New to minimalism? New to our website? Welcome aboard.
There’s a lot of content here, and you certainly don’t have to read it all at once, but here’s the order we suggest for starters. Start below and find the topics that add the most value to your life. Read slowly. Take your time. It might take a while, but that’s OK; there’s nothing wrong with moving slowly.
Start Here: Free Essays, Connect, and a New Book
Free Essays. Subscribe to this website via email or RSS to receive free essays about minimalism from Joshua and Ryan. This way you’ll always receive new essays whenever we publish one (usually a couple per week). We never send spam—spam’s yucky! We want to add value to your life, so subscribe only if you find value here. Unsubscribe anytime.
Connect via Social Media. Follow us on your preferred social network: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram. We say a lot of insightful and funny things we don’t say here.
New Book. Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life is our finest, most important creation to date. It’s also the best material we’ve written about minimalism and will likely serve as the cornerstone to our work for years to come.
Debuted #1 on Amazon
It took us a year to write this book—a year of creating the best material possible and finding ways to relate it back to our lives so you would have practical ways to relate the subject matter to your life.
This book’s content is different from the content on our website. While our website documents our journey into minimalism and our continued growth through experimentation, this book discusses minimalism in a different way: it discusses in great depth the five dimensions of living a meaningful life. It also gives you a lot more insight into our personal lives, into the painful events that led us to our journey into minimalism, and into our world outside the web.
Kindle ($7) · Paperback ($15) · Audiobook ($15)
And then…
- Read more about us on our About Joshua & Ryan page.
- Read some of our most popular essays of all time.
- Read about our 21 day journey into minimalism.
- Read our definition of minimalism.
- Check out our bestselling books.
- Watch one of our meetups.
- Laugh at our silly photos.
And then, let us answer your questions by way of our essays…
Having trouble getting rid of stuff? Read these essays: The Short Guide to Getting Rid of Your Crap, 10/10 Material Possessions Theory, Getting Rid of Just In Case Items, You Are Not Your Khakis, When Everything Is Your Favorite Thing, and The Consumption Continuum.
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Tired of clutter? Read: Packing Party, Decluttering Doesn’t Work Like That, Organizing Is Often Well-Planned Hoarding, and Collecting Is Dangerous.
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Having trouble getting rid of sentimental items? Read these essays: Letting Go of Sentimental Items, The High Price of Pursuing My Dreams,
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What about relationships? Read: Letting Go of Shitty Relationships, It’s Complicated, and A Minimalist’s Thoughts on Meaningful Relationships.
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Tired of buying and receiving so many stupid gifts? Read these essays: Getting Rid of Gifts, The Blackest of Fridays, and The Commodification of Love.
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Is minimalism just about counting your stuff? (Hint: counting has nothing to do with minimalism.) Read this essay: I Counted All My Stuff then I Threw Away the List Because I Didn’t Want It to Count as One Item and then take a Tour of Joshua’s Minimalist Apartment.
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Having trouble explaining minimalism to your friends and family? Read these three essays: Minimalist Family: Start With Yourself followed by Minimalist Family: 12 Useful Links followed by Minimalism Is Not a Radical Lifestyle and I Was Not a Minimalist, Until I Was.
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Sick and tired of your soul-crushing corporate job? Read these three essays: Why I Quit My 6-Figure Corporate Job, Being Laid Off From My 6-Figure Job was One of the Best Things that Ever Happened to Me, The UnAmerican Dream, Life’s Most Dangerous Question: What Do You Do?, and Quitting Is Easy.
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Wondering how minimalism can help you with your finances and help solve your money problems? Read these essays: How To Find Your Freedom: Minimalist Finances and Budgeting and Debt Free.
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Want to stop wasting your time? Thinking about getting rid of your TV or your phone maybe even getting rid of the internet at home? That’s great! Read these essays: Why I Don’t Own a TV, Killing the Internet at Home Is the Most Productive Thing I’ve Ever Done, Why I’m Getting Rid of My Phone, Reprogramming The Twitch, and How to Check Email Like a Minimalist.
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What kind of clothes does a minimalist wear? Read these essays: Favorite Clothes of a Minimalist and What If You Accidentally Spilled Bleach on Half Your Wardrobe?
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Want to clean up your office, desk, or workspace? Read these two essays: My Minimalist Workspace and My Minimalist Desktop.
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Ever thought about living with no goals and just enjoying your life? Read these essays: Living with No Goals, Moving Beyond Goals, When Goals Are Important and When They Are Not, What is Your Outcome?, and Accomplishments Without Goals.
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Having trouble making a hard decision? Read: How to Make a Damn Decision.
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Wish you could live in the moment more often? Read these two essays: Be On The Mountain and Clear Your Damn Plate.
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Wish you had more time for yourself? Read this essay: 5 Ways to Create Solitude Using Minimalism.
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Wish you were in better shape? Wish you exercised more? Wish your diet was better? Wish you were just healthier? Read these essays: A Minimalist’s Thoughts On Diet, Minimalism is Healthy: How I Lost 70 Pounds and 18 Minute Minimalist Exercises.
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Having trouble letting go of the past? Read this essay: Your Past Does Not Equal Your Future and Letting Go of Control.
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Are you a perfectionist? Read these essays: Nightmares of a Perfectionist and The Pressure We Put on Ourselves.
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Want to establish deeper connections with other people? Read this essay: Establishing Deeper Connections with People.
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Want to know the meaning of life? Read these essays: Giving Is Living and Adding Value.
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Want to know what freedom really means? Read our three part essay series: Conscious Freedom Essay Series.
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Want a bunch of life lessons from 30 years of living (complete with a ton of great links)? Read this essay: 30 Life Lessons From 30 Years by Joshua, followed by Ryan’s 30 More Life Lessons From 30 Years.
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Tired of always explaining yourself? Read this essay: You Don’t Have to Explain Yourself.
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Feel like you’ve tried everything but can’t get results? Read this essay: Stop Trying.
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Want to know who’s holding you back? Read this short essay: Who Is Preventing You from Being Completely and Totally Free?
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Want to see 10 links that changed our lives? Read this essay: 10 Life Changing Links.
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Interested in starting your own website or blog? Read these essays: How to Start a Successful Blog Today and Who the Hell Reads Your Blog Anyway?
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More
Once you’re done with all that, check out our TV, radio, and print interviews, as well as our archives page, which contains all of the essays on this site as well as our guest essays on other sites throughout the web.
If you’re interested, we offer an online writing class and private mentoring.
Lastly, you can check out some of our favorite websites about minimalism.
Have questions? See our FAQs page, or you can contact us.
