How Can A Minimalist Own Four Pairs of Scissors?
As a minimalist, I try to own as few duplicate items as possible. No-one needs two sets of salad tongs, right?! However, with ADHD, I've had to challenge that "rule" in order to make life easier for myself.
So, you've gone on your minimalist journey, you've cut back on thousands of items you no longer deem to be necessary, you've got clutter-free kitchen drawers, you're feeling pretty good. Then you go upstairs to change the cat litter and realise your only pair of scissors is downstairs. You go grab the scissors, open the litter bag, fill the tray and then carry on with your day. You're cooking dinner later and go to open a bag of frozen peas. Only, where the fuck are my scissors?! Cue minutes of frustration, searching, and ultimately ripping the bag open and throwing peas all over the kitchen. Life's fun when you have ADHD!
The problem isn't owning only one pair of scissors, it's the extra steps that owning only one pair creates. I go to do a thing, realise I need scissors, have to remember where they live, go find them in another room, bring them to the place I need to use them, and then — crucially — remember to put them back. Each step gives my ADHD an opportunity to get sidetracked by something else. The cat litter now doesn't get done for another hour or two, because along the way I've realised I didn't put my laundry on the line, I need to clean mud off my trainers and somehow there's an odd sock on the stairs whose partner I have to find.
Minimalism should work WITH our ADHD brains, not against it. This is why — despite what we're led to believe as minimalists — having multiples of certain items can be an absolute must. Don't get me wrong, it's not an excuse to go out and buy more things. The duplicates I own are intentionally chosen to make life easier. If I find myself regularly having to go to another room for an item I need, forgetting where I left something, or leaving a task unfinished because I couldn't find the thing I needed to complete it, I know something needs to change. Sometimes, the simplest solution is a duplicate that removes that friction and frustration.
I have a pair of scissors in every room I might need one, with a designated home for each pair. The same applies to things like sunglasses (one by the back door, one for the front door), calendars (I have three, trust me, I need them!), clocks (I have no concept of time!), and even vacuum cleaners (one for each floor of my house). Having duplicates of the things we use most often cuts down on an incredible amount of friction, so they earn their place in our minimalist homes.
At the end of the day, minimalism has helped my ADHD brain massively. Having less inventory to manage and more space helps to calm my brain and makes me feel more relaxed. With less stuff, everything can have a designated home and is easier to find. It also means I don't have to keep things I might need in dreaded "piles" just so I know where to find them (ADHD folks, you'll be well aware of the pile system).
But the key is adapting minimalism to suit your own individual needs. Minimalism can sometimes lose sight of its own purpose when owning as little as possible becomes the goal. Yes, owning one pair of scissors technically means I own less, but if I'm always hunting for them, they're always in the wrong place and they're constantly causing me friction, what have I actually achieved? Frustration, that's what! Having four pairs, each with their own home in the room where I need them, makes my life easier. Sometimes that means owning duplicates of the things I use most often — and isn't making life easier kind of the blooming point?
