Downsizing sounds like a great idea… until you begin to wrap your head around the massive task of moving. The thought of leaving a longtime home, with all of its associations — the height chart on the laundry room doorframe, the grave of a beloved pet — can be heart-wrenching. Add to that the cost of moving and the burden of offloading half (or more) of your possessions, and the project can quickly overwhelm even the most capable older adult.
It’s shocking! How did I accumulate all this stuff? An embarrassment of riches may be a first-world problem — having too much of too many good things — but it is a reality for many of us, even those who don’t qualify as full-fledged hoarders. But even simple clutter has its own risks; for starters, the chronic and repeated stress caused by frantic and frustrated searching, and the risk of falling over precious possessions left in precarious places.
Now that the holidays are over and we are settling in the new year, it’s is a good time to do a “Spring De-Cluttering.” Spring decluttering is similar to spring cleaning, but instead of dusting and cleaning the windows, you will instead do some quick removal of unnecessary items.
As we age, staying organized and living in an uncluttered space can help reduce the stress of transitioning into different phases of life. Many seniors find themselves needing or wanting to downsize from a family home to a smaller space, such as an apartment, retirement community or multigenerational family space. Taking the time to sort through possessions accumulated over the years will make downsizing or aging in place less stressful and improve your overall health.
Shoppers across the county and around the globe cleaned out shelves of toilet tissue, disinfectant sprays/wipes, rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizers during the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Stores were overwhelmed due to fears of supply chain disruptions, although none occurred.
