Yes, there is an “UPside to downsizing your home & possessions!©”

RightSizing Tips help Baby Boomers and Seniors Wade Through Years of Possessions

Downsizing focuses on the physical aspects of relocation – de-cluttering, letting-go and dealing with less. Moving-On with Style brings you the “UPside to downsizing – Rightsizing!™

RightSizing accepts the past and its fond memories, and when you use the “UPside to downsizing©” we’ll keep the good things that can be gained in mind, (yes there are – dreams you’d could revive, hobbies you haven’t had time for, energy that can be spent on grandchildren & friends). The process will be less painful and move more quickly. Seniors and Baby Boomers moving from the home, where they raised children and the focus was on family, to a smaller space, will need to downsize considerably and that’s disagreeable at best.

So, the method we use whether we are working with –

Boomers moving, making a condo their retirement residence, OR
A Senior moving to an assisted living facility, OR
A mature newly married couple, combining households is RightSizing.

“RightSizing is the Up-side to downsizing!©” and our company, Moving-On With Style offers the following tips for baby-boomers and their elder relatives faced with downsizing, by taking the RightSizing approach you will:

1) Start with a Vision of the life you want to embrace. What could you gain? What will there be room to do now? Let your mind imagine the possibilities, dream be positive, then write down. Refer to your vision often, especially when the going gets rough!

2) Start Early. Plan ahead for the move – You’ll need time to decide. The shorter the notice, the more stressful & difficult. Begin with a notebook, with pockets, collect your information, thoughts and ideas, for easy reference.

3) Start Small. Pick one-two-hour project, a paper-stacked desk, a giant pile of stuffed animals, the ever-present “junk drawer.” You’ll get a quick win and become familiar with the process of sorting and tossing. Don’t spend a lot of time deciding, if you get stuck? Put those items aside, labeled Undecided, for now.

4)Strategize the larger projects. Map them out, on paper. In the “old place” the desk was in the office – now, what will you do at the desk. What files will you really need now. Hobbies may take up more space now than it did, so what will the trade off be?

5) Score your stuff. On a scale of 1 to 10 ask these questions for each item. Love it? Use it? Space it takes? Condition/$$Value, Sentimental value? For example, consider collections,(say angels) and it’s Love it?/10, but you plan to store except at Christmas – that’s a 2 for use it and so forth.

6) Slice it. As you begin, think in terms of percentages. What percentage of your clothes can you keep? 3000 square feet has less closet space than 1100. Do you still have to have 10 business suits or 20 pairs of pumps? Using masking tape, mark out the size of the new closet or consider the size of the living room you may be going to and mark that off. Now, you’ll have a clearer idea of what will fit in THAT space.

7) Sort it. Putting like items with Like. Put colorful dots or different colored sticky notes on items, denoting where the items will go (i.e., blue to son, red to keep, yellow to charity). Don’t move things that are cracked, worn or don’t work (i.e. that chair you’ve been meaning to fix/paint for 7 years). Remember, whatever you keep you will sort TO an assigned in a specific Clearly label, the room it will live in & what’s in it.

8) Showcase or Sow it. REMEMBER with some items, it’s the memory that’s precious not the thing itself. Creating a showcase that honors the memory, or the person who gave it, instead of keeping the vase itself, that Aunt Jane gave you for your wedding, will mean more and take up less space.

9) Share the Process, Share the Stories. Even can be ripe with stress, “a burden shared is lessened and joy shared is doubled” is especially true now, Respecting the emotional need to share stories that will come to mind in this process, is good for everyone — that item that you think trivial, can have immense meaning to your children, just as telling the story attached to old statue can make it more dear to them.

Finally, It’s not about how much stuff you keep, but about the Those special objects, from critical periods of the past, imbued with the values that will help you make the most of the new life you’re about to begin – that’s “UPside to downsizing – Rightsizing!™

Life’s Third Act.

New Program – COMING SOON

Too Young to Retire? Then Prepare for the Next Leg of the Journey!

Get ready to rock the boat instead of the rocking chair! In June I’ll begin work on new certification I’m very excited about! You can get ahead start by reading the book, “Too Young to Retire,” by Howard & Marika Stone.

The intention is to turn conventional retirement planning upside down, because today while people may retire from a career, they certainly don’t retire from life. The goal will be to inspire and motivate you to think differently about so-called retirement planning, to go beyond financial advice and portfolio adjustments (important though they are), and explore what matters to you, what you really, really want to do with the rest of your life — the 20 or more years of an extended lifespan.

The 2y2r courses I will be certified to facilitate help you design a future at least as interesting as your past, possibly more so. They have for 100’s of people already. Call it retirement if you insist — although renaissance or renewal are more accurate. So, what’s next? What do you want to do with the rest of your life? Important questions, not just for you personally, but for your family and immediate circle of friends, your community, your country, and the planet itself. Your choices have a bigger impact that you may realize. I’m looking forward to helping them chart “the next leg of the journey!“™