Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life

by Matt Paxton

Legacy List can help you make the most difficult choices about what to do with objects that you feel overwhelmed by—and that are important enough to keep.

This is the most important part of the process—the part most experts miss entirely. If we don’t know the stories behind the stuff, we will never be able to freely let go of it.

People hoard to cover up pain.

Wise Moves: Checklist for Where to Live, What to Consider, and Whether to Stay or Go,

Understand your why. What are the reasons you want to get the clutter out of your life? Are you looking to have less stress in

your life? Or do you just need more space for your stuff? If you’re moving, are you hoping to pare down your belongings, or do you want to take everything with you? Or are you making room for a friend to come live in the house? Be as specific as possible in your objectives because your goals are what you’ll return to again and again for focus and motivation whenever you get stuck.

If you won’t use it within one month, the odds are you won’t use it at all. And the best predictor of whether you’ll

But the reality is that you aren’t obligated to any thing or lifestyle other than the one you want.

building the life you want, not the life you think you should have or that you think a loved one would want you to have.

But you live your best life when you understand that what really matters is not possessions but memories, and a lot of those memories are stored in

documents and pictures.

The website Upcycle That uses this definition: “The act of taking something

Tech for Troops

Dress for Success

MoveForHunger.org to

Norwex works

cardboard boxes. They’re easy to write on. Expect to need at least sixty boxes per two-bedroom house, and another twenty for every additional bedroom or office. If you have an attic or basement, add another forty boxes. If you’re short for time but long on cash, you can buy good boxes at a big box hardware store, storage unit place, or online in bulk. But