Start downsizing now

March 5, 2018

You will thank yourself later

Have you thought about downsizing? Say you have a 3,000-square foot home with 3 bedrooms and it’s just the two of you rattling around in there. Or, you are the son or daughter of such a couple. Either you or your parents are in the 70s with good health and are still pretty active. Now is the perfect time to start ‘downsizing in place’.

Are you one of those people who likes to plan ahead, or do you wait until things happen to you? The former is called being proactive, the latter is reactive. As Steven R Covey so aptly put it:

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals. ~Steven R. Covey

The time will come, sooner than you think, when you will have to make some decisions. Is it time to move yourself or your parents into a smaller home or even a retirement community? And when that time comes, will help be needed? Are you willing to spend every weekend purging 20 to 30 years’ worth of belongings? And if you are separated from your parents by distance, how is this even to be accomplished?

Now is the time to ask yourself these questions, start to plan, and start to downsize in place. Do not procrastinate!

Start downsizing today; you will thank you tomorrow!

The first step, even before contacting a real estate agent, is to contact a professional organizer or senior move manager. The good ones will be members of NAPO or SMM. I am a member of NAPO, the National Association of Professional Organizers.

A professional organizer trained in move management can help you handle every aspect of the move, from the estate sale to deciding what furniture will fit in the new, smaller residence. Most organizers will even draw you up a floor plan, showing you how it all fits together, and see to all the little details you haven’t even considered yet. It’s truly a smart ‘MOVE’ to engage an expert in this complicated and stressful time. Having someone guide you through the process and take care of the details brings great peace of mind.

Ideas to make downsizing easier:

Start with the end in mind. Motivate yourself or your parents by thinking about how nice it will be to have this project done. What will your home look like, feel like? Also, think about how much easier the move will be due to your downsizing work. *Begin with the end in mind is Steven R. Covey’s Habit 2.
Focus on what is important to them (or you).
Focus on the memories of the item, not the item itself.
Remind them (or yourself) the amount of space available in the new digs: Say to Great Aunt Tillie, ‘You are going to have one closet, not three! You can’t keep 30 pairs of high heels!’
Remember there is no Maybe pile; either you can fit it or it is time to let it go.

Also, find a way for grandkids to get involved, especially younger grandkids who are in junior high or early high school. My son Jacob was assigned a ‘heritage project’ to interview his oldest living relative, my grandmother, for a middle school project. She has had a really interesting life. (She still dyed her hair blonde well into her 70s.) My Grandmom and Jacob really connected. It was a blessing for them both. Which brings me to #6:

Help your parents see that it’s their memories and stories, not the stuff they have collected that is important in their golden years.
Go through family heirlooms and photos. What a great activity to get grandchildren involved in family history and connect them to their roots! LABEL the back of older pictures with as much information as possible. If this project is for your parents, ask them to start labeling. Even if they don’t live nearby, you can encourage them with a phone call each week. Professional organizers such as myself often have training in preserving and organizing family photos and will scan pictures so you can share memories easily.

These are all great ideas, and my challenge to you is: pick one of the actions I mentioned in this blog and do it THIS WEEK! Be proactive, like the productivity guru says! It really will pay off.

Start downsizing TODAY and you will thank YOU tomorrow!

Resources: Steven R Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. www.brainyquote.com/authors/stephen_covey

https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/services/downsizing/

https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2014/08/stress-moving/

https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2017/09/good-advice-letting-downsize/

by Jenny Morin

Is Procrastination holding you back?

March 11, 2013

So last month, I wrote about why we all procrastinate. The next step once you figure out why you are procrastinating is to ask yourself what resources you need to get the job done.

Outsourcing. It is a wonderful word, because it frees me up to do the things that I do best, the things only I can do. Each of us has talents and skills. Some you were born with or come naturally to you. Others you developed through hard work and persistence. Organizing a pantry may be something you enjoy doing, for example. Maybe your mother taught you how to rotate food and label shelves. But, say you dislike filing the bills after you’ve paid them every month. Does the “to file” pile bother you? Ask yourself– is the effort of procrastinating a task worth the time you spend thinking about it? How does the guilt of NOT filing that file affect you? Has it gotten to the point when it demotivates you? In other words, do you avoid opening that drawer to file what needs to be filed? If so, it is time to take action. Find the expert that will put a stop in that “leaky faucet,” that drain on your time, motivation and productivity.

I have started being proactive about some of the things I’ve been putting off. I’ve scheduled a meeting with a virtual assistant, Audrey Isbell, to help me with my social media duties because 1. Time is scarce and 2. I don’t want to do it. I believe it will be an hour well-spent.

Take stock of your situation: what is your goal for your business or your life? Would hiring a bookkeeper, a virtual assistant or an organizer free up the time you need each week to reach some of your big-picture goals?

Any time one of my blogs helps you, please take 30 seconds and forward it to a friend who needs to hear it! That’s how my business grows. Thanks and take care!

Jenny Morin

by Jenny Morin

Three Reasons we Procrastinate

February 4, 2013

Procrastination is like a leaky faucet.

Procrastination –it’s a killer. It slays good intentions, New Years’ resolutions, and big-picture goals.
When is the last time you procrastinated? What did you put off? I procrastinate blogging, big time. Other people procrastinate cleaning out their pantry, their sock drawer, their shower, whatever. Oh yeah, I procrastinate cleaning my shower, too. Since we’re being honest…

The point is, if you want to stop procrastinating, you MUST figure out what the root reason is for your Herculean procrastination efforts. If you find yourself cleaning the fridge (assuming you work from home) just to avoid having to call someone back or write a proposal, there is a reason for that. Because cleaning out the fridge is a nasty job, so you must be desperate to avoid something.

Sometimes you procrastinate because you don’t have enough information. An example: If I need to call someone, but first I have to look up some information online, I may put off the phone call every time I think of it because I have not made the time to go online and find out about the XYZ product they want for their desk. So if the task has too many steps, that may lead to procrastination.

Sometimes you procrastinate because you don’t have the skills to do a task. Example: organizing. Many people berate themselves for not knowing how to organize their miscellaneous drawer at the office, or their files, or their pantry. Whatever the chore is that you’re putting off, it may be that you simply don’t possess the skills to accomplish it. That’s when you call in an expert, like me. If you had a leaky faucet and your water bill goes up, it makes sense to hire a plumber to fix that leak, right? The same goes for organizing. How many hours are you going to waste looking for those post-its or envelopes which you wrote a potential client’s phone number on? Not only do you waste time looking for it, it also distracts you from the productive flow of work because you get flustered and possibly upset with yourself, which can cause you to “lose your place” in the day’s work.

Sometimes you procrastinate because you just don’t have the desire to do a task. That’s how it is with my shower. I love my shower. It has 2 shower heads. But it is HUGE and it takes 20 minutes to clean it right. So I hire my kids to do it. They’ll do my shower for a nominal fee. That makes me happy.

So three of the reasons you procrastinate are: Lack of information, lack of skills, lack of motivation. Find the root cause and you are on your way to fixing whatever is holding you back.

Please contact me to continue this discussion…

Any time one of my blogs strikes a chord, please take 30 seconds and forward it to a friend who needs to hear it! That’s how my business grows best. Thanks!

by Jenny Morin

Start downsizing now

You will thank yourself later

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals. ~Steven R. Covey

Start downsizing today; you will thank you tomorrow!

Ideas to make downsizing easier:

Start downsizing TODAY and you will thank YOU tomorrow!

Is Procrastination holding you back?

Three Reasons we Procrastinate

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