If you had told me when I started downsizing that my plan would include pizza, wine, weekends with family and friends, and eventually an entire summer off, I would have thought you were kidding me.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
And looking back, I think those things were every bit as important to my downsizing journey as the boxes, the donation runs, and the countless decisions about what would stay and what would go.<\/p>\n
Because downsizing isn\u2019t just about getting rid of things. It\u2019s about making room for your life.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re trying to figure out how to downsize right now, while working, caring for someone you love, spending time with your children or grandchildren, maintaining friendships, traveling, exercising, or simply trying to enjoy your life, your life belongs in the plan too!<\/p>\n
My downsizing didn\u2019t happen in a weekend<\/h2>\n
I didn\u2019t wake up one Saturday morning and decide, \u201cToday I\u2019m going to downsize my entire life.\u201d Thank goodness. I had a 5,000-square-foot home and a life full of things, so I knew it was going to take time.<\/p>\n
Weekend after weekend, I worked with a small team, usually two or three people who became much more than just an extra pair of hands.<\/p>\n
I had an overall plan for the entire house, but then each week I planned one small area to tackle with my team. We sorted. We carried. We packed. We donated. We threw things away. We made a lot of decisions.<\/p>\n
And then\u2026 we had pizza and wine. Every weekend.<\/p>\n
It almost sounds ridiculous when I say that now, but those evenings became some of my favorite memories of the entire process because we talked, we laughed, we told stories.<\/p>\n
Many times we were exhausted. Sometimes we just agreed about whether something should stay. And sometimes we simply sat down and said, \u201cOK. That\u2019s enough for today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those conversations mattered just as much as the extra pair of hands, maybe more.<\/p>\n
They reminded me that I wasn\u2019t doing this alone. And that is something I will always be grateful for.<\/p>\n
One small area at a time<\/h2>\n
One of the things I learned very quickly was that I could not look at my entire house and think about everything that needed to be done. That would have been paralyzing and too overwhelming to even think about.<\/p>\n
Instead, before we started each weekend, I would designate the specific area: a small section of my basement or garage, or even a few kitchen cabinets or a particular category like books.<\/p>\n
Our goal was simple: finish it.<\/p>\n
Not start five things. Just one. Not pull everything off the shelves and create an even bigger mess. Not make ourselves feel productive by moving things from one pile to another.<\/p>\n
Our mantra: finish one thing.<\/p>\n
That meant making decisions, following through, getting the donations into the car, getting the trash to the trash, and leaving that area finished.<\/p>\n
There was still an enormous amount of work ahead of us. We knew that, but at the end of the day we could look at that one completed space and say, \u201cThat\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the following weekend, there was something else that was done. And then something else. Little by little, the big picture began to change.<\/p>\n
If a little structure would help you choose that first area, my Home Decluttering Checklist: The Quick Start Guide<\/a> can give you a place to begin.<\/p>\n This is something I still tell my clients today. Before you open a closet or pull open a drawer, picture how you want it to look when you\u2019re finished.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t begin with, \u201cWhat am I going to do with all of this stuff?\u201d Begin with, \u201cWhat do I want this space to look and feel like when I\u2019m finished?\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a very different question. One focuses your attention on the stuff. The other focuses your attention on the results. And you need both pictures.<\/p>\n The little picture: \u201cThis closet is going to hold only the things I actually use and will take with me to my new home.\u201d<\/p>\n And the big picture: \u201cI am creating a home that supports the way I want to live now.\u201d<\/p>\n The little picture gives you something you can accomplish today. The big picture gives that accomplishment meaning and fulfillment.<\/p>\n I hear this all of the time: \u201cIt\u2019s so overwhelming. I don\u2019t know how I\u2019ll ever get through all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n And my answer is, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to get through all of it today.\u201d<\/p>\n If you have an entire house to downsize, don\u2019t make downsizing the house your assignment. That\u2019s not a task. That\u2019s a project.<\/p>\n Instead, ask, \u201cWhat can I realistically finish today?\u201d Maybe it\u2019s one kitchen cabinet, one dresser, one linen closet. Or maybe it\u2019s just 30 minutes in the basement or one category of clothing.<\/p>\n Your task needs to fit your actual life, not the imaginary life where you have unlimited time, unlimited energy, and nothing else to do.<\/p>\n This is where I think we sometimes get downsizing wrong. We create a plan for the house, but we forget to create a plan for the person. That\u2019s you!<\/p>\n What about your job? What about your spouse? What about caring for your aging parents or babysitting your grandchildren? What about time with your family and friends? What about the trip that you\u2019ve been wanting to take?<\/p>\n Downsizing doesn\u2019t have to take over your life. Downsizing should fit into your life.