Living Better with Less

By Sarah Hunter, owner of Simply Organized and member of the National Association of Professional Organizers.

When you think of “downsizing,” do you imagine having to get rid of all the things you’ve loved and collected over a lifetime? Do you see all your books, china, and furniture stacked out on the sidewalk, waiting for pick-up? Well, that’s not a very happy picture.

Let’s think of it more as finding a balance between what you NEED to live comfortably and those few things that you REALLY treasure.

As we age, do we really want to spend our time arranging and re-arranging, cleaning and dusting – or worse, falling over – all those “things” we’ve accumulated? Downsizing can free you from the burden of taking care of all those “things” and give you more time to enjoy life!

As an old Finnish proverb says, “Happiness is a place between too little and too much.” And that’s where you want to be when you downsize.

Of course, if you’re moving to a much smaller residence, there will be some limits to what you can take with you, so the urgency of deciding what you really love and can’t live without is more intense. But even if you’re downsizing in place (staying where you are, and you don’t need to move to downsize!), the guidelines at right will help you as you go through the downsizing process. Just remember our motto: “Life IS easier when there is less to manage.”™