Go Organize: Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps (23 page)

Once you have set your goals and made the decision to downsize, start with one room at a time. As with the other rooms in your home, start working from the inside out. Look in drawers one at a time, then the closets, armoires, and next on shelves to see what you have that you want to get rid of, either by giving to someone else, recycling, donating to charity, tossing, or selling. During the downsizing process, start slow. At first, it may be hard to let go of things, but as the idea “takes root” and you realize it is okay to let go of a few things, it will be easier to let go of more. It does not have to be traumatic or exhausting to downsize if it is done a little at a time.

Consider the amount of space you will have in your new home and plan accordingly. Chances are, you have collected many things during the years, and you will need to be selective of the items you can move.

Before you start, take photos of every room in your home and the treasures you cherish. Put the photos in a special photo album. After the move, when you look through them, they will bring back memories.

Set your timer for twenty minutes to an hour when you start any project. This will help prevent burnout and keep you from getting too tired when sorting through your belongings. Always think of others as you sort and ask yourself who you want to give the item to, what charity could benefit from it, or whether it is worn out and it is time to throw it away or recycle it.

Sort belongings into three categories.

 


1. Keep:
   Things that will be moved to your new home.
   

 


2. Give away:
   Things that will be given to family, friends, and charity or be sold.
   

 


3. Toss:
   Things that aren't of use to anyone and need to be discarded.
   

For further information on how to sort and downsize, refer to the chapters in this book dealing with the particular room you are working in.

If you have treasures (figurines, photo albums, mementos from travels, jewelry, books, and other items) that you can't part with right now, but you want them to go to certain people, write a description of each item in a notebook and put it with your trust or will so those people will get them at the appropriate time.

Consider giving these items to those people now so you can enjoy seeing them receive the gift and the happiness and joy you have brought into their lives by sharing with them. You can share with them the stories attached to each item.

Even before you have secured your new home or living arrangement, start sorting and packing. It may be necessary to hire a professional to help with this, or get help from friends and family.

Arrange to sell or donate cars and furniture, meet with the movers, take photos of possessions, and interact with family members who are helping with the move. Assign someone to arrange for auctions, estate sales, and antique appraisals if needed. All of these tasks can also be done by a professional who is knowledgeable about the special needs of seniors.

If you decided to downsize and stay in your home, begin to sort through your possessions. Take your time. Sometimes it takes organizing the things you have collected before you can decide what to keep or give away.

Photos and memorabilia and what to do with them will be discussed in Chapter 15.

WRAP UP

You have made the decision to downsize whether you chose to move or to stay in your own home. You will have a successful downsizing process by:

 


• Designating how you will give away or pass along the treasures you love. If you are keeping them but want to designate who will inherit them when you no longer want them, place a label in an inconspicuous place on the items to make your desires known. Or write the description of the item along with the name of the person who will receive it and put it with your will and trust.
  

 


• Starting to give your children their “inheritance” now. Enjoy this time with them as they go through the family treasures and select what they want.
  

 


• Using technology to digitally save photos and other paper memorabilia. Or have someone in your family help you to put together a scrapbook of your life.
  

 


• Not holding on to clutter. You will enjoy the benefits of living in a well organized home.
  

Downsizing and sharing your belongings and limiting yourself to what you need and love will enrich your life and the lives of others.

Is your home full of inherited items and memorabilia that you just don't know what to do with — important things like photos, cards, letters, knickknacks, furniture, linens, kitchen items, and personal items? The things we hold onto can remind us of family, special places we have visited, and other memories. We sure do have a love affair with our photos, old letters, and other memorabilia. However, these things can also create clutter, take up valuable space, and cause all sorts of problems.

Are these things taking up valuable space in your home that you would rather be using for other things? Do you spend too much of your time taking care of these inherited items or old memorabilia? Has it crossed the line from being treasures to being trash? You are not alone! Help is here.

Can you relate to Dawn? Dawn was at her wits end. She inherited a garage full of boxes and furniture from her parents. She lived in a two-bedroom condominium and had a one-car garage. Because she had to hurry and get the things out of her parents' house, everything had been crammed in her garage, and for a year it had not been touched. She was tired of not being able to use her garage. And she felt guilty not taking care of their things. She felt awful every time she had to go into her garage. For her own piece of mind, she really wanted most of the things moved out of her garage. The rest she wanted organized so she knew what was there and could enjoy it.

SEARCHLIGHT

Start with the Searchlight and take your time assessing what you have. You may have emotional feelings as you start to sort and purge, so prepare yourself. It is easier to pick up a kitchen utensil and decide what to do with it than it is to sort through years of personal belongings or those of a family member and make decisions on what to do with the items.

As you look at each item, think about what wattage are you feeling (see page 15). At a 7 or above, you are happy and feeling good. Any number under that, and you have feelings that don't light you up. If your wattage is under 7, let the item go. Identify what you want to do with inherited items or personal memorabilia by asking yourself the following questions:

 


1. Do you own too many things for the space you have?
   

 


2. Do you feel you are the “Keeper of Memories” for the family?
   

 


3. Why do you want to keep this?
   

 


4. Are you keeping this because it allows you to live in the past rather than the present?
   

 


5. Are you keeping it out of spite of another family member?
   

 


6. Does it bring back bad memories?
   

 


7. Is this meaningful or valuable to you? Or is it just cluttering your life?
   

 


8. Do you like it enough to want it on display?
   

 


9. Can you safely display it?
   

 


10. Would someone else benefit more by having this item either because they could use it or because they have a memory attached to it?
    

