Becoming minimalist: for the summer anyway

[catherine]

So I'm starting my journey towards a minimalist summer in a home about one-third the size of my current one. I want to be VERY intentional about what I bring.

I just starting organizing my home office and separating out the hopefully few things I'll need up there. I need to be cognizant of what I truly need, but also realize I don't want to get stuck not having something essential. For context, my "home office" will be combined use with a guest room (daybed). The room is about 10 x 10. One small closet.

Home Office:

I will bring:

• small box of different sizes of paper clips and binder clips
• about 3 rows of staples and a stapler
• tape/desktop tape dispenser
• folders
• my two desk organizers
• a few assorted rubber bands
• one pair of scissors
• printer paper
• folders
• clear plastic sleeves
• a dozen pencils with erasers and a pencil sharpener
• maybe a half dozen G2 Pilot pens
• highlighter
• dry erase board & dry erase markers
• pencil holder
• my little book of passwords
• checkbook
• my bullet journal
• my laptop
• my printer
• my landline phone & headset (I am stuck with the need for a professional telephone/headset when spending hours on the line with interviewees. Just won't feel comfortable with my cell phone alone.
• one banker's box to put my project materials in
• shipping tape & regular tape
• a couple of envelopes (not many)
• a couple of sheets of different kinds of labels & label maker

This list seems long. Does anyone have suggestions for shortening? Anything I'm leaving out that you think I've forgotten for a home office?

By the way, the title of this thread is obviously inspired by the Joshua Becker blog. I follow it on Facebook, and I've found his posts to be very relevant, useful and pithy (another word for "minimal")

[herbgeek]

Do you really use a white board that frequently? Or would something like a pocket/fold up dry erase board work? TWO desktop organizers? Do you need both?
I don't see notepads, something to take notes on, do you just do that on the computer while you are on calls?

[SteveinMN]

How many of these items do you use in the course of 3-4 months at home? Are you likely to go through half a dozen pens in a summer? Every type of label (what if you guess too low on usage or a page gets tangled in the printer?)? Could one pair of scissors suffice for the entire small house (ditto for the rubber bands)? Do you really need a pencil holder or can you just leave the one you're using on your work surface and the others in the banker's box? Is a heavy desktop tape dispenser indispensable (sorry ) or can you just use a roll that comes with its own plastic dispenser?

If these items set for you a virtual stage that says "I'm working now", by all means, keep them. But I would consider your history of actual usage of these items with how much time they will spend sitting idle in drawers this summer and with your ability to find more consumables "in town" or somewhere relatively close if you need (more of) them.

[Tybee]

I'm kind of with Steve on this. You might try it first without some of the office supplies, as you can always buy them in Burlington, and keep a list of what you actually end up needing.

[Chicken lady]

I am not a minimalist, I am dehoarding, so my viewpoint is different, but I would take the office supplies if you already own them, because then they will get used up and be out of your life instead of buying more and possibly having leftovers.