion you trust, who you can ask “Do I really need this?” before buying anything you get tempted by.

And this might go without saying, but don’t buy things out of boredom or stress. Shopping Therapy is not a helpful coping mechanism. All it does it add problems for you to deal with. So take my word for it. Also, going to malls and shopping centres as a “treat” or a “day out” is not recommended either, because it leads to impulse buys. It is my firm belief that anything you purchase should be premeditated and well thought out. Only go shopping (be it for food, clothes or anything else really) when you actually need something in particular and always go with a list (and stick to it).

Another thing to watch out for is peer pressure, not just from friends and co-workers, but from family members, partners and advertising. For this reason, it would be wise to avoid television and online ads using Cable, Netflix or an ad blocker. When it comes to mobile ads, purchase the pro version of apps and software wherever possible. Magazines and newspapers are also culprits to be wary of.

There are many other reasons why you should remove these things from your life, but for now I’ll just say that ads influence your decision making skills and buying habits in ways that you are unaware of. A lot of psychological trickery goes into designing these ads, so don’t think you can outsmart them. If you can see them, they’ve already started to impact your thinking, so it’s best to stay away from them as much as you can. They create artificial need where there isn’t any and it’s very difficult to resist them once they have a hold on your psyche.

Friends and family work in a similar way, if less malevolently. To combat this, let your loved ones know that you’re trying to minimize what you own and purchase and that you’d like them to support you in this endeavour. If you explain to them your reasoning and they care about you, they should understand or at the very least respect your decision and reconsider what they say to and do with you.

Decluttering your digital space is just as important as your physical space. We need to be careful not to slip into digital hoarding, as we distance ourselves from physical hoarding. A lot of people (myself included) decide to take pictures of the sentimental items they no longer make use of, so they can hold onto the memories without having to hold onto the items themselves. What makes you happy about most of those things isn’t the items themselves, but the memories they represent. I find it’s just as heart-warming to take pictures of sentimental items. Looking at the pictures makes you feel the same way as looking at the items themselves. This is a very handy technique and although I recommend it with all my heart, I will also advise that you don’t go too far. Having too many pictures reduces their value. You get overwhelmed and don’t even look back on them after a certain point.

It’s the same with documents, online lists, backing up messages. When you have too many of these things, you stop referring to them. You might even lose them in the void of your hard drive. So make sure your computer and external storage devices are all categorized and dated, so you know where everything is. Also, make sure to regularly (perhaps once a month or every quarter) go through what you’re digitally storing to make sure you still need it. You may have used it and don’t need to hold onto it any more, or you never truly needed it to begin with.

If you’ve read this article on “The 5 Different Levels of Minimalism”, you’ll know that minimalism isn’t just limited to how many things you own. The words you speak, the music you listen to, the food you eat and the thoughts you ponder (and so much more) all have a part in this movement called Minimalism. When you decide to adopt this lifestyle, you don’t make sure you own less than 100 things and then go back to living your life as usual. It becomes a part of who you are and affects so many other aspects of your life.

To be a true minimalist is to simplify every area of your life. To speak laconically, to eat a simple diet (which – just to be clear – doesn’t mean it has to be a boring one), to be happy with what you have and show gratitude for it. It’s all about your attitude. Keep your sentences short and meaningful. Listen to music that boasts a short repertoire of instruments and vocals. Read material that’s inspirational and unpretentious. And most importantly, always find time to sit and just be. It’s the single most important thing you can do for your health and happiness.

Like I said in this article, knowing what your values are is paramount when it comes to adopting a minimalist approach to life. This is because the things you decide to keep will only bring you joy and contentment, if they align with your core values – the things you value most in life and consider to be important to you.

If you don’t know what your values are, click here for a simple test that will help you.

Almost everything is expendable and warrants downsizing. Of course, there are always exceptions. There are some things that truly are irreplaceable, rare or expensive. Some things we simply love and cherish for our own sentimental reasons. Whatever the reason you choose to keep your beloved items, the only thing that matters is that you have a reason and it makes sense to you. That’s the beauty of minimalism. The point isn’t to get rid of everything. Just the things that don’t bring you joy. The point is to keep the things that serve your needs. And because you and your needs are completely unique, your style of minimalism will be unique as well.

Try out these tips and if you’re still finding this advice hard to implement, ask for help in the comments below, send me a message, or book a FREE breakthrough session to see how I can help you through Skype.

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Until next time, remember: Happiness doesn’t require energy. It requires Strategy.