Today, I look at Fumio Sasaki's decluttering method and minimalist philosophy as detailed in his book Goodbye, Things and which aspects work (and which ones don't) for me. More at www.bemovingforward.com.
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Evaluating Fumio Sasaki's minimalist method
Five takeaways from Fumio Sasaki's book
Fumio Sasaki presents an alternative look at minimalism and decluttering in his book Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism (affiliate paid link). This was the second book I read on the topic as I was a month or two into my own decluttering journey. Below are five takeaways from Sasaki's book.
Minimalism as a lifestyle: Sasaki is a proponent of owning as little as possible. An extreme example from his own lifestyle is owning one towel for any and all cleaning purposes.
The "one hour move" litmus test: Sasaki's end-result of decluttering and getting rid of his many possessions is that he claims he can pack up everything he owns within an hour if he had to move.
Digitize everything: Sasaki is a big proponent of technology as a minimalism tool. He points to his iPhone and iPad as replacements for his computer, television, and as a space-minimizing way to store documents and photos.
Third-party services: For large scale decluttering or purging en masse, Sasaki recommends using professional services. In Japan, there are companies that will help you sell your belongings to expedite the process, taking a fee from sales. The equivalent in the US would be using an auction, consignment, or similar third-party service.
What if: Sasaki uses a lot of "what if" scenarios to guide his minimalist decision-making. "What if" I had to move, "what if" everything I owned burned up in a house fire or was lost in an earthquake.
What works about this method and what doesn't
This doesn't work for me. As I mentioned on 448, if minimalism were my goal, I've already failed. While I'm decluttering to reduce unnecessary belongings, a strict reductionist method of owning as little as possible is not in line with why I'm doing this.
While this is very appealing on one level, and I often daydream about having that kind of freedom, it's neither feasible nor desirable for my purposes. However, some of you may pursue this as your end goal.
Yes. I'm a big proponent of this with the caveat that it's impossible or difficult at best to achieve. I'm still in process of purging unnecessary paper and with certain documents (eg tax returns), it will be impossible to go completely digital, at least in the short term. Photos present another challenge that I have yet to tackle as I grew up in the era of prints.
I can't comment on this aspect as I have not yet explored it but it is intriguing. Thus far, I've mostly donated, sold, recycled, and thrown items away. However, I may explore this more as I move on to other categories such as large furniture.
This is useful and can be part of the decluttering and purging calculus. However, I'm more inclined to lean on the positives; what I want my life to look like rather than spending time on negative or unexpected "what if" scenarios.
As with Marie Kondo, Sasaki's philosophy is not a perfect fit but offers some additional insights into why decluttering and simplifying your life are worthwhile goals.
Decluttering tip
Digitize your paper and photos as much as possible. Taking photos of items you donate, sell or give away can be a great way to preserve their memories and meaning for you.
Decluttering resources
Books
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (*****) (affiliate paid link)
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki (****) (affiliate paid link)
The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker (****) (affiliate paid link)
The Swedish Art of Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson (****) (affiliate paid link)
Donations with pick up service
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) (clothing and other donations)
Purple Heart Foundation (PH) (clothing and other donations)
PCs for People (non-profit org that has locations across the country for donating old computers and laptops)
Tools
Digital postal scale (affiliate paid link)
Hard drive enclosures (affiliate paid link)
Hard drive (multidrive) bay enclosures (affiliate paid link)
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