How to Become a Minimalist During a Pandemic (For College Students)

 Why you should choose minimalism during the pandemic.

A pandemic is the perfect time to evaluate what is in your space. Here are reasons why you should transition into minimalism now:

— Minimizing will help you not feel cramped. You will be spending more time in your personal space; this is bound to affect you. Minimizing will help with the negative effect.

— Minimalism will help with online classes. Without the same structure as in-person classes you will have more responsibility to learn the material and maintain course. Having a clutter-free space is essential because it minimizes distractions from schoolwork.

— Minimalism will help after the pandemic. Once the pandemic is over, your life will go back to normal. Whether it is living on campus or living in an out of campus apartment, moving day will come. Owning fewer stuff will make the transition back to normal life easier.

Visualizing where you will be living after the pandemic.

                To start effectively minimizing, you must have a vision of the space you want to have.

                The first thing to consider is your living situation after the pandemic. Will it be in a dorm, an apartment or with your parents? Will you have roommates? These questions and similar ones are to understand how much you must minimize and will help you with the next step, concretely stating the function of your space.

                The second thing to consider is what you want the function of your space to be. Will it be for study? For video games? Watching shows/movies? Stretching or any other form of relaxation?

                Understanding where you are going to live and what the function of your space will guide you through the process towards minimalism.

How to transition into minimalism: General and College Tips.

General principles of minimalism:

— Resist the urge of online shopping. Being home all day, possibly bored, makes it easy to hop onto a shopping site and order new things.

— Get rid unnecessary items. Stuff that you do not need will clutter your space and affect your mood during the pandemic.

— Get rid of "just-in-case" items. Items that might be useful in a hypothetical future just take up space.

— Do not store things that should be thrown away. "Out of sight, out of mind" is a common mistake. Yes, it is out of the way, but it takes up space that could otherwise be used.

— Throw away first, then store. Having fewer items makes them easier to store. Waiting until you are done throwing away is ideal.

Tips for college students:

— Clean up your digital space. De-cluttering your digital space makes it easier to organize and transition into storing notes digitally.

— Take digital notes. Get rid of physical notebooks/paper. Instead take notes digitally, whether with a laptop or a note taking tablet. This will make notes easy to carry, put all notes in one place and once backed up, the notes cannot be lost.

— Get digital copies of textbooks. Use sites like Lib Gen, anonamouse, and other eBook sharing sites. Although ethically questionable, it saves money, which you will not have much to spare.

— Upload physical notes to a computer. Use scanner apps to upload existing notes and save space.

— Rent books. Doing so saves money and gets rid of the book once it is no longer needed.

How to become a minimalist while living with family.

                Becoming a minimalist might be difficult while living with family because it is unlikely they want to change their lifestyle. For this reason, you must not force minimalism on them. Instead, explain the reasons behind your change. Only minimize in your own space. Once you have minimized, your family will be more receiving to minimizing communal spaces.

Note: Avoid giving your family things you were going to throw away. Giving them stuff is counterproductive to the goal. It does not solve the problem of clutter; it just relocates it.

How to maintain minimalism after the pandemic

Maintaining minimalism after the pandemic is important because the benefits of it will still be there.

Tips that will help you stay a minimalist:

— Periodically evaluate what you own. Setting a schedule to review what you have will help you not accumulate excessively. Ask yourself: have I used this item in the last *insert time period*? Am I going to use it in the next *insert time period*?

— Say no to free stuff. Free stuff is hard to turn down, but often not useful.

— Be mindful of what you let into your space. Preventing yourself from accumulating stuff is the best way to keep your space clean and minimal.

Hopefully during this pandemic, you will make a smooth transition into minimalism and reap the benefits of it.