Archives

Below you will find our most popular essays, our full archive of essays on this site, and our essays featured on other sites, as well as links to our print, radio, and TV interviews. If this is your first time on this site, it might be best to start here.

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Most Popular Essays Ever

Everything I Own: My 288 Things
Why I Quit My 6-Figure Job
Health: How I Lost 70 Pounds
30 Life Lessons From 30 Years
Minimalism Scares the Shit out of Me
Fight Club: Minimalist Tyler Durden
Letting Go of Sentimental Items
Letting Go of Shitty Relationships
How To Make a Damn Decision
The UnAmerican Dream
Getting Rid of Gifts
The Blackest of Fridays
Getting Rid of the Internet at Home
Why I Don’t Own a Television
Why I’m Getting Rid of My Phone
Getting Rid of Just In Case: 20 Dollars, 20 Minutes
First Thing in the Morning: Why I Wake at 3:30am
Is This What You’ve Been Waiting for Your Entire Life?
How to Start a Successful Blog Today
Celebrating 100,000 Monthly Readers
10 Life Changing Links

All Essays on Our Site

3pm Happiness Updates
5 Ways to Create Solitude Using Minimalism
6 Authentic People We Know
7 Ways to Make Conversations Meaningful Using Minimalism
10 Life Changing Links
18 Minute Minimalist Exercises
30 Is Not the New 20
30 Life Lessons From 30 Years
30 More Life Lessons From 30 Years
Accessible, Affordable Content for Everyone
Adding Value
Authentic People
Be On The Mountain
Being Laid Off from My 6-Figure Job Is One of the Best Things that Ever Happened
The Blackest of Fridays
Celebrating 100,000 Monthly Readers (and 10,000 Hours Per Month)
Clear Your Damn Plate
Comments Killed the Internet Star: Why The Minimalists Killed Comments
The Commodification of Love
The Compelling Beauty of Free
Conscious Freedom Essay Series
Consumerism
Creating Daily Writing Habits
Deleting the Music You No Longer Listen To
Dealing with Overwhelm
Deciding: Should vs. Must
Deciding to Live with Less
Decluttering Your Mental Clutter
The Definition of Success
Do You Know What Your Neighbors Are Up To?
Does Minimalism Make You Complacent?
Don’t Flinch: A Conversation with Julien Smith
Don’t Upgrade
Email for Minimalists
Ending the Tyranny of Cool
Establishing Deeper Connections With People
Everything I Own: My 288 Things
Everything You Need
Favorite Clothes of a Minimalist
Fight Club: Why Tyler Durden is a Minimalist
First Thing in the Morning: Why I Wake at 3:30am
Forever Does Not Exist
Getting Rid of Gifts
Getting Rid of Just In Case: 20 Dollars, 20 Minutes
Giving Away Your Best Work for Free
Giving Is Living
Growth Through Minimalism
Helping Hands: Mark’s Story of Contribution
How I Got Rid of 2,000 Books and Started Reading More
Honey I’ll Be Back, I’m Going to Go Meet These Two Guys I Found on the Internet
How Do I Get Him to Stop Watching that Damn TV?
How To Find Your Freedom: Minimalist Finances and Budgeting
How Minimalism Kills Fear
How Minimalism Saved My Life
How To Start A Successful Blog Today
I Could Never Do That!
I Counted All My Stuff then I Threw Away the List Because I Didn’t Want It to Count It
I Don’t Need Much
If, Then
Inbox Minimalism
Is Location Independence Bullshit?
Is This What You’ve Been Waiting for Your Entire Life?
Imperfect Is the New Perfect
The Invention of Our Discontent
Jealousy Is a Wasted Emotion
Killing the Internet at Home Is the Most Productive Thing I’ve Ever Done
Killing Time: Over Time I Got Rid of Time
Labels Are Necessary
Letting Go of Sentimental Items
Letting Go of Your DVD Collection
Live a Meaningful Life for Less
Living with No Goals
Making Money as a Writer is a Curious Thing: The Dollars and Cents of Full-Time Writing
The Man Who Dies with the Most Stuff
Minimalism & Happiness Through Scientific Eyes
Minimalism Is Healthy: How I Lost 70 Pounds
Minimalism Is Not a Radical Lifestyle
Minimalism Scares the Shit Out of Me
Minimalist Desktop
Minimalist Family: Start With Yourself
Minimalist Family: 12 Useful Links
Minimalist Interview (Video): Colin Wright (of Exile Lifestyle)
Minimalist Interview: Karol Gajda (of Ridiculously Extraordinary)
Minimalist New Year Resolution
Minimalist Tool Kit
The Minimalists Plan For World Domination
Mistakes vs. Bad Decisions
Motion Creates Emotion: 3 Simple Ways To Break Your Pattern
Moving Beyond Goals
My Exile Lifestyle: Video Interview with Colin Wright
My Minimalist Workspace
My First Fiction Book: Falling While Sitting Down
Never Leave The Scene Of A Good Idea Without Taking Action
Of Course It’s Unreasonable, Dummy!
Our Journey Into Minimalism: 21 Days That Changed Our Lives
Our First Book — Minimalism: Essential Essays
Point Of No Return: I Quit My Six-Figure Job To Pursue My Passions
The Power of a Hug and Five Other Lessons Learned on the Road
Public Indecency: Please Masturbate in Your Own Room
Pushing Through Frustration, And Why I’m Getting Rid of My Phone
Questioning Stuff
Quitting Your Job Is Easy
The Rats in the Tunnel
Reclaim Your Time
Reasons For Waiting
Reprograming the Twitch: Lessons Learned from Two Months Without a Phone
Resolving to Learn from Failure
Shopping or Finding Meaning
Singing Stones: Finding Life’s Beauty & Meaning
Stop Trying
Struggling with Choices
Stuff We Recommend
Take the Red Pill: Embrace Minimalism
Taking Your Own Advice Is the Hardest Pill to Swallow
They’re All Just a Bunch of Hippies!
The UnAmerican Dream
Two Years Later
Updates, Interviews, Books, and Tour Stops
We Have No Problems
We Love To Say ‘Hi’ and Buy Less
What The Hell Are You Talking About?
What Is Minimalism?
Winning Without Playing the Game
Who Is Preventing You from Being Completely and Totally Free?
Who The Hell Reads Your Blog Anyway?
Why?
Why I Don’t Own a TV
Why This Site Exists
A Year End Review: How Everything Can Change in a Year
You Are Inadequate
You Are Not Your Khakis: How To Donate 90% Of Your Stuff
You Don’t Have To Explain Yourself
Your Past Does Not Equal Your Future

