Semantic Coherence: The Minimalists – Signal Evidence & AI Readability

The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Alongside their podcast cohost, T.K. Coleman, this simple-living trio helps millions of people eliminate clutter and live meaningfully with less. Learn More.

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[H2] Necessary Jewelry
By Joshua Fields Millburn Necessary jewelry … doesn’t exist.
But that doesn’t make jewelry bad.
It’s just unnecessary.
In fact, most of the things I own are unnecessary. Strictly speaking, I don’t need a couch, a coffee table, or a nightstand. And I certainly wouldn’t die without my coffee grinder, meditation cushions, or blender.
But I’m a minimalist,
not a deprivationist.
Yes, I have the essentials: shelter, food, clothing, transportation. But I also own many nonessentials that improve my life.
The key is this: I don’t keep anything that gets in the way.
That’s why I no longer hold on to my old camping gear, wristwatch, or bread maker. It’s not wrong to own these things, but they’re wrong for my life.
Of course, someone else could find value in those same items.
An outdoorsman might cherish the tent.
A deep-sea diver might be delighted by the Rolex.
A sourdough artist might treasure the bread machine.
Which means clutter is perspectival.
As I outline in the Clutter Coffins Rule, every possession you own necessarily falls into one of three categories:
Vital. These things support survival.
​Practical. These things support living well.
​Clutter. These things get in the way.
A thing becomes clutter
the moment it stops supporting your real life
(not your fantasy life).
Once you see that clearly,
letting go becomes much easier.
So look around.
What’s one thing that used to feel important, but now mostly interferes with your physical, mental, or emotional well-being?
That’s how you identify the clutter.
P.S. My new audiobook, Very, Very Simple, offers 12 practical tools to help you identify and eliminate excess. It’s available now on Audible.
Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.
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[IMG: Podcast Ep. 538 | Out of Sight]
[H2] Podcast Ep. 538 | Out of Sight
To love is to let go.
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[IMG: Photo by Mohammad Alizade]
[H2] Nothing Ends
Whatever you’re clinging to is already gone.
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[IMG: Photo Credit: Miami University]
[H2] Before the Golden Handcuffs
You are at a rare moment in your life.
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[IMG: Photo by Osman Rana]
[H2] No Complaints, Not Once
Our complaints prolong our unhappiness.
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[IMG: Jerome and Elizabeth]
[H2] Jerome Was a Simple Man
He would’ve let us cry, but not forever.
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[IMG: Photo by Adolfo Felix]
[H2] Buy Now, Pay Forever
Nothing you buy is a one-time purchase.
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[IMG: Photo by Clay Banks]
[H2] What Would Joshua Own?
Owning less doesn’t mean hating things.
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[IMG: Photo by Jose P. Ortiz]
[H2] Allergic to Clutter
You don’t notice clutter until it’s hard to breathe around it.
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[IMG: Photo by Getty Images]
[H2] Nostalgia, Unedited
Memory doesn’t live in things. It lives through them.
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[IMG: Photo by Beaumont Yun]
[H2] Expect Less
The simplest way to avoid disappointment is this.
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[IMG: Photo by Matt D]
[H2] Minimalism Has Changed
Ten years ago, it felt rebellious.
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[IMG: Photo by Oscar Keys]
[H2] How More Made Me Broke
I thought I owned my stuff. In truth, my stuff owned me.
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[IMG: Photo by Karolina Grabowska]
[H2] Room to Breathe
Clutter is suffocating.
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[IMG: Photo by Matt D]
[H2] Minimalism: 10th Anniversary Tour
We are going on tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first Netflix documentary.
MORE +

The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Alongside their podcast cohost, T.K. Coleman, this simple-living trio helps millions of people eliminate clutter and live meaningfully with less. Learn More.

