My New Minimalist Habits

I found that establishing daily routines that good house-keeping of my environments, physical, digital, and mental, makes me calmer. Here are what I start to do daily:

Digital Cleaning:

• Delete obsolete messages in my inbox.
• Delete obsolete files in my cloud storage space. That includes older teaching word files, PPT files
• Delete unwanted photos from my cell phone

Physical environment:

• Check my in-house plants once a week. This includes removing dead/dry leaves of plants. Check whether watering is needed. Taking good care of  what I have also helps me appreciate what I have already, and curbing the impulses to bringing more plants home when at grocers.
• Clean toilets at least twice a week, and clean after messes at the kitchen floor right away

Mental environment:

• Take time to be close to nature when I feel overwhelmed from work or just from internal negative self-talk. This may be a daily 50-minute walk in my neighborhood, 2-hour weekend walk in a trail within 30-minute drive. Perhaps I should travel  a bit farther if time and conditions permit.
• Once a week, I take up yoga to take away myself from thinking but focus on my body and breathing. It softens up my stiff muscles, shoulders and neck where lots of tension are stored.
• Once a while, I shut off social media–for me, it is youtube. Quietness is indeed nourishing if you are over-satiated with social media.
• Reading a book of classics is much more nourishing than quick-dopamine stimulating videos from youtube.