When I first started on my winding minimalist path, there were many things I didn’t really plan for. For example, in getting rid of half my wardrobe, I didn’t plan to start a rule of 1-in-1-out, but it happened that way. That was my brain’s way of keeping my newfound minimalistic happiness.

Along the same lines, a bin that I was planning to donate contained stuff I would never wear anymore, but the bin itself was sturdy and small. I thought to myself, this would be a great way to continue my 1-in-1-out trend. So now, the little pink box next to my closet functions as the donation pile, a tidy way to keep my wardrobe small and my living space clean. Also a reminder not to buy more shit when it starts overflowing. Oops.

Recognizing Your Current, Expensive Hobbies

Something else I didn’t really think about was the need for my brain to be occupied. Sure, everyone needs a mindless night once in a while. But what happens when you spend every night mindlessly? Personally, my brain wanted my body to consume things.

Before I got on my minimalism kick, a lot of my nights would be spent staring at the TV, watching music videos, or drinking. To each her own, but I got annoyed with myself. You can read more about that in my #1 hit article, The Case for Doing Nothing. (It’s my own blog, I can shamelessly self-promote if I want, dammit.)

TV doesn’t cost much after the first purchase, and neither does watching music videos. Drinking, however, gets super expensive.

I dare you frequent drinkers to do an honest three-month (because we can all hold out a month) audit of your drinking habits. It’s terrible.

Anyways, this article is not meant to be an anti-drinking article. Rather, a reflection of the way we spend our time when we’re content with being mindless, versus when we have something to work towards, work on, or invest in.

Aimless Shopping

So aside from drinking, one of the things I would do is aimlessly browse amazon. You know that bar they have at the top of that page, New & Noteworthy? That’s my shit. That’s literally my shit. It’s all weird and cutesy stuff that you want to buy without even knowing what it does. Hello, money drain.

Besides amazon, some days I would just get the urge to wander. On occasion I would go to a park, or I would walk to meet a friend at the bar (there’s that drinking again, but socially I give myself the 100% go-ahead because I’m a nervous awkward wreck). But more often than not, if I found myself wanting to just get out, for whatever reason, I would end up at Target. Because who doesn’t love Target. If you’re raising your hand right now, you’re lying. And weird, because I can’t see you.

And of course, right next to my friendly neighborhood Target, is a Forever 21. And TWO H&M’s. And a Banana Republic outlet. And American Eagle. I could go on for years, but my point is that there’s no shortage of shopping in Philadelphia.

So the problem here is, obviously, that I was buying stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-buying-stuff. I’m just anti-buying-stuff that you don’t need.

Or that I don’t need. You can do whatever TF you want, you go girl. Or guy.

Finding New Habits

Now, I didn’t totally realize the extent of these habits, and especially how deep they ran, until I decided to enter a friendly (read: fiercely competitive) reddit contest for writers. Whoever has the highest word count at the end of the month wins. Naturally, because I’m secretly the most competitive person in the world, I needed to win.

It had taken me two years to finish 40k words of my novel – that’s about where I started my month. Literally eight days in, I was at 65k and finished the bones. I wasn’t really drinking (because drinking while writing leads to some Memento-type mystery solving the next time you try to write), and I was so focused on my writing that I didn’t shop or buy unnecessary food. I ate when I needed and drank with friends, but at the end of the day, I came home, cleared my head, and wrote.

Looking at my credit card statements for that week, you would have thought I died. Nothing.

Make Minimalism Worth It

But that got me thinking – maybe to truly enjoy minimalism, we need to find something that makes time by yourself worth it. If your time is spent waiting for the next thing to come up, maybe it’s worth picking up something new for the sake of just doing something new.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of accomplishment, whether it ends with a medal or a pat on the back from yourself, but now I’m starting to see the power it has on other aspects of your life.

I got frustrated one day, wondering why I have so little time. I wanted to learn Spanish, and write at least a little every day, and keep my apartment cleaner. Each of these things could take 30 minutes per day. In my usual free time of roughly 7 hours per day, how was I unable to complete any of these things?

Because I was living passively.

So if you’re taking up minimalism and feeling bored as shit, try a hobby.