MinsGame: Let’s Play a Decluttering Game

You may be asking yourself “Why oh why would someone want to play a game that has to do with decluttering and what the heck does MinsGame mean”?

Well, to explain let’s go back to the beginning of this year. You may have seen my post that outlined my goals for 2018 where I came up with 18 for 18. That is, 18 things that I want to accomplish in this year, 2018. If you haven’t seen the post and you are curious about my goals for this year, you can check it out here.

Several of those 18 items fit into the category of getting my environment under control. As I stated while describing my goals, a big theme for me for 2018 is ‘Outer Order Equals Inner Calm’.  

I want to calm the chaos in my physical space so it takes up less room in my brain.

There is compelling research that shows that clutter affects your brain’s ability to concentrate and process information. Clutter robs you of mental energy, leaving you feeling anxious, tired, and overwhelmed. It overloads your senses, making you feel stressed, and impairing your ability to think creatively.

In a decluttered space your brain doesn’t have to work so hard. This leaves you feeling calm and energized.

So… finishing the redecorating of my bedroom, hanging photos in my hallway, cleaning out and decluttering all the cupboards and drawers in my kitchen and bathroom, organizing photos and hiring a cleaner will all help me move in the direction where I feel as though I am more in control of the space that I live in every day and will help me to be more productive, more clear, less stressed and happier.

When I was discussing these decluttering goals with my friend Jenny, she asked me if I had ever heard of the MinsGame. I was intrigued. “MinsGame”? “What’s that”?

Well as it turns out, there are these 2 guys, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who are known as ‘The Minimalists’.

I had heard rumblings of this ‘Minimalism’ business and in my mind, I had pushed it to the side as I figured that if you wanted to be a minimalist, you had to have one spoon, a pair of sandals and maybe a tunic :).

As is often the case, my first impression was a bit of a misconception and after learning more about what Joshua and Ryan are all about, I have become rather intrigued. The Minimalists encourage and inspire people to live meaningful lives with less….and that aligns with my goal to get more control over my physical space and ultimately, myself.

So here are the details of the MinsGame:

MinsGame is short for the ‘Minimalist Game‘, created by The Minimalists. The idea of the game is to reduce the number of unneeded, unwanted or unused things in your space over the course of a month. On the first day of the game, you get rid of one thing, on the second day of the game, two things, on the third day, three things and so on for the whole month.

You can sell things, donate them or throw them away, but the idea is that each day, the thing must be out of your house and therefore, out of your life.

I haven’t tried this MinsGame yet but I have been told that the first few days are pretty easy but things start to get a little more intense in the second and third week when the numbers get higher. Over the course of 30 days, the game requires you to get rid of 465 things! (496 for a month with 31 days)

Do you want to play the MinsGame with me?

I’m going to start on Tuesday May 1, 2018 and play for the month of May. John and I have a lot of decluttering to do so I’m going to up the ante in our house and both of us are going to play…..so that means double the amount of getting rid of stuff!!! That means that in our household, by the end of May we will have gotten rid of 992 things. Can you even imagine? I’m so excited. Woohooo!

I will be posting my progress on the socials at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the hashtags #drpeggyminsgame and #minsgame

If you want to play along with us, post what you are getting rid of each day through May and use these 2 hashtags. You can also post a comment below with your intention to play along and let me know how it’s going!!

Imagine the relief and calm that will wash over you when you finish decluttering all that extra stuff that is taking up space in your house and in your brain. You got this!

Ok, Let’s go!

Peggy
xo