Over the span of decades, it’s very common to have accumulated a lot of belongings in our home. It’s even more common to have allowed many belongings to accumulate over the years due to the fact that we’re often too busy to sort through our possessions.
We’re occupied with work, and with family. And, this distraction isn’t isolated to just one age demographic, it spans across all ages – even impacting our senior loved ones as they move into a new phase of their lives. This is where the downsizing process often comes into play. Simply put, downsizing is the act of reducing our physical possessions to move into a new place or a new phase of our lives.
Despite the necessity of downsizing, it’s common that the act of downsizing for seniors can hit them quite hard at some point. Wherever adult seniors move, the fact that they will need to downsize means they will have to sort through their possessions. They will also need to declutter their current home, as well as make other preparations before they can move into their new dwelling.
We’ve gathered the ultimate downsizing checklist for seniors which includes tips on how you can make effective preparations, along with steps others can implement to help support their senior loved ones throughout this process.
1. Create An Effective Sorting System
The first thing to do before making other preparations is to create a sorting system that is going to be the easiest to follow. This entails going into each room and literally sorting out the items, and it is best to start with the larger items or clutter before moving to the smaller ones.
While sorting the items, create two areas on the floor. One area will be meant for the items that are determined to be kept whether they have any use for the future or that the items to keep have sentimental meaning. The other area will be for the items that are determined to be junked or donated due to the fact that you no longer need or want them. This will help keep you organized while going through this process.
For instance, if the first room you begin to work on is the master bedroom, then designate two areas on the floor in the bedroom to throw the items onto. The one area will be for the items that you will want to keep, and the other will be for the items you don’t want to keep. The first place to start would be in any of the corners in your bedroom. If you see an old fan squared away in the corner and you feel that you will have any use for it in the future, then put the fan on to the area of the floor that is designated for the items that you want to keep.
If you see an old small television in the same corner that no longer works, then add it to the other areas of the floor that is designated for the items that will be junked or donated. And keep going through every corner of the bedroom and just keep repeating the process. Eventually, you will have sorted out everything in the bedroom, and then you can move onto the closet, and rinse and repeat. After you are done with sorting the master bedroom, then you can move onto another room into the house, and keep repeating the same process.
2. Never Do It All In One Day
The next part to understand as you move through downsizing, is understanding the importance of allowing yourself plenty of time to sort through your belongings. In other words, do not even consider going through your entire house in one day. That will only create more stress. Be sure to give yourself as much time as you possibly can as this will be a major task that cannot be completed in one day.
In fact, allow yourself enough time to sort your items because it will be an exhausting and time-consuming process no matter how many items you have in your home. The amount of time to give yourself to sort your belongings is entirely up to you, but it is best to give yourself at least one month to get organized. It is more ideal to give yourself at least six months, especially if you have a lot of possessions.
3. Line Up Help
The fact of the matter is that decluttering your home and sorting out your items is energy depleting and time-consuming. You are not going to be able to do the entire job yourself, no matter how much time you make for doing this task. Ask family members, loved ones or even friends to help. If you don’t have family living nearby or if you are not comfortable with asking your friends, then you can hire home organizers that can help you sort through your possessions. Either way, please don’t do this alone.
There are professionals out there willing to help you downsize. At Silverstone Living, our Personal Wellness and Care Coordinators can assist by helping you access some resources you might need as you move through this phase. Contact Silverstone Living to connect. We speak with individuals on a daily basis who are making similar life changes and would be happy to offer any insight and support to adult seniors looking to downsize.
4. Re-home Your Old Possessions
If you have a perfectly working radio that you found while sorting through the bedroom closet that you don’t want to take with you to your new home, don’t toss it out just yet. A family member or a friend may want that radio if it is in perfect working condition. With that said, don’t junk or donate unwanted items that are usable. Someone important to you may want those items.
Additionally, if you do have your friends or family members helping you sort through your items and decluttering, you can ask them right then and there if they want an item that you don’t need. This way if they do want anything, they can take it with them after they leave your home for the day. That is one less item for you to worry about as well.
5. Sort Through Your Items Carefully
The one thing that may be consuming your mind while you are decluttering and organizing your possessions is how quickly you want to have the job done. However, the last thing you will want to do is throw out an item by accident, especially if they are small. If you found that you had tossed away an heirloom ring by mistake while cleaning your home, that would be very difficult to handle emotionally.
