How to Become a Minimalist in a Week: 7 Simple Steps

Day 1: Don’t buy anything

The first step to becoming a minimalist in a week is not to buy things during this process. That means you aren't allowed to let anything into your home for the next seven days. The reason that you are doing this is that you need to think about what your items are worth to you after you have bought them.

To decide what items to let into your home and become minimalist, you need to look through what you already have, in order to discover what is missing.

Day 2: Clear out the rubbish

Get a garbage bag, go through all the areas in your home, and clear out the trash. Throw out anything that is old, broken, or not used. Anything like that can go straight into the trash.

Day 3: Tackle the wardrobe

For the third day of becoming minimalist, I want you to declutter your wardrobe. Get rid of any items that are completely worn through, don’t fit, or that you don’t like or love and won’t wear. If you haven’t worn an item in the last year, unless you are able to try it on and fit it into an outfit, you need to declutter it.

Day 4: Have you used it in the last year?

Let go of anything you haven’t used in over a year. If you haven’t touched it in over a year, you need to let go of it. Thinking about the year lets you see what you are actually using on a daily basis and throughout the different seasons and events.

If you haven’t gone to get that item, chances are you won’t need it. There are some exceptions to that, so take your time when sorting memories and memorabilia that are personal to you. Those are absolutely fine to keep. But everything else you haven’t used in a year needs to go.

Day 5: Give away cheaper items

Get together any items you want to sell and then decide on your minimum selling amount. For example, decide that if an item costs more than ten dollars you will try to sell it.

But if it's worth less than that, I highly recommend you get rid of it straight away. Just donate it to a charity shop, or give it away to friends or family, rather than trying to get small change from it.

It isn’t impossible to earn money by selling cheaper items. If that’s something that you need to do that’s fine. My recommendation for becoming minimalist is to get rid of the small items really quickly, and only sell items that are worth more than the amount you decided on.

Day 6: Toss the duplicates

Get rid of any duplicate items. You will find lots of duplicates in the kitchen area, like extra Tupperware and spoons. There are lots of things that you can get rid of. Go through different areas of your house, and see if you can get rid of at least one of the duplicates that you have.

Day 7: Take the day off

I would like you to do absolutely nothing. Once you have gone through all the steps, you don’t need to do anything or spend any money. You can have that time to yourself, and do what you want with it.

The beauty of decluttering, and going through the process of becoming minimalist, is that you realize how little you need to get by and how much you have spent on items you don’t use or don’t get value from. This will help you to put things in perspective.

Use this day of doing nothing to reflect, or to go and do other things. You will see you don’t have the urge to go shopping and spend money, and you can spend time with family and friends, or do other things that you enjoy.

How to become a minimalist in a week

These steps don’t have to be followed in their entirety; you can do only a section of your wardrobe or declutter only a small area. It’s the process of doing these seven things that allows you to reassess what items mean to you and how you value them. This will help you become more mindful of items that you buy in the future.

When you get rid of items you don’t need or that don't fit, you will know what items you don’t need when you go shopping in the future.

It’s that shift that you are looking for, to start thinking carefully about items that you bring into your home. That’s how to become a minimalist in a week and gain a minimalist mindset. You will learn how much your items mean to you, and whether or not things are worth bringing into your home.

Don’t forget being a minimalist doesn't mean fitting into certain rules or certain categories, or having a certain amount of items. It’s a lifestyle that works for you and your home. Your home should end up feeling like it is your favorite place, with all your favorite things, to make you happy.

I promise you won’t be disappointed with the end result. It will be worth spending a week doing these steps to help you reassess your mindset. What items do you have that you truly value in your home? And, which items do you think you would be better off without? Let us know in the comments.