How to be happy with less

You have worked hard to get where you are at in life. You went to school, climbed corporate ladders, and sacrificed a lot so that you could command a large salary and really enjoy life. Only now you are at the pinnacle of your career, and you're not happy. 

Many minimalists who have given away nearly all of their possessions actually came from this background. They dedicated their lives to building wealth, only to discover after they have built it that material goods actually don't make them happy.

Yet for most of us, stopping the endless purchases of this shiny item or that is hard. We don't need all this stuff, and we don't particularly want it either, yet we still continue to buy things. What gives, and how come we're not any happier than we were before?

Time spent on clutter is time away from family and friends

Which would you rather do, spend hours sorting and organizing dozens of boxes full of random junk you never use, or playing with your child? Would you rather spend twenty minutes searching for your can over in a massive pile of unused gadgets, or twenty minutes on a beach, sunning yourself?

 For most of us the answer is easy. We would far rather partake in experiences that matter rather than frustrating maintenance. Unfortunately, maintenance is a big part of having a lot of stuff. When you declutter, you aren't getting rid of stuff that matters to you, or that you use every day. You aren't getting rid of collections that you enjoy or spend regular time with. If you love to read and have a huge library, you keep the books.

What you don't keep? All the stuff you haven't touched in years. The clothing with the price tags still on them. The shoes that don't fit. That one weird pan you never use. Decluttering doesn't mean living with a single cup and a pair of socks forever, it means streamlining your home so you have more time for the stuff you like doing.

Experiences are not possessions

Many people seem to think that having fewer things also means doing fewer things. If the goal is to drastically cut how much you spend, perhaps, but the role of decluttering is simply to add things you value, and remove things you don't value.

A trip to Tahiti, playing ball in the backyard with the kids, these aren't possessions—but they're often the key to being happier. Possessions aren't directly the problem of feeling unhappy, they simply get in the way of happiness by distracting you from the things that actually will give you happiness.