Minimalist Habits Ranked: From Life-Changing To Overrated

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Minimalist Habits Ranked: From Life-Changing to Pointless // After years of simplifying my own life, I’ve tried many minimalist habits myself. Some became part of my routine. Some worked for a while, then quietly faded out. And a few just never made sense for me at all.

In this video, I’m ranking 13 common minimalist habits using four simple categories: Keep, Sell, Donate, and Trash.

- Keep means it’s genuinely useful and still part of my minimalist life.
- Sell is something that helped me at one point, but doesn’t fit anymore.
- Donate didn’t really work for me, but might work for someone else.
- Trash is for habits that overcomplicate things or go against the point of minimalism.

This isn’t about rules or doing minimalism “right.” It’s just an honest look at what’s actually been helpful, and what I’ve let go of along the way.

If you’re figuring out your own version of minimalism, or just want a fresh perspective, I hope this helps :)

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[SunnyKindJourney]

What are the top minimalist habits for you? 👇😊

[ctthuss]

The screen time habit! I realized curating my content was way more important than actual screen time. I quit Instagram and Facebook which helped so much, and now I stick to Pinterest and YouTube. I have YouTube on in the background allll the time and it really keeps me company as I live alone. I love supporting independent creators and it feels more calming to me than movies or tv that focus on drama to keep the plot moving. I now stick to creators that share slow, simple living inspiration, as well as solo camping and cozy game streamers ☺️

[willowstyczinski]

Top minimalist habit: Pausing before I buy anything non-essential. Earlier this year I had a conversation with my brother and at one point he said “You don’t really want that thing, you’re just having an emotion. Put the thing in your shopping cart, identify the emotion, let yourself feel the emotion and then see if you still want that thing.” I tried it, and he was correct. I completely stopped buying anything on impulse. I’ve struggled with shopping addiction my entire adult life and the only non-essentials I purchased since that conversation are a couple books that I’ve been wanting for quite a while, and the current edition of my favorite quarterly magazine. The difference this one habit has made is huge.

[crystallevin]

Seve I love that you focused on your "internal compass" with each of these categories -when deciding which minimalism habits to keep and which to discard! This makes so much sense to me. You have an intuitive way of doing minimalism that isn't about rules but about what feels right and works for you! Thank you so much for giving us (your viewers) permission to do an internal check every time we think about minimalism and the thousands of possible "rules" out there! Love this video so much!

[daniellejohnson]

This year I have really worked on mindful purchases. So far so good. Also working on less screen time… more reading, working puzzles and enjoying outdoors.

[kimsnader]

As a frequent mover, my minimalism journey was prompted by "how large a truck would I need to relocate?" and "how quickly can I pack?". That drove many of my habits and choices of items to furnish my home, no matter how long I stayed in one place.

My wardrobe variation is observing how empty my seasonal closet is after I pack for a 2-week vacation. I've invested quite a bit of time, thought and money into building a wardrobe versatile for most occasions. As a result, that section of my closet is virtually empty when I travel.

My variation on the no-buy challenge is to choose a consumable category, and force myself to use up what I already have before restocking. This has led to some surprisingly good pantry meals, but also a reduced need for storage.

[mindbodyhome]

I will receive that NO Buy challenge you donated. I did one for the first 3 months of this year and the relief from decision fatigue was amazing. Today I broke it as I needed a few things online. Back to it tomorrow

[jasoncrane]

"Mornings aren't meant to be performance time. They're meant to support your life, not control it." I strongly agree. I'm a morning radio host, so I start work earlier. But I get up even earlier than necessary (4:30 AM) because I want to drink a cup of tea, eat breakfast, maybe read or do the crossword, and just arrive at myself before I have to start talking into the microphone.

[pixelcurious]

Mindful shopping has been a huge help. I don't impulse buy anymore, and have learned I can live without a lot of things that seemed essential before.

