8 Realistic Ways To Practice Minimalism in the New Year

This post is not sponsored, but does contain affiliate links. To learn more, hop over to our Disclosure page.

Look out world, The Millennial Maven has finally joined 2018!

At this point, a post about my New Years resolutions is almost comical, but that’s basically that this is. I’ll call it my yearly intentions instead.

Twenty-seventeen was an interesting year for me. I made quite a bit of progress on the business front, and yet at the same time I have never felt so stagnant. I took on a lot and I spent basically the entire year playing catch-up. Every day was spent chasing down my never ending to-do list. Sometimes I tackled the list, and sometimes it got away from me. But one thing remained constant, and that was my lack of personal investments outside of work.

And this leads me to talk about the obvious elephant in the room: where the heck have I been?! The short answer is, I’ve been in my own mind.

For the past month and a half, I have been taking a much needed breather from blogging and social media, and instead filling my time, mind, and heart with activities that enrich more than just my visible productivity. I’ve been getting creative, learning new skills, and filling my brain with worldly knowledge. And now, I feel more refreshed than I’ve ever felt.

Part of that has to do with the minimalist intentions that have been my guidance over the past several weeks. Today, I am sharing how I am living a more minimalist lifestyle regardless of how much stuff I own, and how you can do it too.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with life, then you need to read this. Let’s get started.

Minimalising the ‘ol makeup routine

I’ve been a hypocrite, and I apologize. I run a blog all about helping women look amazing even when time is of the essence. And yet, here I am spending way too many minutes performing a 32-step makeup routine in the morning. It’s so unnecessary!

As of 2018, I am spending much less time fussing over using every category of product every day. Instead of blending 4-5 shadows on my eyes, I go for a simple matte cream shadow. Instead of primer, foundation, concealer, powder, and the list goes on, I pop on some tinted moisturizer and blush.

I still love going all out for special occasions, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I look just fine on a daily basis just wearing the basics.

Discovering my true style

Did I ever tell you the story of my huge shopping spree circa 2013? Here’s the gist: I bought tons of cute clothes that I liked. If the thing was cute, it came home with me. This was super fun until I got home and realized that I had nothing to wear… because nothing matched!

These days, I’m focusing on purchasing items that fit an aesthetic I carefully crafted. While I’m not going truly minimal with my clothing, I am going for the minimalist look, if that makes sense. I shop with purpose.

Simplifying my “routines”

Admit it, we’ve all spent countless hours watching beauty bloggers picture perfect morning, evening, pampering, whatever “routines.” We then sulk in self loathing because our own routines aren’t nearly as picturesque. Why don’t I do a 10 step skincare routine three times daily while sipping a fresh green juice? I’m pathetic…

At one point, I literally tried to recreate many of the fantastical routines I observed through my computer screen, the tiny window into the blogger’s life she opens for me to peer through. I failed hilariously, after beating myself up over not ever having it all together.

I’m doing my mornings, evenings, afternoons, and every moment in between on my terms, and life is humming along much more smoothly, I’d say.

Streamlining my blogging process

Let’s cut to the chase. I’ve been gone from blogging because I wore myself out with an inefficient and unrealistic blogging schedule. This changes, now. We often make things 100 times more difficult than they need to be, and it doesn’t have to be this way.

Instead of forcing myself to create multiple posts per week and be present on every social media platform at all times, I have a novel idea. I will create when inspiration hits, and I will interact on social media when it feels right. When something feels frustrating, confining, or downright icky, I’ll simply stop. The blog and social media aren’t going anywhere, so what’s the rush?

Becoming selective about subscriptions

I didn’t realize just how many subscriptions I accumulated until I actively tallied them up. I was shocked. Beauty boxes, magazines, apps, web services… It doesn’t sound like much spending $6.99 here, $2.99 there, and perhaps a $9.99 splurge, but it adds up. Especially when those charges slip out of your account on a monthly basis without you even realizing it.

Part of minimalism is having less physical stuff, but it is also about keeping less clutter in your mind. The less subscriptions I have to keep track of, the more brain power I have for the important things. Like creating content, self care, and spending time with loved ones.

Keeping better track of my spending

Now that I don’t have so many recurring payments, keeping track of everything I spend in a month is much easier.

This is embarrassing, but I am horrible with record keeping. My idea of keeping a budget meant paying all my bills on time, and that’s about it. We are fortunate in that our monthly income significantly outweighs our monthly expenditures, and so we never needed to worry too much as long as we didn’t go absolutely crazy.

However, we decided that this is the year we will get serious about our financial goals, and that means keeping a closer tab on how much we spend and finding ways to cut back. You wouldn’t believe how much more in control you feel when you know exactly how much you are spending and saving each month.

Learning awesome skills & gaining experiences

Sometimes more is less. Instead of collecting items in order to feel important and fulfilled, this year I am focusing on learning new skills and collecting experience I can keep in my back pocket. More knowledge always puts you ahead of the pack.

For me, this means practicing my typing skills so I can type faster and more accurately. Also learning the basics of accounting to help keep track of my personal spending as well as finances in any future businesses. I am quite shy, so I am working on my speaking and interview skills so I make great first impressions on important contacts.

I am investing more money and time in myself and less on the stuff that surrounds me.

This year’s mantra is GROWTH

We hear a lot about people setting intentions for the year. I do that too, but just like with everything else, I am not minimalistic with it. I can rattle off a list of 20 or so “intentions” that I want to accomplish, but really, how am I supposed to work on the list if I can’t even remember what’s on it?

That lead me to decide on a singular mantra that I can apply to everything I do in the coming year, whatever it may be.

Growth is something I can easily apply to everything I plan on doing this year. From working to grow The Millennial Maven even more, growing my skillset, and generally growing as a person.

Let me know in the comments what your mantra for 2018 happens to be!

That’s all for today!

Like this post? Check out this one >> My In Flight Makeup Routine (Look fresh at your destination!)

If you find this post interesting, informative, or just plain entertaining, tell me about it in the comments below! And don’t forget, sharing is caring. Share this post!

Till next time ♥︎

Sign up for my free monthly e-journal, The Millennial Maven Love Letters for exclusive content + millennial inspiration and lifestyle hacks. Plus get instant access to my library of on-the-go style downloads!

FTC- Not sponsored by any brands mentioned. I purchase all products myself. All opinions are my own. Some links may be affiliated.