Downsizing Stuff, for Seniors, a Method

Assessment

• Why do you want to downsize your stuff?
• How do you feel about doing it?
• Who else cares about it? How will they help or hinder you?
• What impact will it have on your life?
• What is your timeframe?
• How much do you want to reduce overall, ballpark?  (e.g., 10%, 50%, 25%)
• On a table, list the biggest types of stuff that are a problem.
  • Books
  • Papers & records
  • Furniture
  • Family toys and memorabilia
  • Clothes
  • Shopping stuff – extra towels, appliances, knicknacks
  • Kitchen things
  • Dishes and glasses
  • Tools
  • Food storage
  • Wall hangings, pictures
• Put a number (1 to 3) or draw a circle next to it for the SIZE relative to all your things. Which stuff is the biggest problem in terms of needing to downsize?  (1 = small, 3=large)
• Put one to three checks beside each circle for how easy it would be to part with some of the things in this group. (1=hard, 3=easy)
• Put a percentage next to the bubble for how much of this stuff you really should downsize, e.g., 10%, 25%.
• Draw a smiley face or a frown face for which type of stuff/bubble would get the most reward from someone else or the most resistance from someone else. E.g., “my spouse will never let me get rid of the furniture we inherited from his/her parent.”
• Now prioritize which type of stuff has THE BIGGEST PAYOFF and the EASIEST PATH for you. For example: “Reducing my books by 50% would allow me to free up living space and my spouse would be thrilled.”  Or, “My clothes take over 4 closets and I would have room for my new hobby if I reduced by 50%.”  Or, “Getting rid of all my tools is necessary for us to move from a house to an apartment.”
• Starting with the top priority, on a separate piece of paper, put a heading for the type of stuff (books, clothes, collectibles, etc.)  Underneath, identify options for disposal:  sell, donate, give away, throw away as trash, give to family, etc.  Put a star or two beside those that are really promising. Do this for anything that is a big part of your belongings and/or poses a problem.
•  Now under each priority group, estimate how much time you have to devote TO THIS GROUP of stuff, and how long it would take you without help.  E.g., two months, two weeks, a few days.  Identify any sources of help (my son/daughter would gladly help me sort through photos, my sister wants dishes and would help, I can hire a student to sort my books or papers, I can hire an organizer).  (Look at taskrabbit.com as a possible source of help with limited tasks.)
• Now look at all your priority groups, and identify: which ones are a HIGH PRIORITY, have various promising routes for disposal, and can be done quickly. RANK all your priority groups by these criteria.
• You now have an ACTION PLAN.  You can see how long it will take to tackle your problem of stuff. You can see how much it will cost you in time and/or money and/or help.

Action Plan

• Get a calendar.  Make a timeline starting now. Enter each group of stuff as a header.  Under each header, identify the options for disposal that you identified before (sell, donate, etc.).
• For each group, draw a line or fill in cells for weeks/months for the amount of time you estimated it would take to tackle the group. After you’ve finished one group, put the next group on the calendar.
• Communicate your Action Plan with others who care about you and your stuff to enlist their support. Ask them to commit to supporting you, morally or really, in keeping on target.

​GET GOING!

• Mark off progress on the timeline.  E.g., Books donated to library.