[booksnphilosophy]

I love the way you've used the keep-sell-donate-trash categories, very clever!

[elianewinter]

Loved the video! ✌️ i‘m good at saving money but i’m not great at doing sports regularly..
The gratitude challenge is actually my favorite habit. It’s most fun for me when i do them together with others. Heres how we play: my partner and me will both create a folder on our phones, then take pictures of moments or things that made us happy daily, until 100 pics are collected. then we look at our folders and compare them. sometimes its just a photo of a tasty meal, the sunlight or a cute animal. you dont have to take a picture every day at all, just whenever sth nice happened and you remembered to take out your phone. sometimes several nice things happen in the same day, sometimes there are several days in between two photos. Its a nice trip down the memory-lane once you look through your folder and you learn a lot about what you and the other person appreciates and you get to be more aware of the little things 😊

[deborahmackay]

Hello Seve, I really liked the part of your video that speaks about tracking everything. I have tried it and it certainly didn't make my life any easier. All it did was make me anxious because I was not able to keep up with everything. Now I have a simple planner and I use it regularly but not on a daily basis. The important thing is that I do not feel like I am failing at life anymore, I am surviving. Have a wonderful day!

[cindypreece]

Seve, I wish I could give you a big hug right now! Haha! You have just relieved me of the pressures of doing all those minimalist things perfectly or not at all! Being a “perfectionist” I tend to beat myself up if I don’t follow all the “minimalist” rules every day. Or even the ones I put upon myself. The stress builds when I can’t and I wonder why I have anxiety when I’m seeking a more peaceful life! You just gave me excellent reasons why if things don’t work, don’t do them! Embrace what does! Thank you a million times over! Bless you! ❤

[Mark]

Thank you, Seve, for your thoughtfully conceived and personalized advice. You are a Finnish national treasure!

[gillianfinch]

I have been embracing these minimalist concepts of yours Seve for a couple of months. I love the content and the slow, clear way your present the ideas. You seem to be enjoying this simple life without the need to buy new things and respect your way of living whilst respecting also the choice of others. I have decluttered many things, especially clothes, feeling really free having just things i like in the wardrobe and not buying things that spring up on secondhand web sites, like i used to, its fun, thanks

[allisonryder]

Firstly, let me say that I like the new graphics you are using. They are clean and attractive without overwhelming the content. I like the one in one out rule. I used to buy a lot of books but this year I have joined the library so the amount in is almost zero. Also my bookshelf is one size and if I can’t fit a book in it I either let go of some I don’t want or I don’t add to it. Clothes are a tough one for me. As a woman my shape and size has fluctuated with season of life and job title. I’ve gone from business casual to casual and my wardrobe was mostly thrifted. Currently, I have almost no clothes as those thrifted have worn out. I am going to purchase new for some main pieces that will last many years. A few changes for the last third of my life. After cleaning out elderly relatives houses after death I will not be leaving my children mountains of clutter to throw out. They already said they don’t want it! ❤🇨🇦

[josephwong]

I have recently started minimising my use of electricity & water - instead of wasting them. It feels so good when my bill at the end of the month is kept reasonably lower & knowing that I have done something good for the environment. 😅

[sarahanderson]

Thank you for the Guide to Unhurried Mornings! I have been trying to tweak my routine to reduce stress, and your guide has so many good ideas to try out.

[annietodd]

I love your channel! So many useful tips. You are right it is too exhausting to track everything we are consuming in our lives. This is what made me learn to modify the habits that work for me and help me to enjoy minimalism again! He makes so many good points

[yvonnejackson]

Trying to fix other people. I am very good at managing my money but I noticed that many people struggle with this—always in debt always coming up short at the end of the month, usually because of wasteful unwise spending habits. Trying to help them manage better usually turned out poorly. I decided that I was just on a big ego trip wasting my time trying to help people who deep down just wanted to live that way so I stopped wasting my time.
Whatever their reason I now think the best course is to mind my own business.