The Minimal Mom

Doing Ruth Asawa and Minimalism in Art History -- and having three quiet weeks between the end of summer camp and the start of the school year in which to tackle my house -- has led me very neatly to The Minimal Mom!

I don't ordinarily go to YouTube to learn how to do things (the one exception being bullet journaling), but she popped up while I was watching Lotus's new YouTube channel on teaching Art History and the timing was perfect for me. Today I just finished four days of completely deep cleaning the Environmenal Education storage room aka my office at Touch of Nature. It looks amazing and has given me a ton of confidence. Tomorrow I am starting on my house!

Many many many rooms of my house are used for the school. The Library, the Math Room, the Handwork Room, the Science Room, the Art Room (formerly the garage), and the Wood Shop are all dedicated to the school, and the Living Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen just come along as part of the package. So tomorrow it's the Library!

Here are the videos I've watched and found helpful so far. If you have favorite Minimalism / Decluttering resources, please share them!

I sat with my stuff (and this is what it told me)

5 Tips to Declutter FASTER

How to Declutter an Overwhelming Space

I always joke that I'm a minimalist at heart but I have a maximalist profession (and teaching grades 1-8 simultaneously doesn't help), so figuring out how to balance those things is interesting. There are quite a few things that I legitimately need. But there many things I do NOT need!

I think the language is so important. Instead of saying, I'm going to "clean" this house / room / closet / drawer / shelf / bin, saying I'm going to "simplify" this space. Clean is a super-high bar. Clean involves bleach. Technically, if I haven't vacuumed out the heating vents, the Library will not be clean no matter how many books I shelve.

It's just not accurate. Cleaning and organizing are not the same thing! That took me a very long time to figure out. What I'm actually doing is organizing.

Dawn says that YOU -- your peace of mind, your time, and your energy -- are more valuable than your stuff. So true!

Before you begin, ask yourself. Will it give me peace of mind, will it give me time, and/or will it give me energy to simplify this?

Saying "simplify" gives you a specific task as well as a yes/no question you can answer in a heartbeat. When you're done, ask yourself. Is this space or item simpler to take care of now than it was before?

5 Tips to STOP Tote Shuffling Once and For All!

15 Things Your Kitchen Doesn't Need

The Silent To-do List (this is LIFE CHANGING!)

This school year I've decided to turn one of the bedrooms into my Sanctuary (and to actually call it my Sanctuary in my mind instead of my bedroom). No work related items allowed! No curriculum materials, no computer, no phone charger. Only clothing, jewelry, etc. Things that are for ME!