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[H1] Blog Archives
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Letting Go Is Not Something You Do
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Fight Club’s Tyler Durden Is a Minimalist
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Becoming Who We Need to Be Before the Golden Handcuffs Better Questions Biggest Failures Brand Agnostic Breaking Silence: The Minimalists Return to Social Media Building Your Trust Muscle Buy a Brick for Christmas Buy Now, Pay Forever Buy This Thing Can I Get Him to Stop Watching TV? Can I Get Something? Can We Have an Honest Conversation About Advertisements? Can You Imagine a Minimalist President? Changes in the Rearview Changing Your Life Won’t Change Your Life Channel Surfing Check Email Like a Minimalist Clear Your Damn Plate Clutter Counseling Cola and Politics Collecting Is Dangerous Comments Killed the Internet Star Compassion for Hypocrites Confined by Attachment Constructing an Extraordinary Life Consumerism Consumerism Is the Original Virtue Signaling Consumption Is Not the Problem Costs and Benefits of Awareness Counting Material Possessions Course Correction Create More, Consume Less Create Your Masterpiece: A 16-Step Guide Creating Daily Writing Habits Creations Over Consumer Goods Crisis of Meaning Dan Harris on the Utility of Worry Dark Friday Dealing with Digital Clutter Dear Critics Debt-Free Decluttering Doesn’t Work Decluttering Mental Clutter Delete 1,000 Photos in 11 Days Deleting Music Developing Ears for Travel Digital Clutter Is Different from Physical Clutter Diminishing Value Dislike, Discomfort Do I Want to Keep This? Does Minimalism Make You Complacent? Does This Add Value to My Life? Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford Don’t Collect All Four! Don’t Flinch Don’t Upgrade Downsize Your Life, Live Your Dream Easiest Way to Organize Your Stuff Eating Healthy on a Budget Elementary and Grad School Email for Minimalists Emotional Clutter Emotional Clutter (Audiobook) Ending the Tyranny of Cool Enoughism, Essentialism, and Other Names for Minimalism Essentials, Nonessentials, and Junk Establishing Deeper Connections Eudaemonia: A Better Kind of Happy Every Little Thing Every Other Never Everyday Minimalists Everything I Own: My 288 Things Everything Is 100% off If You Don’t Buy It Everything Is Final Everything That Remains: 10th Anniversary Everything You Need Excess Is the Birthplace of Clutter Excessories Existential Clutter Expect Less Fake Outrage: Dealing with Criticism Favorite Clothes of a Minimalist Feel Free to Unsubscribe, Unfollow Fight Club’s Tyler Durden Is a Minimalist Fighting the Voice in Your Head Financial Freedom: 5 Difficult Steps to Get Out of Debt, Create a Simple Budget, Plan for the Future, and Regain Control of Your Finances Financial Freedom: The Free Budgeting Ebook Finding Your Writing Voice First Thing in the Morning: Why I Wake at 3:30 A.M. Five Steps Toward a More Meaningful Holiday Season Food Is Not Entertainment Fool Price For Your Consideration Forever Does Not Exist Forsake the Rest Fragments Getting Laid Off from My Six-Figure Job Was Exactly What I Needed Getting Rid of Just-in-Case Items: 20 Dollars, 20 Minutes Gift a Smile Gift Experiences, Not Stuff Gift Love: Save $776 on Christmas Shopping This Year Giving Is Living Goodbye Fake Friends Gospel of Minimalism Greet Them with a Hug Growth Through Minimalism Habitual Complaining Half-Empty Haunted by Desire Have to, Get To Health Is a Vehicle, Not a Destination Helping Hands: Mark’s Story of Contribution Here, Have an Organ Hey Look at Me I’m Relevant Dammit! Holiday Shopping for Aspiring Minimalists Home Is Where the Red Phone Is How Do You Let Go? How More Made Me Broke How Much Is Enough? How The Minimalists Are Using Social Media How to Be Anxious How to Change Your Purchasing Decisions How to Go Clothes Shopping How to Improve Your Writing: 3 Tips How to Let Go of Possessions How to Love: A New Podcast About Relationships, Sex, and Parenting How to Make a Damn Decision How to Reach the End of the Internet How to Sleep Sitting Up How to Start a Successful Blog in 2026 How to Start a Successful Podcast How to Understand Your Values How We Woke Up I Could Never Do That! I Don’t Love You Anymore I Don’t Need Much I Shouldn’t Have to Deal with This I Was Not a Minimalist, Until I Was I Will Always Be Okay Ideas for a Debt-Free Christmas If, Then Imagine Everything Imperfect Is the New Perfect Improvisational Boundaries In Albuquerque with Matt D’Avella In Too Deep Inbox Minimalism Influencers Peddling Propaganda Inside the Prison Walls of Consumerism Intentional Relationships Is Location Independence Bullshit? Is Minimalism Just for Single, Rich, White Guys? Is This What You’ve Been Waiting for Your Entire Life? It’s 8:33 A.M.: Do You Know Where Your Productivity Is? It’s Complicated It’s Easy to Get What You Want Jealousy Is a Wasted Emotion Jeffersonian Minimalism: Thomas Jefferson’s 10 Rules for a Good Life Jerome Was a Simple Man JFM’s Favorite Albums of 2021 JFM’s Favorite Albums of 2022 JFM’s Favorite Albums of 2023 JFM’s Favorite Albums of 2024 JFM’s Favorite Albums of 2025 Just Do Something Just for When Killing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I’ve Ever Done Killing Time Know Thy Neighbors Labels Are Necessary Last Minute Gift Ideas Learning How to Live Confidently Without Material Possessions Learning to Let Go Less Clothes, More Routines Less Is Now (Official Trailer) Less Stuff, More Sex Less, Less, Less, Less, Less, Less… Lessons from the Fall Let Go the Best You Can Let It Go Let’s Talk About Being Busy Let’s Talk About Black Friday Let’s Talk About Debt Let’s Talk About Less Let’s Talk About the Coronavirus Letting Go in Advance Letting Go of Control Letting Go of Physical Gifts Letting Go of Sentimental Items Letting Go of Shitty Relationships Letting Go of Your DVD Collection Letting