Truth is moving or not, it is healthy to do a yearly assessment of what your life has become in terms of day to day living and whether you are just keeping stuff because you’ve always had it, or whether or not you are brave enough to do the assessment of what you need for who you arenow. I do this a lot with clients who are parents of growing children in terms of what ‘clothing’ fits now and will still get wear in another year and what ‘toys’ suit the child’s age in terms of development. As adults we too can benefit from periodically looking at what we have outgrown and who we are in terms of our ‘things’ and what our stuff is saying about us. It’s healthy to do, and often better than welcoming in the new year because fresh starts can begin whenever. OK, so you’re wanting to get going but how to motivate oneself to do such an overwhelming task.
Where to begin?
As they say, it’s all about learning how to eat an elephant. One bite at a time. Start small, use a technique called ‘flashlight focussing’. Use a flashlight (torch), and shine it on one area and only deal with the items that are literallyin the spotlight and give yourself a time limit. Even if it’s just 15-30mins. If you don’t have a flashlight, then use a bed sheet, or a towel. Throw it over one area of the space you plan to work on, and memorise sheet borders. Start in one room only, and make it your favourite room (once conquered it will encourage you to tackle another and then another). Ask yourself:
- What do you love about it?
- What you can’t stand about it?
- What you need in it.
- What you don’t need in it.
- What you’d like to improve about it.
- How it makes you feel when you are in it.
- What you actually ‘do’ in there.
- Also think about the colours in it and whether they are working for you in terms of positive emotions.
- Look also at which objects have the colours you want to keep.
- Pretend – if you were going to move, what ‘wouldn’t’ you want to put in your new life?
Next, work your flashlight clockwise around the room, and at each stage, take note of how your emotions feel as you go through each of the following steps. Don’t be dictated by the dollar value of items, we are interested in first the practical, and secondly the emotional value.
For the rest of this article, and more tips on effective down-sizing and ‘flashlight focussing’ click on the link below …