<\/p>\n Those things don\u2019t have to disappear because you\u2019re downsizing. They belong in your plan.<\/p>\n If you have three hours on Saturday, then work for three hours. If you have 45 minutes on a Tuesday evening, work for 45 minutes. If you don\u2019t have the energy this week, don\u2019t pretend you do.<\/p>\n Downsizing is important, but so is your life!<\/p>\n I was fortunate to have a small team, family, and friends who helped me physically do the work. But they gave me something else far more important: motivation and momentum.<\/p>\n When you are alone, it is remarkably easy to say, \u201cI\u2019ll do that tomorrow.\u201d Or next weekend. Or next month. Or after the holidays.<\/p>\n Having someone else there creates accountability, and that made all the difference.<\/p>\n It also makes the work lighter, the decisions easier. When someone can carry things to the car and load it up to take to the donation site, that makes a huge difference.<\/p>\n Someone on the team can also challenge you: \u201cAre you really keeping this?\u201d<\/p>\n And sometimes you need someone who isn\u2019t emotionally attached to the object to ask the hard questions about letting go.<\/p>\n But there was another reason I valued my team. We had fun. And I believe that\u2019s very important, just because.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever heard anyone say, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to spend the next six months downsizing.\u201d<\/p>\n But I can tell you this: I looked forward to those weekends. I truly did.<\/p>\n Not because I loved sorting through a lifetime of my belongings, but because I loved the people who were giving up their time to help me through a huge life transition.<\/p>\n We would work for three or four hours and then stop. Pizza. Wine. Conversation. Laughter. A little celebration for all we had accomplished.<\/p>\n And we could see the fruits of our efforts every single week. That made the next week even easier.<\/p>\n Because downsizing isn\u2019t just an endless series of losses. It became a series of accomplishments. And memories. And eventually, freedom.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the part of the story that I think is particularly important. Eventually, I realized I was burned out.<\/p>\n We had been doing this weekend after weekend for five long months. And there was still a lot more to do.<\/p>\n But my head was tired, my body was tired, and even my heart was tired. And frankly, my motivation was waning.<\/p>\n So I did something that may sound completely counterintuitive when you\u2019re trying to finish a huge project.<\/p>\n I stopped. We took the entire summer off. Yes, an entire summer.<\/p>\n And you know what? The house didn\u2019t collapse. The world didn\u2019t end. The downsizing didn\u2019t fail.<\/p>\n I simply gave myself permission to breathe and to take a break. To live. To step away from the project and let my team and myself recover.<\/p>\n And when I was ready, I came back to it, fully energized and rejuvenated.<\/p>\n This may be one of the most important lessons I learned.<\/p>\n We tend to think that if something is important, we should push harder. Work longer. Finish faster. Keep going.<\/p>\n But sometimes your body knows before your brain is willing to admit it: enough. And stopping doesn\u2019t mean quitting. There is a difference.<\/p>\n Quitting says, \u201cI\u2019m not doing this anymore.\u201d Taking a break says, \u201cI\u2019m still going to do this, just not right now.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s an important distinction because downsizing is not a race. There is no prize for being the person who empties the house fastest.<\/p>\n The goal isn\u2019t to get rid of everything. The goal is to create a home and a life that work for you now. And that takes time.<\/p>\n Maybe you don\u2019t have a team. Not everyone does. I hear that all the time, and that\u2019s OK. You can still use the same principle.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t ask, \u201cHow am I going to downsize my entire house?\u201d Ask, \u201cWhat can I finish today?\u201d<\/p>\n Give yourself small, clearly defined assignments. For example: one kitchen cabinet, one bathroom drawer, one shelf, one box.<\/p>\n And before you begin, decide what finished means to you.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve made three piles in the middle of the floor. Finished means the decisions have been made. The things you are letting go of have actually left the house. The trash is in the trash. The donations are in the car or, better yet, at the donation center. And the things you\u2019re keeping each have a home.<\/p>\n That\u2019s real progress.<\/p>\n We tend to schedule downsizing according to the calendar. \u201cI have Saturday morning free\u2026\u201d But that\u2019s only half the equation.<\/p>\n Ask yourself, \u201cHow much energy will I have?\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a big difference between having four hours available and having four hours of usable energy.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re exhausted after a week of work, don\u2019t schedule four hours of emotionally difficult decisions. Maybe Saturday is the day to tackle the linen closet instead?<\/p>\n Save the photographs, letters, and sentimental things for a time when you have more emotional bandwidth. You could even hire photo managers<\/a> to assist you with that when you\u2019re ready. That will take an enormous amount of emotional weight off your plate.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d prefer to work through your photos yourself with guidance, Photo Keepers Club<\/a> is a separate membership option to explore. This is an affiliate link. I may earn a commission if you join through it.