This is an article in which I recommend five must-read books about minimalism to better understand the concept and implement it in your life in ways you deem valuable or helpful.
The philosophy of minimalism can be defined as a way of living in which you identify the essential things in your life and eliminate the rest. It is the antithesis of the modern Western-influenced consumerist lifestyle of accumulating as much stuff as possible and being constantly stimulated by digital clutter.
Personally, I practice minimalism in some ways, and I think it’s a way of living everyone can benefit from.
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Does Modern Society Ruin Mental Health?
My personal interest in minimalism stems not from any particularly bad spending habits, but from a nagging disillusionment with some aspects of modern society. I think the constant titillation of our senses can be detrimental to mental health; certainly to mine. Consumerism sells us better versions of ourselves to keep us buying things we don’t really need.
Of course, it’s also helpful to recognize that modern society is the safest, most prosperous, and least hunger-afflicted society in human history. That doesn’t mean it’s idyllic though. Anxiety, depression, and loneliness are rife.
The British philosopher Alan Watts called out the problems with modern society as far back as the 1960s. Bearing in mind that the Internet didn’t exist back then and television broadcasts were mostly transmitted in black and white, Watts was a man well ahead of his time. Here’s a quote from his book, The Wisdom of Insecurity, which could’ve been written yesterday and it would be equally valid:
“When belief in the eternal becomes impossible, men seek happiness in the joys of time. However much they try to bury it in their minds, they are aware these joys are uncertain and brief. Consequently, our age is one of frustration, anxiety, agitation, and addiction to “dope”.
We must grab what we can while we can, and drown out the realization that the whole thing is futile and meaningless. This dope we call our high standard of living; a violent and complex stimulation of the senses…a panorama of sights, sounds, thrills, and titillations.”
Books About Minimalism
Here are my select favourite books about minimalism. Read the descriptions and opt to buy the books that sound like they would best suit you. If you prefe listening versus reading, I recommend signing up to Audible, which you can do by clicking the below button. You’ll get two free audiobooks and a 30-day free trial. All of the books in this article are available on Audible.
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport is probably the type of minimalism that most resonates with me because I spend too much time reading shit online that doesn’t impact my life. The entire ethos of the book is to reevaluate our relationship with technology and only keep the technologies that add genuine value to our lives.
Newport describes how few of us actually want to spend so much time online reading shit we don’t care about, but that the tools we use online, such as social media, cultivate behavioral addictions. They keep us coming back for more. Every link clicked is like a pull of a slot machine handle. I’ve often had upward of 30 tabs open at once on a single Chrome window, so I know the pull of this online slot machine all too well.
Below is a screenshot of a Chrome window of mine from as recently as a few days ago:
The author recommends a digital declutter period in which we abstain for 30 days from any optional apps or websites that are meant to entertain, inform, or connect us. Newport adds that the idea that we need to maintain vast numbers of weak-tie social connections is an invention of the last decade.
He’s on to something there. The average twentysomething back in the 1990s wouldn’t have ever cared much what former work colleagues or ex-classmates were getting up to in life. Now, we’re exposed to the lives of dozens or even 100s of people whom we don’t actually care about, truth be told.
After the declutter, if you still want to consume attention-grabbing technologies like social media or news websites, Newport recommends having set periods for these rather than mindlessly browsing throughout the day. Personally, I only now visit news websites on Saturdays for two hours and I don’t bother with any social media other than Reddit. I feel much less stressed as a result of minimalizing my digital life.
The Joy of Less by Francine Jay
The Joy of Less is about traditional minimalism. Getting rid of physical clutter that often clogs up space in our homes and in our minds too. What I really enjoyed about this book was the middle part, which is a detailed ten-step plan to declutter your house.
Towards the end of the book, Francine Jay delivers some powerful moral messages about how decluttering has wider positive ramifications for the planet. The overarching message is to become more mindful of our immediate environment in terms of the possessions we store.
We should only keep things that we need, use, or bring us joy. Far too many of us accumulate things that don’t meet those criteria. This book serves as a nice guide to minimalism, although it gets a tad repetitive and preachy in parts.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Written by a Japanese cleaning consultant, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up attempts to help us clear clutter in our homes by designating items into categories rather than taking a room-by-room approach. Its usefulness is in how the author helps the reader organize their living space with intention. Our possessions should essentially reflect who we are and what we get joy from.
In fact, Kondo believes we should focus the decision to keep something on whether it “sparks joy”. That’s where I disagree. I don’t feel joy about the 200 aspirin I have in my medicine cabinet, but I won’t be throwing them out because they are useful. I think if you follow Kondo’s advice and replace the word “joy” with usefulness”, you’ll probably get a lot out of this book. It does get a bit woo-woo at times, though.
The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
The Power of Less is a well-written, succinct book about dealing with the plethora of distractions that vie for our attention in modern life. It doesn’t only approach the topic of minimalism in terms of physical possessions: Babauta also talks about the importance of minimalism in terms of our attention. When we do one thing at once and do it with intentionality, we end up being more efficient than when we multi-task.
Here are some quotes from the book that particularly resonated with me:
Principle 1: By setting limitations, we must choose the essential. So in everything you do, learn to set limitations. Principle 2: By choosing the essential, we create great impact with minimal resources. Always choose the essential to maximize your time and energy.
The Power of Less is an easy read with actionable advice. In other words, it’s the epitome of what all books about minimalism should aspire to be. No drivel, no padding of words, just practicality.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Published as far back as 1854, Walden is a classic book on living the simple life. Thoreau espoused the virtues of living in harmony with nature, and he felt that even the Western consumerist lifestyle of the 19th century was not conducive to this harmony.
Many of the concepts Thoreau described are relevant to the current discourse on minimalism. In fact, quite a few leading proponents of minimalism undoubtedly draw inspiration from this book and other writings by Thoreau.
Among his ideas about simple living are fixing up old clothes instead of buying new ones, minimizing purchases, and renouncing the desire for external progress, which is the driving force behind much of our unnecessary spending. When we think external success will bring us happiness, we end up buying expensive cars when a cheap one will suffice, we buy houses that are too big for us, and we buy the latest smartphones even though our current one is fine.
Walden is a short read and is one of the main books about minimalism that caused me to reevaluate how I live my life. Check it out for sure.
Closing Thoughts
Minimalism is one of those self-development or self-improvement tropes that can become a bit tedious due to the oversaturation of content about it. YouTube is filled with minimalists such as Matt D’avella and the Internet is chock-full of minimalist blogs. That said, minimalism, whether digital or physical, is a way of life with a number of virtues that I believe everyone can benefit from in some ways.
Digital minimalism played an important role in my own battle to reduce my neuroticism.
The books about minimalism that I’ve recommended here contain the essence of pretty much anything you need to know about minimalism. If I had to read just one of these books, Digital Minimalism was the most useful for me so I’d pick that. As mentioned before, but in case you missed it, you can also listen to all of these books by signing up to Audible for a free 30-day trial below: ↓↓↓