Go: Dealing with the Death of a Loved One Life After the Crash Life Is an Acquired Taste Life Is Like Riding a Bicycle Life Maintenance Life’s Most Dangerous Question: What Do You Do? Live Like Stan Logos Loose Grip Love Is More Love People, Use Things Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works Making Minimalism Making Money as a Writer Is a Curious Thing Minimal Maxims Minimalism 2.0 Minimalism for Families with Children Minimalism Has Changed Minimalism Is Healthy: How I Lost 70 Pounds Minimalism Is Not Minimalism Is Not a Radical Lifestyle Minimalism Is Not the Path Minimalism Kills Fear Minimalism Life Podcast Minimalism Renewed Minimalism Saved My Life Minimalism Scares the Crap Out of Me Minimalism: 10th Anniversary Tour Minimalism: An Elevator Pitch Minimalist Desktop Minimalist Family: Start With Yourself Minimalist Finances and Budgeting Minimalist Gift-Giving Minimalist Gift-Giving: Less Is More Minimalist Home Tour (Photos): Ryan Nicodemus Minimalist Home Tour (Video): Joshua Fields Millburn Minimalist Home Tour: JFM Minimalist Interview: Colin Wright Minimalist Interview: Karol Gajda Minimalist New Year’s Resolution Minimalist Resolution Update 1: January 2011 Minimalist Rulebook Minimalist Rulebook (Audiobook) Minimalist Screens: Free Wallpapers for Your Smartphone and Desktop Minimalist Toolkit Missoula and the Third Minimalist Mistakes vs. Bad Decisions Money Does Not Buy Better Habits Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness, Neither Does Poverty Monthly Zoom Calls with The Minimalists More Complete More Is Less? More Wins Than Losses Most Emergencies Aren’t Motion Creates Emotion: 3 Simple Ways To Break Your Pattern Moving Beyond Goals My Exile Lifestyle: Interview with Colin Wright My Minimalist Workspace My Whole Process Necessary Jewelry Need, Want, Like Netflix’s MINIMALISM Documentary Is Now on YouTube Never Happier Never Leave the Scene of a Good Idea Without Taking Action Nightmares of a Perfectionist No Complaints, Not Once No More Texts No Piles Rule No Value in an Empty Room Nobody Has the Power to Upset You Nostalgia Is Dangerous Nostalgia, Unedited Not a Natural Not Busy, Focused Not Utopia Nothing Ends Nothing: Smartphone App Obsolete Things Of Course It’s Unreasonable, Dummy! Off-the-Rack Self-Righteousness Offbeat On Becoming a Better Writer On Living in Caves and Fighting Distractions One Thing Each Day Online Congruency Only Rats Win the Rat Race Organizing Is Well-Planned Hoarding Other People’s Cluttered Spaces Overcoming Self-Doubt Packing Party: Unpack a Simpler Life Pendulums and Extremes Permission to Let Go Photo Tour: The Minimalists Open a Coffeehouse Photo-Scanning Party Play the 30-Day Minimalism Game Please Masturbate in Your Own Room Pleonexia Post-Post-Minimalism: An Interview Preaching to the Congregation Prepared to Walk Away Prime Optimist Promises PSA from The Minimalists Pushing Through Frustration: Why I’m Getting Rid of My Phone Quarantine Qasts Questioning Stuff Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Quitting Your Job Is Easy Ready. Set. Let Go! Real Priorities Reasons I Don’t Own a TV Reasons to Avoid Photographs During Vacation Reclaim Your Time Redefining Better Repaying Intellectual Debt Reprogramming the Twitch Rescheduled: Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto, Vancouver Resolve to Write More This Year: 5 Important Articles About Writing Resolving to Learn from Failure Rethink Giving Your Kids an iPhone Retirement Planning: How to Plan for a Successful Retirement Right Here, Right Now Room to Breathe Ryan Nicodemus Owns Almost Nothing (Video) Scared to Death of Death: The Important Things We Postpone Screenless Saturdays Scrolling Is the New Smoking Seagulls Searching for False Truth Security Is a Misnomer See The Minimalists in Tennessee Self-Restraint as a Virtue Shifting from a Culture of Excess to a Culture of Access Shopping or Finding Meaning Side Project: Minimalism Life Silence Simple Triggers Simplehaven: Minimalist Retreat Singing Stones: Finding Life’s Beauty and Meaning Sleep, Sex, and Reruns Small Losses Some Thoughts About the Holiday Shopping Season Someday Spring Minimizing Start with the Easy Stuff Stimulate the Economy Like a Minimalist Stoicism and Minimalism Stop Clinging Stop Trying Store-Brand Insecurity Struggling with Choices Stupid Christmas Gifts Subtraction Success Does Not Exist Successfool Sunday Symposium Take It Simple Take It to the River Taking Back the Morning Tangled Sounds Techochamber Tell a Better Story: 3 Tricks that Aren’t Tricks at All Thanks. Giving. The 30/30 Rule The Actual Cost of Owning a Thing The Advice Epidemic The Beauty of Starting a Micro-Business The Benefits of Minimalism The Best Present Is Presence The Best Writing Tips on Instagram The Blackest of Fridays The Boundaries of Discontent The Burden of Attachment The Commodification of Love The Compelling Beauty of Free The Consumption Continuum The Cycle of Letting Go The Definition of Success The Details The Discomfort Zone The End of the World Is Right Past the Horizon The Falling Thing The Four Paths The Great Unsubscribe The High Price of Pursuing My Dream The Idea Guy The Impact Equation The Invention of Our Discontent The Irony of Minimalism The Joy and the Car The Loss of Sentimental Things The Man Who Dies with the Most Stuff The Mess We Made in Rochester The Million Dollar Joke The Minimalism Paradox The Minimalists Join Dave Ramsey The Minimalists Unscripted The Minimalists’ Favorite Coffee The Minimalists’ Favorite Podcasts The Most Recent Thing Decluttered The New American Dream The Number One Lesson of Minimalism The Official Minimalist T-Shirt The Perfect Closet The Power of a Hug The Pressure We Put on Ourselves The Problem with Common Sense The Problem with Corporations The quickest way to give yourself a pay raise The Rats in the Tunnel The Right Kind of Fame The Rule of Two The Rules We Live By The Solution Is

