home organization

Start Your Downsizing Decathlon and Spring Clean Your Life

Ah, spring makes me think of spring cleaning.  How are you gearing up for it? I like to begin spring cleaning my home by downsizing things I no longer use or need.  Here at Home Again Transitions we work with clients who are downsizing to a new, smaller home and stress 10 tips on how to accomplish this as a recipe for success. 

We call it a Downsizing Decathlon because downsizing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It took each of us decades to accumulate all of our things and it’s going to take a lot of time to rid ourselves of them too. 

It does not have to be a dreadful task if you follow these tips:

  1. Develop a move plan by assessing what you need to do and your timeline for getting it done.

  2. Think strategically by sequencing a plan that maximizes the marketability of your home if you plan to sell. 

  3. Create a scaled-floor plan to remove the guesswork and avoid costly, stress-producing errors on move day.

  4. Work in smaller chunks of time rather than hours and hours in a given day; 15 minutes a day can accomplish a lot without wearing yourself out.

  5. Sort your things.  Don’t pack things you no longer use and move them with you. You can make money from the things you no longer need.

  6. Do a reality check to compare space in the old home to space in the new home by measuring.

  7. Take control of your project and don’t let it control you. Be firm with others about accepting belongings from you on a deadline of when they need to remove them from your home. 

  8. Design your move to suit your own needs on a schedule that works for you.

  9. Forgive yourself for what does not get accomplished. Not every plan is perfect and perfect is the enemy of good.

  10. Ask for help from a friend, relative, or neighbor to make it more enjoyable or hire a Move Manager like Home Again Transitions.

We are project managers who plan and implement all of the above tips for you while you remain in control.  Downsizing my home each spring actually spring cleans my life because I have a new outlook with freedom from the responsibility of maintaining those things. It’s good feeling! “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” – Socrates.

Please feel free to contact Dee Mele, at 440-213-1068 or dee@homeagaintransitions.com for your free in-home consultation.  

New Year, New You?

January has past and if those New Year’s resolutions have also already started to fade away, it’s time to shake things up a bit.  If you are like many of the clients I work with, your homes have become cluttered to a point of no return; not since January, not since last summer, but over many years things piled up.  Perhaps these belongings became more important to you in filling voids that life has thrown your way from substantial loss of a spouse or a child, dear friends or a pet, the loss a job or even your health.  Perhaps materialistic endeavors cause you to surround yourself with the familiar items that now define you. Regardless of the reason, I believe cluttered living spaces only lead to cluttered minds and depress our thoughts and actions to a point of being paralyzed.  I see clients who have become socially isolated and create safety hazards over the years in the process of keeping so much stuff. Too many belongings are the cobwebs our lives become trapped in. Taking action against the clutter is the only way to avoid a stagnant lifestyle and move forward. 

I attended a presentation by author, Joshua Becker about his book Becoming Minimalist where the notion of downsizing comes into play.  I was inspired because I gained a clearer focus on the impact my profession can have as a Senior Move Manager in helping enable and empower older adults to start new beginnings. “Owning less enables you to live more” is what the author shares in his book through his own spiritual journey to find happiness by embracing and adapting to a more minimalistic lifestyle.  Neither he nor I am suggesting some form of Zen philosophy and living with Monks. We all live in the modern world with many of life’s “things”, the author just chooses to live with a lot less of them than most. His definition of minimalism is - The intentional promotion of everything we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.  Determining what you value most and then getting rid of all things that keep you from promoting those values is the starting place.  Whether you value generosity, relaxation, enjoying grandchildren, gratitude, money – whatever it may be- owning more possessions gets in the way of focusing on those values by distracting us from all that gives meaning, fulfillment, and happiness to our lives.  Your life can be dramatically different and significant when you take the steps to become more minimalist because you have more opportunity to pursue your greatest passions. Humans tend to put less value on “things” and more value on relationships as we age. Let the act of clearing your clutter be the catalyst that can redefine your life, a life less focused on holding onto the past and more on pursuing your greatest potential by seeing how life is better with less.  Home Again Transitions can help you see 2020 as the year you discover a new you; one who realizes what you offer to the world can be more an act of contribution and love than one of being a tiresome burden with too much clutter.   

