Certain things I have no issues being quite minimalist on. I only have my most favourite books, my nail polish collection is down to just a few when years ago I probably had 100, and many items I don’t need to have much of.
But there is always some things that we all love, our hobbies, and those things can sometimes fight with minimalism with their place in our hearts and home. Many hobbies include a lot of stuff; whether it is crafting, sports, cooking, or anything else most of us have one or two things that bring us joy but also bring us stuff.
For me my main hobby is planning which I have written about in a few previous posts:
Planning for me is a very involved task; it involves a quite large paper planner, washi tape, stickers, accessories and pens which could be overwhelming quite quickly. As it is a hobby that uses up materials I am still buying new supplies to decorate and plan and need to make sure that more isn’t coming in that I can’t use.
My other hobby that I love is makeup. I love watching videos on YouTube of people talking about new makeup and skincare and researching the new products that are out there. As I am cruelty free there are quite a few products that I can’t buy which hones in the amount of things I own, but I still want to try out new things and play around with my makeup.
You can check out some of my makeup posts here:
I could very easily see myself having way too many planning supplies or makeup as well as some of the other things I love in my life such as tea or bath bombs. I have tried to implement a few things in my life however to keep these hobbies and collections in check.
Of course there are hobbies that come with very minimal supplies and equipment, but if that isn’t what brings you joy don’t feel like you need to pick those things.
- Have containers for objects and don’t exceed them – My planner supplies have to fit in a bin under the coffee table with the stickers in a small accordion folder. My makeup has to fit in the drawers of my vanity and some small tins on the top. By having a specific area for these supplies I know that I can’t exceed the space provided.
- Go through supplies to make sure you are using them – There is no place more important to declutter is the spaces where you are wanting to add and use more. I make sure to go through my stickers and planning supplies to get rid of things I am not using and to use up things I may have forgotten about. I may even set myself a challenge that I have to finish a certain amount of things before I can get anything else
- Pick one or two – Hobbies are great and can bring such joy to our lives, but too many of them can just create clutter with nothing ever being done on anything. Pick one or two things that you really love and want to invest in and given them a specific place in the house to live
- Share with friends – Do you have friends with the same hobbies? Maybe you can share supplies or equipment so you both don’t need to have everything. As an added bonus you get to spend time with a friend while doing something that you love.
I hope this post has shown you that you don’t have to give up your hobbies to be a minimalist. Do you have any hobbies? What do you love to do in your life that brings you joy?
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