The amount of possessions I own is shrinking by the day. It happens as soon as I walk into the house: I look around, and if there’s anything that I don’t absolutely love, then I start preparing to get rid of it. The wool has been removed from over my eyes, and now, I can only see a lifestyle without clutter.

Here’s a few recent ways that I’ve reduced the noise around me, and it’s only the beginning.

• Decorations
• Desk Chair
• Jacket
• Socks
• Shirts
• Jeans
• Books
• Shoes
• Computer

Decorations

I walked in from a week-long vacation, and the first thing I did was pull all of my decorations that were on the wall. I thought of this idea on my way home from the vacation, and I looked forward to letting go of something I thought was important to a room. That might sound crazy, but I saw it as one more distraction, and one more item that I owned.

Desk Chair

A few weeks later, I got rid of my desk chair. I usually sit on my bed to use the iPad, or if I am using the desk, I’m standing up when I do so. So the chair had to go.

Jacket

There was this jacket that I bought a few years ago. I wore it once. When the weather changed recently, I went to put this jacket on, and didn’t like the way it looked on me. The old me would’ve hung it back up, thinking maybe one day I’ll like it on me, after all, it was only worn once. Instead, I didn’t even think twice about it: I put the jacket with the rest of the things I was donating that day.

Socks

I recently received a gift card to Academy. With this gift card, I decided to buy a new pack of athletic socks. When I got back home from Academy, I walked straight to my dresser, grabbed all of my old socks, and put them right in the donate pile. My new goal with socks is to only have one style, reducing the friction of pairing them, and letting go of older socks that have either lost their partner, or take up space in an otherwise minimal drawer.

Shirts

I recently made a huge pass through all of my shirts. I only kept the tees that I loved wearing. I didn’t have room for any shirt that I wasn’t excited about. I also got rid of all of my hangers. Now, my shirts lay on top of each other, on the steps of my bed. I usually grab whatever tee is on top, without having to worry about if I like it or not. And if the shirt becomes one that I’m hesitant to put on, it gets donated.

Jeans

On Black Friday, I decided to buy two pair of jeans. My old jeans were falling apart. A belt loop broke on one, and on the other, a hole was created, by the right pocket, from the biggest first world problem ever: the hole existed from constantly pushing in the same spot to lift my phone up before pulling it out. So I bought two new jeans from the Levi’s store (541 Athletic fit). As soon as I got back from the store with these jeans, I donated all of my oldest ones.

Books

I started getting rid of the books I own, by either donating them or by selling them online. I used to collect these physical books, but I never read them. Now, I only own a handful of books that I have not only read, but that I really love and I’m proud to own.

Shoes

January 1st will make seven months since I’ve been wearing the Allbirds as my daily shoes. I can count on two hands the times I didn’t wear my Allbirds for the day (to play basketball, or to serve in a wedding). I fell in love with these shoes the second I saw them, so when I purchased them, I decided to donate every other pair that I owned—besides two others: I had to keep my basketball shoes for when I’m headed to the gym, and my dress shoes for those special occasions (and those dress shoes are used so rarely that I’m considering donating those too).

Computer

It’s been over a year now since I purchased the iPad Pro, and it’s been that long since I stopped relying on my Mac as my main computer. I envied those that didn’t need an actual computer. I followed these guys that did all of their work from an iPad, and I wanted that too. When the iPad Pro was released, I saw my chance. I now run my website, record music, and write thousands of words a day, all from my iPad. I was able to transition to a much simpler life with the iPad, removing the clutter both physically and mentally from needing an actual computer.