Analyzing your lifestyle

I have already written once about the lifestyle analysis before buillding a capsule wardrobe. [if you want to go back to this post, I invite you here: Life style analysis. Capsule wardrobe.] In this post, I will present a lifestyle analysis in relation to the construction of a wardrobe, not seasonal, but the full contents of the wardrobe.

Why is it worth doing a lifestyle analysis?

Analyzing your lifestyle allows you to accurately determine what activities you devote your time to most often, and thus what types of clothing you really need. As far as it is relatively simple on a quarterly, monthly or weekly scale, considering it on a yearly basis requires a bit more effort and a broader perspective.

Why is it worth doing a lifestyle analysis before tidying up your closet?

The reason is simple. When you know how you spend your time (and how often), you also know what you need in the closet and how many items. This way, when you want to minimize the overall contents of your wardrobe, you know what you can get rid of. On the other hand, when you throw away items that are already worn or damaged, you know which of them should be replaced with new ones, and for which there is no such need. This makes a general overview and tidying up of your wardrobe really meaningful. And it’s harder to resist the temptation to leave your closet the same.

Annual lifestyle analysis. How to start? (And how to finish)

It is best to start by dividing the calendar into 4 seasons, possibly including one additional transition season. The early spring and the transition from autumn to winter can be considered as one season, because in fact it requires the same clothes, and they are usually limited to outerwear and footwear.

Then, for each season of the year, you define how you spend your time. For 100%, most of them will be repeated for everyone (e.g. work / university, meeting friends, sports, dating, etc.). Consider whether there are other activities in a given season, e.g. picnics or trips in the summer, maybe you have a hobby that needs to be taken into account (e.g. street photography) or you do some sports periodically. List all these items separately for each season. (you can use the form I have prepared for this, the link can be found at the bottom of this post).

In the next step of the lifestyle analysis, you determine how much time you spend on the indicated activity in percentage in a given season. The higher the percentage, the more your wardrobe should be prepared for the occasion and therefore the greater part of your clothes should match it. Items in this category will also wear out the fastest. For this reason, before tidying up, you will have to answer the question how minimalist your wardrobe should be (remember that there are many types of minimalism).

Lifestyle analysis – surprises …

Don’t get surprised – think about what might happen in a year. It can be, for example, a wedding, an elegant party / gala, a job interview, etc. Most often it is precisely these types of events that constitute the margin for analysis. It’s good to be prepared for them, at least to some extent, although you need to use common sense in determining the probability of a given situation.

… and traps

The most common trap is not what is actually happening, but what we want to happen. Style analysis is „hard data” from the past, not plans or dreams. And although the saying „dress for success” is still a sensation, even when you use it when tidying up your wardrobe, you still define the things you will go to every day. However, don’t come up with too many potential events if the probability of them occurring is close to zero.

This is not the moment to plan what to leave / throw away

Lifestyle analysis focuses on activities and occasions. No costumes are planned at this stage. Before we move on to organizing the wardrobe, we still have to define or search for our style. Without it, organizing or minimizing wardrobe will not be 100% effective either.

I wonder about the effects of your lifestyle analysis. Write something in comment!

Here’s the free printable: [download id=”5905″]