That means to examine each item before tossing them out, especially if they are small and can be easily missed. Packing your keepsakes properly is important so you don’t misplace them.
6. Make A Plan For Unwanted Items
Once you have gone through your belongings and your family members and friends had the opportunity to take what they wanted – the next step will need to be taken. And that is determining how you will remove the items that are not wanted and needed from your home.
The first thing to do when it comes to removing items that are not usable at all, which is literally junk is to call a junking company for the removal. It is a little bit costly, but by calling a junking company is the best solution if you have a lot of items that are not usable. They will remove those junk items which will also remove a lot of stress from you.
For the items that are usable but you don’t want or need, and that your family and friends don’t want, there are several options for removing those. Firstly, you can donate those items by calling charities around and asking if they will be in the area to pick up items that are meant to be donated. Sure enough at least one charitable organization will be in the area to pick up donations. Be sure to throw those items in a bag so they can pick it up.
Another option is for you to hold a garage sale or send the items to estate sale companies. You can also go the auction or ‘wanted ad’ website route such as utilizing eBay or Craigslist. The point is that there are different ways to send away your items which does not involve you having to expend too much of your energy.
7. If You’re Moving, Don’t Forget These Critical Action Items
You already took care of your items and sorted out which ones you are keeping with you and which ones you are not. You have also arranged a mover. Final step: You need to take extra care of the important things that cannot be forgotten during a move.
This includes:
- Taking care of the important paperwork such as notifying your insurance companies, lawyer, accountants, license bureau, the banks, and other companies that there will be a change in address.
- Refilling prescriptions ahead of time.
- If there are pets involved, to make arrangements for moving the pets with you.
- Purchase a lot of non-perishable food for not having to worry about cooking or setting up elaborate meals while settling in to the new place.
- Purchase the necessary toiletries needed while moving so you are well stocked on it ahead of time.
Most importantly, be gentle with yourself. You need to be prepared for dealing with an ocean of emotions while going through this process. You are making one of the largest transitions in life and you will be taken down memory lane as you sort through your items. You will remember the good times, the bad times, and the ugly times. Be sure to talk to your loved ones about how you are feeling and if you feel it is necessary, talk to a therapist. Downsizing is not an easy thing to do when you are an adult senior, and you cannot do any of this type of job alone.
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Over the span of decades, it’s very common to have accumulated a lot of belongings in our home. It’s even more common to have allowed many belongings to accumulate over the years due to the fact that we’re often too busy to sort through our possessions.
We’re occupied with work, and with family. And, this distraction isn’t isolated to just one age demographic, it spans across all ages – even impacting our senior loved ones as they move into a new phase of their lives. This is where the downsizing process often comes into play. Simply put, downsizing is the act of reducing our physical possessions to move into a new place or a new phase of our lives.
Despite the necessity of downsizing, it’s common that the act of downsizing for seniors can hit them quite hard at some point. Wherever adult seniors move, the fact that they will need to downsize means they will have to sort through their possessions. They will also need to declutter their current home, as well as make other preparations before they can move into their new dwelling.
We’ve gathered the ultimate downsizing checklist for seniors which includes tips on how you can make effective preparations, along with steps others can implement to help support their senior loved ones throughout this process.
1. Create An Effective Sorting System
The first thing to do before making other preparations is to create a sorting system that is going to be the easiest to follow. This entails going into each room and literally sorting out the items, and it is best to start with the larger items or clutter before moving to the smaller ones.
While sorting the items, create two areas on the floor. One area will be meant for the items that are determined to be kept whether they have any use for the future or that the items to keep have sentimental meaning. The other area will be for the items that are determined to be junked or donated due to the fact that you no longer need or want them. This will help keep you organized while going through this process.
For instance, if the first room you begin to work on is the master bedroom, then designate two areas on the floor in the bedroom to throw the items onto. The one area will be for the items that you will want to keep, and the other will be for the items you don’t want to keep. The first place to start would be in any of the corners in your bedroom. If you see an old fan squared away in the corner and you feel that you will have any use for it in the future, then put the fan on to the area of the floor that is designated for the items that you want to keep.
If you see an old small television in the same corner that no longer works, then add it to the other areas of the floor that is designated for the items that will be junked or donated. And keep going through every corner of the bedroom and just keep repeating the process. Eventually, you will have sorted out everything in the bedroom, and then you can move onto the closet, and rinse and repeat. After you are done with sorting the master bedroom, then you can move onto another room into the house, and keep repeating the same process.
