Best Minimalist Books That Will Help Simplify Your Life

BookSummaryClub Blog Best Minimalist Books That Will Help Simplify Your Life

I don’t know about you, but whenever I used to hear the word minimalist, I would immediately think of interior design. Maybe it’s because it’s where I first heard the word come up when I was younger. Now that I’m older, I’ve realised that it pertains to so much more. Minimalism is not just a design concept, it’s a way of life. It has been around in one form or the other for a very long time. That’s why I wanted to dedicate an article to the best minimalist books that will help you simplify your life. These books will help you truly understand what it means to be a minimalist.

Best Books on Minimalist Living

Before further exploring this lifestyle, most of us don’t know the extent of our “excess baggage”. Whether it be material, emotional or digital (yes, that counts too), we all have unnecessary items that weigh us down in some form. The books on this list explore different scenarios and how minimalism help influence a simpler, less complicated way of living. Let’s take a closer look at the best minimalist books currently available.

1. Minimalism: How to simplify and Declutter your life With Minimalist Habits by Ben Smith

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Minimalism: How to Simplify and Declutter Your Life with Minimalist Habits
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Ben Smith (Author) – RJ Malyk (Narrator)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 01/09/2019 (Publication Date) – Ben Smith (Publisher)

We all have habits. Some are good, some are bad but most are, without doubt, unconscious habits that don’t serve us at all. Available as both an audiobook and in paperback, this book by Ben Smith helps to define minimalism and explains how it can be used to improve all areas of your life. The great thing about this book is that it acknowledges that everyone is different and helps you understand how to put your own spin on minimalist ideas. 

Key areas discussed in this book are:

  • Defining Minimalism: What It All Boils Down To
  • How To Use Minimalism To Improve All Areas of Your Life
  • How To Adopt a Minimalist Lifestyle
  • Finding Your Minimalism Style
  • Minimalist Habits In All Areas Of Life

The heart of this book is about changing your habits and making them simple and efficient.When you take control of your daily habits your life will transform and you feel in control.

2. Tailored Minimalism by Arthur Conrad

Tailored Minimalism: Making Minimalism Fit You
  • Conrad, Arthur (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 82 Pages – 12/13/2019 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)

This book by Arthur Conrad describes the downfall of searching for happiness in material stuff. We are often disillusioned by what we see in media and around us that having more will lead to feeling happier. This is never quite the case as one soon find outs that nothing can fill a void besides yourself and your way of thinking. It is the key to most teachings of happiness such as minimalism. 

This book helps the reader to:

  • decide what brings them happiness 
  • what to keep in their lives and what to remove
  •  help cleanse the mind, body and soul

3. The More of Less by Joshua Becker

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The More of Less
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Joshua Becker (Author) – Joshua Becker (Narrator)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 05/03/2016 (Publication Date) – Tantor Audio (Publisher)

Joshua Becker has mastered minimalism having written 5 books about it. He first started thinking about minimalism when he realised he was spending more time with his stuff than with his family when he was cleaning out the garage. 

In The More of Less, you will learn to:

  • Recognize the life-giving benefits of owning less
  • Realize how all the stuff you own is keeping you from pursuing your dreams
  • Craft a personal, practical approach to decluttering your home and life
  • Experience the joys of generosity
  • Learn why the best part of minimalism isn’t a clean house; it’s a full life

4. Mind Your Minimalism: Learn to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by John Ward

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Mind your Minimalism & The Art of Hygge & Unlock The Key to Health And Mindfulness in Daily Life & Learn to Declutter, Organize, And Simplify Your Life
  • Audible Audiobook
  • John Ward (Author) – KC Wayman (Narrator)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 11/24/2020 (Publication Date) – John Ward (Publisher)

This book by John Ward teaches the reader all about the excess baggage that is occupying your space (and it’s not just talking about that unpacked bag lying in the corner of your room). It enlightens readers on how to lead a stress-free life and how to get rid of what does not benefit them.

The book provides a:

  • step-by-step guide to help you on your path to a minimalist life
  • way to identify meaningless relationships that are holding you back
  • way to identify when to say yes and when to say no in multiple situations

5. The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

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The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Francine Jay (Author) – Teri Schnaubelt (Narrator)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 04/26/2016 (Publication Date) – Brilliance Audio (Publisher)

The title of this book says it all. Francine Jay describes in The Joy of Less that having less stuff is the key to happiness in your home. This book is basically an easy to read guide to minimalist living and how to declutter your home. 

Split into four distinct parts, this book provides:

  • an inspirational pep talk on the joys and rewards of paring down.  
  • 10 easy steps to rid your house of clutter.
  • Ways in which to tackle each room one by one
  • How to get your family on board.

6. Joy at Work by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein

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Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Marie Kondo (Author) – Brittany Ishibashi, Dan Woren (Narrators)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 04/07/2020 (Publication Date) – Little, Brown & Company (Publisher)

You know if Marie Kondo is involved this book is about decluttering your life and finding joy in your surroundings. The workplace is no different from our homes. In fact, our workplaces are probably worst if you think about all those emails, disorganized papers and tasks. As we are so busy trying to get through this, we don’t realise how much it truly affects us. 

Joy at work shows readers:

  • Stories, studies and strategies to eliminate clutter
  • Make space for work that really matters
  • Identify what is draining joy from your work
  • Find the productivity, success, and happiness that come with a tidy desk and mind.

7. The Year of Less Cait Flanders

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The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Cait Flanders (Author) – Cait Flanders (Narrator)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 01/16/2018 (Publication Date) – Tantor Audio (Publisher)

The Year of Less documents Cait Flanders year as she refused to buy anything but groceries, toiletries and gas for her car. In that year she also decluttered her apartment, learned to fix things on her own and managed to not watch television. The result: the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.

In this book, Cait Flanders provides insight from her personal experience and practical guidance to:

  • Identifying areas which clutter your life
  • The true meaning behind your consumerism and what it actually costs you
  • How to change your habits and find what truly matters

8. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

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Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Cal Newport (Author) – Will Damron, Cal Newport (Narrators)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 02/05/2019 (Publication Date) – Penguin Audio (Publisher)

Told you it was a thing! Cal Newport wrote this book with the intention of highlighting the digital pursuits that bring value to our lives and those that don’t. Technology has greatly improved our lives but sometimes it takes from it as well without us knowing. This book explains how digital minimalists around us lead happy lives without being a slave to technology due to the habits of society.

Using real-life examples, this book:

  • Identifies the practices of digital minimalists
  • Explains how to rediscover the pleasures of the outside world
  • How to introduce periods of solitude to reconnect with your inner self
  • How to introduce these strategies into your daily routines and declutter your life.

In conclusion, these books are without a doubt, the best minimalist books available that will help simplify your life. We often feel unhappy or just plain tired without truly understanding the cause of it. Sometimes, all it takes is the time needed to declutter to truly understand the root of all these feelings. This is where these books come in. Try some of them, you might be pleasantly surprised about what minimalism can bring to your life!

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