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20 Most Popular Essays
New to Minimalism? Start Here
30-Day Minimalism Game
Tour Joshua’s Minimalist Apartment
Why I Quit My Six-Figure Career
Minimalism: An Elevator Pitch
Easiest Way to Organize Your Stuff
18-Minute Minimalist Exercises
30 Life Lessons From 30 Years
Fight Club’s Tyler Durden Is a Minimalist
Letting Go of Sentimental Items
Letting Go of Shitty Relationships
The UnAmerican Dream
Getting Rid of the Internet at Home
Getting Rid of Just-in-Case Items
Life’s Most Dangerous Question
Packing Party: Unpack a Simpler Life
Photo-Scanning Party
Not Busy, Focused
Live Like Stan
Goodbye Fake Friends
The Things We Are Prepared to Walk Away From
How to Start a Successful Blog Today
Debt Free
All Essays on Our Site
- ‘Follow Your Passion’ Is Crappy Advice
- #MinsGame
- 10 Life-Changing Links
- 10/10 Material Possessions Theory
- 100 Cities, 8 Countries, 2 Minimalists, 1 Tour, 0 Clutter
- 11 Signs You Might Be Broke
- 11 Ways to Write Better
- 18-Minute Minimalist Exercises
- 20 Questions for a Minimalist
- 20,000 Copies Later
- 21 Instagram Posts About Intentional Living
- 3 Caffeinated Days with The Minimalists
- 3 Christmas Gifts from The Minimalists
- 3 P.M. Happiness Updates
- 3 Reasons to Seek Other POVs
- 3 Updates from The Minimalists
- 3 Ways to Extend the Battery Life on Your Gadgets
- 30 Days, 30 Photos
- 30 Is Not the New 20
- 30 Life Lessons From 30 Years
- 30 More Life Lessons From 30 Years
- 31 Days of Practical Minimalism Tips
- 31 Personal (Banal) Things About Me
- 32: My Birthday Gift to You
- 40 Reasons to Avoid Shopping on Black Friday
- 45 Minutes of Minimalism
- 5 Authentic People
- 5 Clips | Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
- 5 Decluttering Tips
- 5 Ways to Create Solitude with Minimalism
- 6-Minute On-the-Road Minimalist Workouts
- 7 Ways to Make Conversations Meaningful Using Minimalism
- 90/90 Minimalism Rule
- A Bunch of Exciting Updates About the Minimalism Documentary
- A Bunch of Things I Did to Get out of Debt
- A Few Book Recommendations from The Minimalists
- A Few Thoughts on Publishing
- A Million Views
- A Minimalist Approach to Technology
- A Minimalist, a Japanese Cowboy, and an Arrogant American Walk into a Museum
- A Minimalist’s Thoughts on Diet
- A Minimalist’s Thoughts on Meaningful Relationships
- A Minimalist’s Thoughts On Money
- A Month of Minimalism
- A Quiet Place
- A Rich Life with Less Stuff: The Minimalists TEDx Talk (2014)
- A Rolex Won’t Give You More Time
- A Simple Hour of Radio: The Minimalists on NPR
- A Simple Year: 12 Months of Guided Simplicity
- A Simpler Family Life: Starting Life Anew with Our Six Kids
- A Sort of Gift Nobody Asked For
- A Well-Edited Life
- A Year End Review: How Everything Can Change in a Year
- A Year of Euphony
- Accomplishments Without Goals
- Adding Value
- Adequate
- After the Stuff
- After the Tragedy
- Alberta, Canada Mini-Tour
- Alone Time
- An Apple Watch Won’t Give You More Time
- An Extremely Fun Thing We’ll Probably Never Get to Do Again
- An Irresponsible Christmas
- And for My Next Magic Trick…
- And Then There Was Charleston
- Announcing How to Write Better
- Are you sure you want to do this?
- As a Year Begins: 2012 Recap for The Minimalists
- Ask for Better Christmas Presents
- Ask Not What You Can Get, Ask How You Can Give
- Ask The Minimalists Anything
- Asking Friends and Family to Embrace Change
- Asymmetrical Value
- Authentic People
- Back to Basics
- Balance of Attraction: Simple Thoughts on Dating for Men and Women
- Be on the Mountain
- Because I Deserve It!
- Becoming Who We Need to Be
- Blogs, Books, & Businesses—Oh, My!
- Building Your Trust Muscle
- Can I Get Him to Stop Watching TV?
- Can You Hear Us Now?