Downsizing - Prepare for a Grateful Exit

Upon retiring in 2010, Journalist Ellen Goodman wrote:  “There is a trick to a graceful exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over – and to let go.”  There is a time to let go of a family home too. It’s often not as graceful an exit as family members may have hoped for. The multiple steps involved seem never ending to those involved in the process.  First coming to an agreement that it’s time to let go; creating a timetable that works for everyone; and the actual getting rid of stuff – lots of stuff. Do we sell it; do we give it away; does anyone in the family want it; do we throw it out?  Where can we take this stuff?! How do we begin? Where do we begin? It’s a challenging and difficult task for everyone, but especially those who are sentimental and appreciate the memories that are embedded in the possessions.  

Janet Hetzer and Janet Hulstrand’s book, “Moving On, A Practical Guide To Downsizing The Family Home” they learned that there are two kinds of people when it comes to cleaning out a house.  There are “the throwers” who relish the experience of clearing out and moving on and who will empty a house quickly and efficiently. And, there are “the keepers” who are compelled to linger over the process and preserve special things and special memories.  Unfortunately “the keepers” and “the throwers” are oftentimes married to each other so trying to work together in harmony can be a challenge.  

The Pros and Cons:  “Throwers” get the job done.  They can let go of things easily and have the ability to separate the object from the memory.  They don’t get bogged down in emotions or memories. They work quickly and may miss out on both good things and interesting experiences.  They may also miss hidden money or valuables; they may miss fascinating entries in a diary or perusing an old trunk with their own baby clothes.  “The keepers” are compelled to hang onto things and memories and linger over the process. They are historians. They preserve things so the rest of us can appreciate what makes the family unique and understand our history.  They also take too long to get it done – it’s never really done. They savor every item and get caught up in emotions sometimes to the point of agonizing over whether to keep, toss, or donate.  

Which is better?  Both types of people are needed to get the job done.  It takes a combination of these attributes to successfully downsize the family home.  If you find your family lacks “keepers” or “throwers” you can hire a Senior Move Manager to help get the job done quickly, efficiently and without sacrificing loss of memories and history.  Downsizing, as the ladies say in their book, is coming “to the realization that the most valuable thing in the house is the life that has been lived there”. That is what I call a graceful exit. 

Dee Mele, SMM – Home Again Transitions

Seven Rules for Letting Go

November’s cooler days and colder nights typically bring more and more daily activities indoors.  As such, you may be contemplating a change in living space. If this is your mindset, now is the time to begin resizing your belongings to fit your current lifestyle.  So many rooms in the home may now be unused yet still need heated, cooled, maintained and cleaned; so much upkeep to prepare for winter and spring and repairs to make in maintaining the home; so many accumulated possessions over the years have likely outlived the purpose they once had.  When planning a move to a smaller, more manageable home, many clients I work with cling to the thought they may still need those possessions into the next decade only to find boxes upon boxes of items that never get put away or used again after they move. Resizing your possessions to fit your current lifestyle is critical to designing a move plan that is more cost efficient and less stressful physically and emotionally.  Taking the time to go through this process not only saves time and money on packing and paying to move items you no longer need, but it allows your mind time to prepare to let go of belongings that may have meaning. At Home Again Transitions, we focus all resizing efforts on also reducing waste in the landfills. Resizing allows for charitable contributions, recycling, and in most cases the opportunity to earn some extra cash with our help.  

We offer older adults tips and tricks when working with them that aid in the process of resizing their belongings to fit their current lifestyle, whatever that may be.  Many of which are common sense organization; however, if you have a more than gentle affection toward the “stuff” filling your home and find it extremely difficult to let go of possessions to allow someone else find joy in it, then you may need more than our normal tips and tricks to begin your resizing process.  You may have developed habits that are counterproductive and difficult to break.

At Home Again Transitions, we work one-on-one with clients in teaching the Seven Rules of Resizing:

  1. Unused In A Year Rule

  2. Decide In Five Rule

  3. One Touch Decision Rule

  4. Waiting To Buy Rule

  5. House On Fire Rule

  6. Place For All Rule

  7. Procrastination Rule

All are focused on making a commitment with oneself, a contract of sorts, which enables the resizing process to begin. If you would like to learn more, please feel free to contact Dee Mele of Home Again Transitions for a free in-home consultation at 440-213-1068 or dee@homeagaintransitions.com.  

We move you home, again. Call us at 440-213-1068.