Five Best Ways Smart Minimalist Couples Win Now and Always
Picture the familiar routine; you're sitting at your desk at work, writing your to-do lists for today, ok here goes, one for the office, check, one for the family and household, check, but did you make one for yourself, and one for your husband or significant others (SO)? Uh, probably not! You're busier than busy, and there is always one more activity either for the dogs, cats, kids, parents, whatever.
Minimalist Moms
Whoa, just stop what you're doing and take a deep breath!
Remember when you've told yourself in January this year that things will be different, the house will be tidy, your office will be organized, the kids' toys won't trip you on the way to the kitchen to make coffee in the morning, and of course you'll have your exercise routines down pat.
Minimalist Couples
So why is it that you can't seem to simplify your life and cut down on clutter?
One of the most important parts of the Minimalism journey, when you're in a relationship, is called Teamwork. You couldn't succeed professionally by working alone, so why would you want to do that at home without your spouse or S.O.? There need to be some degrees of partnership, and it doesn't have to be perfect either, but you need to start however small to include your partner and make it fun, so promise me, no nagging!
Here are Five Best Ways Smart Minimalist Couples Win Now and Always
Start going down the list and do these steps to simplify your life!The S.O might skip the first two. But step 3 is a couple's activity.
Vision Boards
1. First thing first, have you done your Vision Board in this article, (Use these templates by joining our community) and put down everything visually of how you'd like your home, life, work, relationships, kids, exercises should look like this year? If not, why not? Why not have some fun this weekend and cut out some photos of how your life would look like, so you'll be more relaxed and fulfilled.
2. Next, Use these Minimalist Goals Checklists (Get yours now)to summarize what you want to achieve in words for daily, weekly, monthly, or however, you'd like to track your progress. Use these printable checklists or the editable PDFs version to cut down on paper waste; either way, just do it! Don't wait for the perfect moment; it doesn't have to be perfect, just start already.
3. Compare goals and agree to work on common goals first:
Print out your filled out 3 Goals Checklists and share them with your S.O.
Ask him/her to rank in order of importance which goals to achieve together, in another word, what goals do you have in common which shows a significant step in the right direction of what you both want to work on first.
Alternatively, if your partner welcomes the idea, he/she can fill out the checklists, and you both compare the results to choose something in common to work on together.
Minimalist Goals Checklists
4. Choose the time intervals (daily, weekly, monthly) to track progress together and check off your accomplishments. Make an inventory of things you've gotten rid of and celebrate with an agreed upon reward like a date to the movies or a hike, etc.
5. Make adjustments to the Goals and Checklists and continue on your journey. It's tough to work on minimalism alone and stay motivated when a couple doesn't set goals and track progress. As a bonus and incentive, keep track on a chart of how many items you've gotten rid of and if you've made money selling them, or getting the IRS write-offs for the donations.
"Either way, you both win because I promise you this, when couples work on their household chores together, they improve their communication, strengthen their commitment, stay connected on a deeper level and feel understood by the other one."
Now I know it can be a hard thing to convince your partner sometimes, so make it easier on yourself, fill these out first to get a clear picture of what you want to accomplish, then choose a time that you both can focus on each other with undivided attention then discuss it with each other.
In the end, you know your partner best so choose the best way to approach and consider a change in lifestyle and routine that will positively impact your life and marriage, and the rest will fall in its place. Remember, self-care first, couple second, and everything else will be on cruise control.
Let me know how this works out for you and if you have anything to add to the conversations so other couples can benefit on their minimalism journey as well.
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