- Can You Imagine a Minimalist President?
- Celebrating 100,000 Readers
- Changes in the Rearview
- Channel Surfing
- Check Email Like a Minimalist
- Clear Your Damn Plate
- Cola and Politics
- Collecting Is Dangerous
- Comments Killed the Internet Star
- Considering the Audience
- Constructing an Extraordinary Life
- Consumerism
- Consumption Is Not the Problem
- Costs and Benefits of Awareness
- Counting Material Possessions
- Course Correction
- Create More, Consume Less
- Create Your Masterpiece: A 16-Step Guide
- Creating Daily Writing Habits
- Creations Over Consumer Goods
- Dan Harris on the Utility of Worry
- Dark Friday
- Dealing with Digital Clutter
- Dear Critics
- Debt-Free
- Deciding to Live with Less
- Decluttering Doesn’t Work
- Decluttering Mental Clutter
- Deleting Music
- Digital Clutter Is Different from Physical Clutter
- Dislike, Discomfort
- Does Minimalism Make You Complacent?
- Does This Add Value to My Life?
- Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford
- Don’t Collect All Three!
- Don’t Flinch
- Don’t Upgrade
- Downsize Your Life, Live Your Dream
- Easiest Way to Organize Your Stuff
- Elementary and Grad School
- Email for Minimalists
- Ending the Tyranny of Cool
- Enoughism, Essentialism, and Other Names for Minimalism
- Eschewing Advertising in Favor of Authentic Marketing
- Essential Hour
- Essential: The Best of The Minimalists
- Establishing Deeper Connections
- Every Little Thing
- Everyday Minimalists
- Everything for Christmas
- Everything Hour
- Everything I Own: My 288 Things
- Everything Now in Every Format
- Everything That Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists
- Everything You Need
- Excess Is the Birthplace of Clutter
- Facebook Live with The Minimalists
- Fake Outrage: Dealing with Criticism
- Favorite Clothes of a Minimalist
- Feel Free to Unsubscribe, Unfollow
- Fight Club’s Tyler Durden Is a Minimalist
- Fight Malaria with a Podcast Review
- Fighting the Voice in Your Head
- Film Festivals 2015
- Financial Freedom: 5 Difficult Steps to Get Out of Debt, Create a Simple Budget, Plan for the Future, and Regain Control of Your Finances
- Finding a Mentor
- Finding Your Writing Voice
- First Thing in the Morning: Why I Wake at 3:30 A.M.
- Five Steps Toward a More Meaningful Holiday Season
- Florida Meetup with The Minimalists
- Food Is Not Entertainment
- Fool Price
- Forever Does Not Exist
- Forsake the Rest
- Free Local Meetup Groups Brought to You by The Minimalists
- Getting Laid Off from My Six-Figure Job Was Exactly What I Needed
- Getting Rid of Just-in-Case Items: 20 Dollars, 20 Minutes
- Gift Change, Not Junk
- Gift Experiences, Not Stuff
- Gift Love: Save $646 on Christmas Shopping This Year
- Giving Is Living
- Giving My 31st Birthday to Charity
- Goodbye Fake Friends
- Gospel of Minimalism
- Greet Them with a Hug
- Growth Through Minimalism
- Haunted by Desire
- Health Is a Vehicle, Not a Destination
- Help!
- Helping Hands: Mark’s Story of Contribution
- Here, Have an Organ
- Hey Look at Me I’m Relevant Dammit!
- Holiday Shopping for Aspiring Minimalists
- Home Is Where the Red Phone Is
- How Minimalism Is Changing Entrepreneurship
- How to Improve Your Writing: 3 Tips
- How to Make a Damn Decision
- How to Set Up a Beautiful Blog Today: Step by Step
- How to Sleep Sitting Up
- How to Start a Successful Blog in 2017
- How to Write Better: Live Two-Hour Online Workshop
- How to Write Better: Online Writing Class
- How We Woke Up
- I Could Never Do That!
- I Don’t Love You Anymore
- I Don’t Need Much
- I Got Rid of 2,000 Books and Started Reading More
- I Want Water for My 33rd Birthday
- I Was Not a Minimalist, Until I Was
- I Will Always Be Okay
- If, Then
- Imagine Everything
- Imperfect Is the New Perfect
- In Too Deep
- Inbox Minimalism
- Inside the Prison Walls of Consumerism
- Intentional Relationships
- Is Location Independence Bullshit?
- Is Minimalism Just for Single, Rich, White Guys?