2. Never Do It All In One Day
The next part to understand as you move through downsizing, is understanding the importance of allowing yourself plenty of time to sort through your belongings. In other words, do not even consider going through your entire house in one day. That will only create more stress. Be sure to give yourself as much time as you possibly can as this will be a major task that cannot be completed in one day.
In fact, allow yourself enough time to sort your items because it will be an exhausting and time-consuming process no matter how many items you have in your home. The amount of time to give yourself to sort your belongings is entirely up to you, but it is best to give yourself at least one month to get organized. It is more ideal to give yourself at least six months, especially if you have a lot of possessions.
3. Line Up Help
The fact of the matter is that decluttering your home and sorting out your items is energy depleting and time-consuming. You are not going to be able to do the entire job yourself, no matter how much time you make for doing this task. Ask family members, loved ones or even friends to help. If you don’t have family living nearby or if you are not comfortable with asking your friends, then you can hire home organizers that can help you sort through your possessions. Either way, please don’t do this alone.
There are professionals out there willing to help you downsize. At Silverstone Living, our Personal Wellness and Care Coordinators can assist by helping you access some resources you might need as you move through this phase. Contact Silverstone Living to connect. We speak with individuals on a daily basis who are making similar life changes and would be happy to offer any insight and support to adult seniors looking to downsize.
4. Re-home Your Old Possessions
If you have a perfectly working radio that you found while sorting through the bedroom closet that you don’t want to take with you to your new home, don’t toss it out just yet. A family member or a friend may want that radio if it is in perfect working condition. With that said, don’t junk or donate unwanted items that are usable. Someone important to you may want those items.
Additionally, if you do have your friends or family members helping you sort through your items and decluttering, you can ask them right then and there if they want an item that you don’t need. This way if they do want anything, they can take it with them after they leave your home for the day. That is one less item for you to worry about as well.
5. Sort Through Your Items Carefully
The one thing that may be consuming your mind while you are decluttering and organizing your possessions is how quickly you want to have the job done. However, the last thing you will want to do is throw out an item by accident, especially if they are small. If you found that you had tossed away an heirloom ring by mistake while cleaning your home, that would be very difficult to handle emotionally.
That means to examine each item before tossing them out, especially if they are small and can be easily missed. Packing your keepsakes properly is important so you don’t misplace them.
6. Make A Plan For Unwanted Items
Once you have gone through your belongings and your family members and friends had the opportunity to take what they wanted – the next step will need to be taken. And that is determining how you will remove the items that are not wanted and needed from your home.
The first thing to do when it comes to removing items that are not usable at all, which is literally junk is to call a junking company for the removal. It is a little bit costly, but by calling a junking company is the best solution if you have a lot of items that are not usable. They will remove those junk items which will also remove a lot of stress from you.
For the items that are usable but you don’t want or need, and that your family and friends don’t want, there are several options for removing those. Firstly, you can donate those items by calling charities around and asking if they will be in the area to pick up items that are meant to be donated. Sure enough at least one charitable organization will be in the area to pick up donations. Be sure to throw those items in a bag so they can pick it up.
Another option is for you to hold a garage sale or send the items to estate sale companies. You can also go the auction or ‘wanted ad’ website route such as utilizing eBay or Craigslist. The point is that there are different ways to send away your items which does not involve you having to expend too much of your energy.
7. If You’re Moving, Don’t Forget These Critical Action Items
You already took care of your items and sorted out which ones you are keeping with you and which ones you are not. You have also arranged a mover. Final step: You need to take extra care of the important things that cannot be forgotten during a move.
This includes:
- Taking care of the important paperwork such as notifying your insurance companies, lawyer, accountants, license bureau, the banks, and other companies that there will be a change in address.
- Refilling prescriptions ahead of time.
- If there are pets involved, to make arrangements for moving the pets with you.
- Purchase a lot of non-perishable food for not having to worry about cooking or setting up elaborate meals while settling in to the new place.
- Purchase the necessary toiletries needed while moving so you are well stocked on it ahead of time.
Most importantly, be gentle with yourself. You need to be prepared for dealing with an ocean of emotions while going through this process. You are making one of the largest transitions in life and you will be taken down memory lane as you sort through your items. You will remember the good times, the bad times, and the ugly times. Be sure to talk to your loved ones about how you are feeling and if you feel it is necessary, talk to a therapist. Downsizing is not an easy thing to do when you are an adult senior, and you cannot do any of this type of job alone.