The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Alongside their podcast cohost, T.K. Coleman, this simple-living trio helps millions of people eliminate clutter and live meaningfully with less. Learn More.

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[H1] About The Minimalists
Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus, and T.K. Coleman, known collectively as The Minimalists, “show their followers how to streamline their lives to find more happiness” (Good Morning America). With the “charm of their buddy-act, The Minimalists have become the minimalist movement’s American ringleaders” (New York Magazine).
These “sincere prophets of anti-consumerism” (The New Yorker) have been featured in Time, Architectural Digest, and GQ, and they have spoken at Harvard, Apple, and Google. The Minimalists Podcast, with more than 200 million downloads, is one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Learn more.
[H3] Additional Links
Media praise
Press photos
[H4] You May Also Enjoy
How to Start a Successful Blog Today
Learn how to start a blog in less than an hour. Follow the step-by-step instructions we used when starting our blog, which now has reached more than 20 million people. Creating this blog is one of the best decisions Ryan and I ever made. After all, our blog is how we earn a living. More important, it's how we add value to other people's lives. Read more
30-Day Minimalism Game
Let's play a simple game together. We call it the 30-Day Minimalism Game. Find a friend, family member, or coworker who's willing to minimize their stuff with you next month. Read more
11 Ways to Write Better
We are all writers now. Whether you write books, blog posts, emails, Instagram captions, or text messages, you are a writer. No matter your preferred medium, here are a few tips to help you write more effectively. Read more
Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Alongside their podcast cohost, T.K. Coleman, this simple-living trio helps millions of people eliminate clutter and live meaningfully with less. Learn More.

