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3 Steps to Make Your Downsizing Move Less Stressful

By Sue Krippner

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 27Mar2010 Word count: 580 Viewed: 200 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

As people adjust to the new economy and become more environmentally aware, one strategy continues to grow increasingly popular: Downsizing. Young and old are deciding to leave (preferably not through foreclosure) their high end mortgages with square footage to match, and moving into smaller, more affordable homes.

This is an exhausting experience emotionally and physically so waiting until moving day to begin deciding on what to keep and what needs to go is not a good strategy. It's too difficult to be making downsizing decisions along with the myriad of moving upsets that you are already facing.

Here are 3 Stress Relieving Downsizing steps to keep every member of the family relatively nonplussed when it comes to needing to get rid of a percentage of their possessions.

Step 1) Start Early, Working Slow but Steady - Starting a year before your move is a wise beginning. Set up a weekly goal of going through one room, closet or storage space a week. Within each designated space project, determine to fill up 1 or 2 boxes to trash, donate or pass on to someone else not living with you.

How do you determine what should stay or what should go?

Have every member of the family ask these questions when deciding on an item: - When is the last time I used it? Anything not touched within 6 months to a year should be boxed up. - Am I keeping it because someone gave it to me, or because I love it? -Will I really ever loose that 10 pounds to fit into that?

These 3 simple questions alone will go a long way in identifying an amazing amount of belongings that you simply no longer need.

Step 2) Hire an objective professional. Detachment is a tough perspective to maintain when it comes to things you have surrounded yourself with for so many years. A professional organizer can carefully walk you through this purging process minimizing the pain and maximizing the progress. A professional knows how to strategically move through each step, monitoring your emotional responses while moving through the hard work of leaving things behind.

Another professional you may want to retain is a professional Estate Sale Organizer. They won't cost you any money up front but they will take a percentage of your actual sales. Those who do choose to hire an Estate Organizer usually make more money than if you were to hold a simple yard or garage sale. The biggest perk is you don't have to deal with the logistics of the event.

Step 3) Adjust your attitude. Realize that stuff is not the measure of your quality of life. It's about simple living and organized spaces filled with people you love, making memories you cherish. It's about living light, loving more and laughing deeper. As the old saying so poignantly illustrates "I've never seen a U-haul following a Hearse."

The most challenging hurdle to overcome is an emotional one. If you are having a really difficult time getting rid of too many things at once...though I recommend this as a LAST RESORT, rent a storage space. Put the things that are not absolutely needed at your new home in the storage unit until you are ready to deal with them. You will be amazed at how well you get along with out them!

Downsizing is a noble decision for some, a necessity for others. Either way the 3 steps listed above should help you to relax and enjoy your move to those smaller new spaces.

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