- Is This What You’ve Been Waiting for Your Entire Life?
- It’s 8:33 A.M.: Do You Know Where Your Productivity Is?
- It’s Almost Here
- It’s Complicated
- It’s Easy to Get What You Want
- Jealousy Is a Wasted Emotion
- Jeffersonian Minimalism: Thomas Jefferson’s 10 Rules for a Good Life
- Joy of Having Less: The Minimalists on the TODAY Show
- Junk | SIMPLES (Episode 04)
- Killing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I’ve Ever Done
- Killing Time
- Know Thy Neighbors
- Labels Are Necessary
- Learn to Blog
- Learning to Let Go
- Less Clothes, More Routines
- Less Is Now Tour 2017: First Leg
- Less Is Now Tour 2017: Second Leg
- Less Stuff, More Sex
- Less, Less, Less, Less, Less, Less…
- Lessons from the Fall
- Let It Go
- Let’s Chat About Simplifying
- Let’s Play a Minimalism Game
- Let’s Talk About Black Friday
- Letting Go of Control
- Letting Go of Physical Gifts
- Letting Go of Sentimental Items
- Letting Go of Shitty Relationships
- Letting Go of Your DVD Collection
- Letting Go: Dealing with the Death of a Loved One
- Life After the Crash
- Life Is an Acquired Taste
- Life Is Like Riding a Bicycle
- Life Maintenance
- Life’s Most Dangerous Question: What Do You Do?
- Listen to Less Everywhere
- Listen to Less in More Places
- Live a Meaningful Life
- Live Like Stan
- Live: Tuesdays with The Minimalists
- Living with No Goals
- Logos
- Loose Grip
- Love | SIMPLES (Episode 03)
- Love People Use Things Wallpaper
- Love People, Use Things
- Making Minimalism (Episode 1)
- Making Minimalism (Episode 2)
- Making Minimalism (Episode 3)
- Making Minimalism (Episode 4)
- Making Minimalism (Episode 5)
- Making Minimalism (Episode 6) | Q&A with The Minimalists and Director Matt D’Avella
- Making Money as a Writer Is a Curious Thing
- Marketing vs. Advertising
- Meet the Mentors: A New Essay Series from The Minimalists
- Minimalism & Happiness Through Scientific Eyes
- Minimalism 2.0
- Minimalism Documentary — Now Available on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play
- Minimalism Documentary — Now Available Worldwide on Netflix
- Minimalism Documentary Coming to Canada
- Minimalism Documentary Coming to iTunes and Amazon
- Minimalism Documentary in 400+ Theaters
- Minimalism Documentary in Theaters Tomorrow
- Minimalism Documentary on DVD
- Minimalism Documentary on Netflix
- Minimalism Documentary Tour 2016
- Minimalism Film: An Exciting Update
- Minimalism for Families with Children
- Minimalism Is Healthy: How I Lost 70 Pounds
- Minimalism Is Not a Radical Lifestyle
- Minimalism Is Not the Path
- Minimalism Kills Fear
- Minimalism Life
- Minimalism Meetup Groups: Local and Online
- Minimalism Poster and Wallpaper Contest
- Minimalism Saved My Life
- Minimalism Scares the Shit Out of Me
- Minimalism: An Elevator Pitch
- Minimalism: The Fine Print
- Minimalist Desktop
- Minimalist Family: 12 Useful Links
- Minimalist Family: Start With Yourself
- Minimalist Finances and Budgeting
- Minimalist Gift-Giving
- Minimalist Home Tour: JFM
- Minimalist Home Tour: Ryan Nicodemus
- Minimalist Interview: Colin Wright
- Minimalist Interview: Karol Gajda
- Minimalist New Year’s Resolution
- Minimalist Resolution Update 1: January 2011
- Minimalist Resolution Update 2: February 2011
- Minimalist Resolution Update 3: March 2011
- Minimalist Resolution Update 4: April 2011
- Minimalist Screens: Free Wallpaper for Your Smartphone and Desktop
- Minimalist Toolkit
- Missoula and the Third Minimalist
- Mistakes vs. Bad Decisions
- Mondays with The Minimalists
- Money | SIMPLES (Episode 02)
- Money Does Not Buy Better Habits
- Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness, Neither Does Poverty
- More Is Less?