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[H1] Podcast Ep. 538 | Out of Sight
By The Minimalists
The Minimalists talk about the difficulties of podcasting, how our love for minimalism has changed over the years, what we dislike about decluttering, how to let go incrementally, and more.
[H3] Listen to the Episode
Apple · Spotify · Patreon
[H3] Discussed in This Episode
A wise kid asks: Do you love minimalism?
What do you love about minimalism? What do you hate about minimalism?
Right Here, Right Now: Weekly writing tips from the How to Write Better Newsletter
Listener Tip: How to let go incrementally.
What’s the best way to part with meaningful things from the past that one no longer uses?
When does survival mode turn into clutter?
Talkaboutable: We just discovered the least cluttered state … Ohio.
Talkaboutable: Kindness is the doorway to a well-lived life.
More About Less: What Do You Own?
Added Value: A song about the balance between holding on and letting go after a heartbreak.
[H3] Minimal Maxims
Joshua, Ryan, and T.K.’s pithy, shareable, less-than-140-character responses. Find more quotes from The Minimalists at MinimalMaxims.com.
To love is to let go.
I love the art of simplicity; I hate the sport of comparison.
Our culture defaults to the mathematics of consumption.
There are no sentimental items, only sentimental people.
If it gets in the way, it’s clutter.
[H3] Links Mentioned in This Episode
Added Value: “DVD”
Book: Very, Very Simple
Course: How to Write Better
Game: 30-Day Minimalism Game
More About Less: What Do You Own?
Podcast: Jerome
Podcast: Restraint
Watch: Talkaboutable #1
Watch: Talkaboutable #2
[H3] Follow Our Team
Joshua Fields Millburn
Ryan Nicodemus
T.K. Coleman
Benjamin Hull
Matt Savidakis
Shawn Mihalik
Jeff Sarris
Dave LaTulippe
Cat Remaks
Have a question for the show? Call 406-219-7839 or email a voice memo to podcast@themins.com.
Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Alongside their podcast cohost, T.K. Coleman, this simple-living trio helps millions of people eliminate clutter and live meaningfully with less. Learn More.

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[H1] Nothing Ends
By Joshua Fields MillburnYou are dry heaving in your rental car, parked a few feet from the procession. The windshield wipers fend off a light rain.
You don’t usually get anxious before speaking in public, but your brother’s eulogy is different. There are more people here than you expected, but that’s not what’s activating your nervous system. This moment feels like a demarcation—an admission he’s not coming back.
Your hometown still looks familiar, but the details are foreign. On the drive to the funeral, you passed your first retail job; that storefront is now a kung fu studio. Your elementary school is gone. Your favorite ice cream shop, too. The abandoned homes that once dotted your block have been replaced by a large sign announcing a forthcoming community center.
Now, at the cemetery, you exit the car and weave through the tombstones. The rain intensifies on your way to the gravesite. You’re glad you brought an umbrella.
People you haven’t seen in decades pull you into long hugs. Everyone wonders how y’all lost touch. “Life got in the way,” someone says.
Two giant poster-board photos of your brother mark where you’re supposed to stand. It’s time to let go.
You begin reading from the paper in your hand. The downpour turns torrential the moment you say your brother’s name. The ink bleeds down the page. The words disappear. So you speak from memory.
You tell the crowd they don’t need to cling to the past. Everything fades, you say. Then you remind them your brother would want laughter today, not reverence. If he were here, he’d be the first to make a joke.
By the end of the ceremony, you can’t distinguish tears from rain. The gravediggers do their work. An elder relative says, “Funerals aren’t for the dead; they’re for the living.”
An hour later, on the other side of town, the sun breaks through the clouds. The air feels different. You think about all the things you once held so tightly:
The dream home you thought would fix everything was, in the end, just four walls and a roof.
The career you chased for years eventually became something you felt stuck inside.
The kids you grew up with now have kids of their own, lives that kept moving while you weren’t looking.
Nothing ends.
It changes.
And whatever you’re clinging to
is already gone.
Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Alongside their podcast cohost, T.K. Coleman, this simple-living trio helps millions of people eliminate clutter and live meaningfully with less. Learn More.

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[H1] Before the Golden Handcuffs
By Joshua Fields MillburnRyan and I visited Miami University last week to speak to an auditorium of undergrads.
Whenever I talk with young people, I’m reminded of something that’s easy to forget: there is tremendous power in the years before expectations harden into identity.
So we ended our talk with this message…
You are at a rare moment in your life.
Before the mortgage.
Before the golden handcuffs.
Before the promotions you don’t even want yet.
Before the clutter calcifies into identity.
Right now, you get to decide.
What will define success for you?
Will it be accumulation?
Or contribution?
Will you measure your life in square footage and salary?
Or is there something more than having more?
Because here’s the truth…
If you don’t decide what is enough,
the world will decide for you.
And it will never be enough.
Minimalism isn’t about merely owning less.
It’s about making room for the person you want to become.
So ask yourself: what can you let go of today so tomorrow you can become someone greater than yesterday?
Not someone richer.
Not someone more impressive.
Someone freer and more considerate.
Someone more intentional.
Someone fully alive.
Now is the time to choose.
P.S. Young people may have a time advantage, but simplicity belongs to every age. At any stage of life, letting go creates room to live.
Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.