<\/p>\n And if you are caring for someone else, working full-time, or juggling a dozen different responsibilities, your plan needs to respect that reality.<\/p>\n Your downsizing plan should work with your life, not compete with it.<\/p>\n Looking back, I realize that the physical work was only part of what was happening.<\/p>\n Every object represented something in my life: a chapter, a person, a place, a version of myself, a dream.<\/p>\n Sometimes an object was easy to let go of. Sometimes it wasn\u2019t. And sometimes the conversation we had around the object mattered more than the object itself.<\/p>\n That\u2019s another reason those pizza and wine evenings meant so much. We weren\u2019t just moving things out of a house. We were talking about my life. And what I wanted that next chapter to look like.<\/p>\n When I was downsizing, I always knew there was a much bigger picture.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t simply trying to have less stuff. I was creating a new life and lifestyle with a smaller home, less maintenance, less responsibility. More freedom, more time, more energy, and more room for the people and experiences that mattered most to me.<\/p>\n That bigger picture helped me make the little decisions easier. When I stood in front of something, the question wasn\u2019t simply, \u201cShould I keep this?\u201d It was, \u201cDoes this belong in the life I\u2019m creating?\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s such a powerful question. And you can use that whether you\u2019re downsizing your entire home or simply trying to make one room work better for your life right now.<\/p>\n It looked like a big vision, broken into small decisions.<\/p>\n It looked like a team and a lot of pizza.<\/p>\n It looked like a lot of hard work, laughter, and tears.<\/p>\n It looked like progress and sometimes stopping.<\/p>\n It looked like three hours of work on Saturdays, followed by the rest of the day being mine.<\/p>\n And eventually, it looked like taking an entire summer off because I had listened closely enough to know I needed it.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t follow a perfect schedule. I didn\u2019t do it all at once. And I certainly didn\u2019t do it perfectly.<\/p>\n But\u2026 I kept moving forward. One drawer. One closet. One room. One decision. One weekend at a time.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re staring at your house right now, wondering where on earth to begin, I\u2019d encourage you to think about your plan a little differently.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t just put rooms on a list. Put your life on the list.<\/p>\n Schedule the work. But schedule the fun too.<\/p>\n Schedule time with your grandchildren. And dinner with friends. Schedule the weekend away. Schedule the afternoon when you do absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re working with a friend, a sibling, your spouse, or a small team, make sure you celebrate those victories. Order the pizza. Open the wine. Laugh. Cry. Talk.<\/p>\n Because tomorrow there will be another drawer, another closet, another decision, and that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n Because downsizing isn\u2019t supposed to be your life. It\u2019s supposed to help you create one.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the part I didn\u2019t fully understand when I first began. I thought I was downsizing a house. What I was really doing was redesigning my life.<\/p>\n And that takes time. It takes hundreds and maybe even thousands of decisions. It takes real courage. It takes help. And sometimes\u2026 it takes pizza and a summer off.<\/p>\n So if you\u2019re in the middle of your own downsizing journey, don\u2019t measure your success by how much you\u2019ve gotten rid of.<\/p>\n Look at what you\u2019ve gained: more space, more clarity, more energy, more freedom, more time with people you love.<\/p>\n And perhaps most importantly, more life to live.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what all those weekends were really about.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to hear more about the decisions behind my move, I share that experience in the video below.<\/p>\n How do you actually downsize your home? From 5000 ft.\u00b2 to 867 ft.\u00b2.<\/a><\/p>\n If you enjoyed this blog\/video, I would love to hear your comments. Please feel free to share this with someone else you think might benefit.<\/p>\n And if you would like more of this kind of content and conversation, please consider joining My Simplicity Circle membership group<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow me on social media for more updates:<\/p>\n YOUTUBE<\/a> | FACEBOOK<\/a> | INSTAGRAM<\/a> | LINKEDIN<\/a> | X<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\nSee the little picture before you tackle the big picture<\/h2>\n
You don\u2019t have to do it all at once<\/h2>\n
Your downsizing plan has to fit your life<\/h2>\n
And that\u2019s where my team made all the difference<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t forget to have fun<\/h2>\n
But then I got tired<\/h2>\n
Sometimes the smartest thing to do is stop<\/h2>\n
If you\u2019re downsizing on your own, make it bite-size<\/h2>\n
Here\u2019s another little trick: plan for your energy, not just your time<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t underestimate the emotional work<\/h2>\n
The bigger plans matter<\/h2>\n
So here\u2019s what my downsizing plan really looked like<\/h2>\n
Maybe your downsizing plan needs pizza too<\/h2>\n
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