- More Wins than Losses
- Most Emergencies Aren’t
- Motion Creates Emotion: 3 Simple Ways To Break Your Pattern
- Moving Beyond Goals
- Music + Minimalism
- My Exile Lifestyle: Interview with Colin Wright
- My Minimalist Workspace
- My Whole Process
- Need, Want, Like
- Never Happier
- Never Leave the Scene of a Good Idea Without Taking Action
- New to Minimalism? This Is a Great Place to Start
- Nightmares of a Perfectionist
- No Value in an Empty Room
- Not a Natural
- Not Busy, Focused
- Not Utopia
- Nothing: Smartphone App
- Now Available — Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
- Obsolete Things
- Of Course It’s Unreasonable, Dummy!
- Offbeat
- Official Trailer for Minimalism
- Official Trailer: Less Is Now Tour
- On Becoming a Better Writer
- On Living in Caves and Fighting Distractions
- One More Gift
- One Thing Each Day
- One Year Later
- Online Congruency
- Order Minimalism Documentary Online, Receive 6 Hours of Bonus Content
- Organizing Is Well-Planned Hoarding
- Orlando, Fargo, Australia, & Canada
- Overcoming Self-Doubt
- Pack Like The Minimalists
- Packing Party: Unpack a Simpler Life
- Pendulums and Extremes
- Permission to Let Go
- Photo Tour: The Minimalists Open a Coffeehouse
- Photo-Scanning Party
- Photos of Minimalist Living
- Playing It by Ear in D.C.
- Please Masturbate in Your Own Room
- Post-Post-Minimalism: An Interview
- Preaching to the Congregation
- Prime Optimist
- Pushing Through Frustration: Why I’m Getting Rid of My Phone
- Questioning Stuff
- Quitting Your Job Is Easy
- Ready for Spring Cleaning?
- Ready. Set. Let Go!
- Real Priorities
- Reasons for Waiting
- Reasons I Don’t Own a TV
- Reasons to Avoid Photographs During Vacation
- Reclaim Your Time
- Repaying Intellectual Debt
- Reprogramming the Twitch
- Resolve to Review
- Resolve to Write More This Year: 5 Important Articles About Writing
- Resolving to Learn from Failure
- Retirement Planning: How to Plan for a Successful Retirement
- Right Here, Right Now
- Sam Harris on Focus
- Same Book, Beautiful New Cover
- Scared to Death of Death: The Important Things We Postpone
- Seagulls
- Searching for False Truth
- Security Is a Misnomer
- Shifting from a Culture of Excess to a Culture of Access
- Shopping or Finding Meaning
- Simple Triggers
- Simplifying the Minimalist Catalog
- Simply Number One
- Singing Stones: Finding Life’s Beauty and Meaning
- Sleep, Sex, and Reruns
- Sold Out
- Someday
- Someday | SIMPLES (Episode 01)
- Soup Kitchen Christmas
- Start with the Easy Shit
- Stimulate the Economy Like a Minimalist
- Stoicism and Minimalism
- Stop Trying
- Struggling with Choices
- Successfool
- Support The Minimalists
- Take It Simple
- Take It to the River
- Take the Red Pill: Embrace Minimalism
- Taking Back the Morning
- Tell a Better Story: 3 Tricks that Aren’t Tricks at All
- Thanks. Giving.
- That Was Fun
- The 14th Minimalist
- The Actual Cost of Owning a Thing
- The Art of Letting Go: The Minimalists TEDx Talk (2016)
- The Beauty of Starting a Micro-Business
- The Becker Family on Deciding to Live as a Minimalist Household
- The Benefits of Minimalism
- The Best Present Is Presence
- The Blackest of Fridays
- The Commodification of Love
- The Compelling Beauty of Free
- The Consumption Continuum
- The Cycle of Letting Go
- The Death of the Marketing Penny: Avoiding Silly Advertising Tricks
- The Definition of Success
- The Details
- The Discomfort Zone
- The End of the World Is Right Past the Horizon
- The Great Cleanup
- The High Price of Pursuing My Dream
- The Idea Guy
- The Impact Equation
- The Invention of Our Discontent
- The Irony of Minimalism
- The Last Writing Class
- The Man Who Dies with the Most Stuff
- The Mess We Made in Rochester
- The Million Dollar Joke
- The Minimalism Paradox
- The Minimalists Are Building a School
- The Minimalists Holiday Happiness Tour 2012
- The Minimalists in Boston
- The Minimalists in the Media
- The Minimalists NYC Book Preview Event
- The Minimalists’ Favorite Podcasts
- The New American Dream
- The Number One Lesson of Minimalism
- The Official Minimalist T-Shirt
- The Power of a Hug
- The Pressure We Put on Ourselves
- The Problem with Common Sense
- The Problem with Corporations
- The quickest way to give yourself a pay raise
- The Rats in the Tunnel
- The Right Kind of Fame
- The Right Path, Wrong Path, Left Path, and No Path
- The Rules We Live By
- The Short Guide to Getting Rid of Your Crap
- The Sound of Irrelevance
- The Sound of Life
- The Spatula: Possessions Ultimately Dispossess
- The Success Template
- The Taste of Health
- The Things We Are Prepared to Walk Away From
- The Troubling Nature of Pop Culture
- The Tweet That Changed My Life
- The UnAmerican Dream
- The Value of Community: Free Local Meetup Groups
- The Worst Christmas Ever
- The Worst Thing That Could Happen
- There Will Be Bruises
- They’re All Just a Bunch of Hippies!