Guest Essays on Other Sites

A Day in the Life of a Minimalist (Zen Habits)
100 Days with No Goals (Zen Habits)
The Short, 16-Step Guide to Getting Rid of Your Crap (In Over Your Head)
Awareness: The Most Precious Kind Of Freedom (Castles In The Air)
The Downside of Minimalism (Be More With Less)
Everybody Worships Something (Becoming Minimalist)
Grow Yourself, Not Your Stuff (Positively Positive)
I Am Not The Center Of The Universe (Exile Lifestyle)
Let Freedom Ring With Minimalism (Be More With Less)
Letting Go Of Sentimental Items (Rowdy Kittens)
The Minimalists On Happiness (100 Thing Challenge)
The Minimalist Secret to Productive Writing (Goins, Writer)
Real Life Minimalists (Miss Minimalist)
Screw You, I Quit! (Illuminated Mind)
Stop Living the Lie; Start Living the Life (In Over Your Head)

TV & Video Interviews

Living the Minimum TV Interview (FOX 45 Television)
JFM on Minimalism and Productivity (Firepole Marketing)
How The Minimalists Built an Audience of 100,000 (Think Traffic)
Intrepid TV Interview with The Minimalists (Intrepid TV)
5 Tips for Creating Ultra Sticky Content (The Rise To The Top)
How To Live a Meaningful Life (Ryan Nicodemus on A Life of Blue)

Radio & Audio Interviews

NPR Radio Interview (NPR with Don Marsh)
Author and Minimalist Joshua Fields Millburn (Intrepid Radio)
Beatnik Radio Interview (Beatnik Radio)
Standing Out in an Already Crowded Niche (Smart Passive Income)
How They Grew to 100,000 Monthly Readers in a Year (Blogcast FM)
Dayton Pulse Audio Interview (Dayton Pulse)
Living a Meaningful Life Radio Interview (Intrepid Radio)
The Open Dream Radio Interview (TheOpenDream)

Print & Written Interviews

Shop ‘Til You Stop (Wall Street Journal)
23 Incredibly Useful Insights to Becoming an Expert (JFM on Expert Enough)
Do as the minimalists do (Dayton City Paper)
Fact or Fiction: Interview with Joshua Fields Millburn (Life Rapture)
Don’t quit your job and start blogging—that’s silly (How To Make My Blog)
Favorite Things (JFM on Simple Black Coffee)
Empty Closets, Full Lives (The Delicious Day)
German Interview (Mr. Minimalist)
HORNE Minimalism Design Interview (JFM on HORNE)
How Less Can Be More (Unlimited Magazine)
How Minimal Are You (JFM in InTreehouses Magazine p. 47)
How lack of furniture can enhance your life (Mac ‘n Cheese Productions)
Interviewing The Minimalists (Eminent Human)
The Minimalists, An In-Depth Book Review (Book Hurricane)
Minimalist Wallet Series: Joshua Fields Millburn (Everyday Minimalist)
Minimalist Wallet Series: Ryan Nicodemus (Everyday Minimalist)
Chilled Blogs: Interview with The Minimalists (Chilled Soda)

Tour Reviews

Reviews of our 33-City Meetup Tour:

Photos of The Tour (Facebook Photo Album)
Why You Should Meet The Minimalists (Unbridled Existence)
The Minimalists Aren’t Bullshit (Almost Bohemian)
Meeting The Minimalists in Dallas (Between the Temples)
Lindsey Fox’s Review (Soulful Contrarian)
St. Louis Meetup Review (Danger Dame)
Door? Break Through. (Minimalist Mommi)
365 Days of Minimalism (Right Mix)
The Minimalists’ Tour Lands in Milwaukee (Morning’s Light)
Spyr Media’s Photos of the Austin Meetup (SPYR)
The Minimalists Were Here (Livin’ Like a Freebird)
How to Live Maximally (Health Demystified)