 


11. Do you want to pass this on to a family member?
    

 


12. If you store it, will you ever look at it again?
    

 


13. Do you have photos stuck in multiple boxes that you have forgotten the names of people in them and the places where they were taken? Are the photos no longer important to you?
    

 


14. Are you holding onto your adult children's baby books, trophies, and items from their childhood?
    

 


15. Do these things hold you back from what you want and need?
    

 


16. When traveling, do you buy souvenirs that just take up space and gather dust?
    

Once you have answered these questions and written your answers in your notebook, you can move onto the Spotlight to set goals.

SPOTLIGHT

It can be very emotional and difficult to look at things that mean a lot to you and know that they have not been honored in the way you would like them to be.

With the Spotlight, you will focus on setting goals to get your memorabilia and inherited items organized so you can enjoy them. Write down your goals and, when you are in the Green Light, check off each goal as it is accomplished. Here are some examples of goals you may set:

Paula knows she has a love affair with the memorabilia she has collected through the years. She has many trinkets (stashed somewhere) from different places she has traveled, and her photos are in drawers, on the bookcase, and in boxes.

Using the Searchlight, she realized she really did want to organize her memorabilia. She used the Spotlight and came up with a few goals that would work for her. She would buy a photo album to slip the pictures in and add clear envelopes for small treasures (like a sea shell, a leaf, and a heart-shaped rock among other things). She decided to pick a day to set her timer and collect as many photos as she could find. Then she scheduled three different nights to work on putting the photos in the album. She told her family her plans and asked for their cooperation in helping her achieve her goal. They got in the spirit of things, offering to help her find the photos. She wrote this down in her notebook as one of her goals. With all of her goals written down, she was ready to step into the Green Light.

 


1. Remove excess items so you cherish what is left and have room for all the items in the space available to you.
   

 


2. As the keeper of these inherited items, give items away to family members so they can be enjoyed and used. Donate the rest to charity or sell them.
   

 


3. Keep only precious, meaningful keepsakes rather than keeping everything.
   

 


4. Get rid of anything associated with bad or negative memories.
   

 


5. If anything is not meaningful or valuable to you and doesn't light you up on the wattage scale at a 7 or above, donate, toss, or recycle it.
   

 


6. Display items you truly love and care about.
   

 


7. Let go of items if there is no place to keep them.
   

 


8. If there are things that have to be stored, and you have storage space, pack them carefully and label the boxes.
   

 


9. Organize all photos by person, place, or date that you are keeping. You do not need to keep every single photo.
   

 


10. Ask someone in the family to put photos in albums for you.
    

 


11. Have your children (that no longer live in your home) take their memorabilia.
    

 


12. Only keep things that light you up and you have the space for.
    

Write down a target date to complete these goals. Sorting and making decisions may be hard, but you can do it! Keep reading the goals you have set and think about how good you will feel when you can park in the garage (because large inherited items have been removed).

GREEN LIGHT

You have used the Searchlight to determine what is working and what is not working for you. Then you used the Spotlight and set some great goals. Now let's get down to work and move into the Green Light.

Get in the Green Light by wearing comfortable clothes and turning off the phone or letting the machine take the messages. Gather your tool kit (see page 22) and your four containers (see page 35). Set your timer for the amount of time you can devote to working on one part of the project at a time. Schedule a time to start working when you have the most energy. At first, work for thirty minutes at any one time so you don't get burned out as you start sorting through papers, old letters, gifts, souvenirs, etc. As you get into a rhythm and are more comfortable going through the boxes, you can increase the amount of time you spend organizing.

Lou Ann inherited valuable jewelry, Lladró figurines, and clothing from her mother. She was offered furniture and kitchen items, but she kindly refused these items as there wasn't anything of sentimental value and she already had a household full of things she currently used and liked.

She took several pieces of the jewelry, had the stones reset, and gave one each to her children. It is a lovely reminder to them of their grandmother. Her philosophy is: “I am against storing stuff because then you can't enjoy it. Isn't that what curio cabinets are for?”

Perhaps invite a family member, friend, or professional organizer to help you sort through the boxes, papers, and other things you have collected or inherited.

Work from the inside out whenever possible — closets, drawers, shelves, and cupboards first. Start with the places that are bothering you the most. If you have a room full of inherited items, boxes, and miscellaneous items, start there. Go through one box at a time. Do not move on to another box until you have looked at the things in the box and determined where everything in that box will go.

When you are going through memorabilia that you have accumulated on your own, such as souvenirs, gifts, photos, and knickknacks, keep referring back to your goals. Be tough on yourself if you need to be. Clear the clutter and display the items you are keeping in the way you want to, while making space in your home for comfortable living.