- This Is Also Not a Promotion
- This Probably Isn’t for You
- This Year Beat the Crap Out of Me and It Was Awesome
- TIME for Minimalism
- Too Much Branding These Days
- Tour My Minimalist Apartment
- Tour The Minimalists’ Montana Cabin: A Photo Essay
- Turn Down the Volume
- Two Years Later
- Understanding Others
- United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia: The Minimalists Are Coming!
- Unteachers
- Updated Beliefs
- Valuable Things
- Video & Audio: Meetup with The Minimalists
- Video: #MinsTour
- Video: Join The Minimalists for a Night of Less
- Video: Q&A with The Minimalists
- Vying for Attention
- Waking Up: Sam Harris Discusses the Benefits of Mindfulness
- Walk a Mile in My Blisters
- Way More of Way Less: The Minimalists Are Expanding
- We Can’t Fix the Problem with the Problem
- We Have No Problems
- We Love to Say Hi and Buy Less
- What a Game!
- What Happens when a Minimalist Moves in with His Girlfriend?
- What If You Accidentally Spilled Bleach on Half Your Wardrobe?
- What Is My Outcome?
- What Is Your Mission?
- What It Feels Like to No Longer Worry About Money
- What the Hell Are You Talking About?
- What Things Can You Get Rid Of?
- What We Talk About When We Talk About Minimalism
- What Would Happen If You Just Let Go?
- When Everything Is Your Favorite Thing
- When Goals Are Important and When They Are Not
- When Would Today Be a Good Day to Start?
- Who The Hell Reads Your Blog Anyway?
- Who to Emulate?
- Who’s Preventing You from Being Totally Free?
- Why I Walked Away from My Six-Figure Career
- Why Is My Phone About to Die?
- Why?
- Woodshedding and the Pseudo-Thoreau Thing: Moving to Montana
- WordTasting Tour 2015
- WordTasting Tour 2015 Update: Trailer, New City, Lodging Help
- Worthy
- Would You Buy It Again?
- WWJD: What Would Joshua Do?
- You Are Not Impressing Me
- You Are Not Your Khakis
- You Are What You Desire
- You Don’t Have To Explain Yourself
- You Should See My Car
- Your Own Advice Is the Hardest Pill to Swallow
- Your Past Does Not Equal Your Future
Guest Essays on Other Sites
- 10 Lessons From Publishing the #1 Bestselling Short Story (Think Traffic)
- 100 Days with No Goals (Zen Habits)
- A Day in the Life of a Minimalist (Zen Habits)
- Don't Pursue Your Passion (AskMen)
- Everybody Worships Something (Becoming Minimalist)
- Grow Yourself, Not Your Stuff (Positively Positive)
- Homework: Start Your Masterpiece (In Over Your Head)
- I Am Not The Center Of The Universe (Exile Lifestyle)
- Launching a Book in Real Time (Asymmetrical)
- Let Freedom Ring with Minimalism (Be More With Less)
- Letting Go Of Sentimental Items (Rowdy Kittens)
- Real Life Minimalists (Miss Minimalist)
- Russian Version of Live a Meaningful Life (Synderesis)
- Screw You, I Quit! (Illuminated Mind)
- Simplicity in Action (Be More with Less)
- Stop Living the Lie; Start Living the Life (In Over Your Head)
- The Downside of Minimalism (Be More With Less)
- The Minimalist Secret to Productive Writing (Goins, Writer)
- The Short, 16-Step Guide to Getting Rid of Your Crap (In Over Your Head)



