{"id":17493,"date":"2015-08-08T14:57:11","date_gmt":"2015-08-08T18:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/08\/downsizing-better-now.html"},"modified":"2015-08-08T14:57:11","modified_gmt":"2015-08-08T18:57:11","slug":"downsizing-better-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/08\/downsizing-better-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Report: Downsizing: Better Now Than Later"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"laurie_cornell\n<\/div>\n
Laurie Cornell is founder of Onward and Upward Inc. in Saratoga Springs\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY LAURIE CORNELL<\/p>\n

The Situation: 25 percent of people with two car
\ngarages don’t have room to park cars inside
\nthem and 32 percent only have room for one vehicle,
\naccording to the U.S. Department of Energy.<\/p>\n

The United States has upward of 50,000 storage
\nfacilities, more than five times the number
\nof Starbucks. Currently, there is 7.3 square feet
\nof self-storage space for every man, woman and
\nchild in the nation. Thus, it is physically possible
\nthat every American could stand–all at the same
\ntime–under the total canopy of self-storage
\nroofing (SSA).<\/p>\n

Further statistics regarding unnecessary
\naccumulation and the resulting cluttered disorganization
\nare probably not necessary. Most folks
\njust need to look around their own spaces to bear
\npersonal witness. <\/em>
\nPerhaps the surfaces are tidy…
\nbut you know, it’s on your mind… the closet in the
\nbasement, the filing cabinets in the storage unit,
\nthe boxes in the back of the closet, the attic or
\nshed, maybe even the “guest room” that is really
\njust a dumping ground.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you don’t even have the energy to
\nworry about your own space because you’re
\nfocused on the horror story you heard from a
\nco-worker who spent all their vacation time and
\nevery weekend for the last six months helping
\ntheir parents downsize and get ready to move into
\na smaller more efficient space.<\/p>\n

The situation pure and simple is: just about
\neveryone has more stuff than they need or want
\nand for one reason or another would love for a
\ngood portion of it to vanish or at least go away painlessly.<\/p>\n

Reasons to Downsize: Practical and Emotional
\nOver the course of our lifetime, we will spend
\na total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for
\nmisplaced items. The research found we lose up
\nto nine items every day–or 198,743 in a lifetime.
\nPhones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork top the
\nlist (The Daily Mail).<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal reported that the
\naverage U.S. executive wastes six weeks per year
\nsearching for missing information in messy desks
\nand files.<\/p>\n

“Crisis” purchases related to disorganization
\ncould cost as much as 15 to 20 percent of your
\nannual budget.<\/p>\n

I think Joshua Becker, author of www.becomingminimalist.com, explains the advantages
\nmost clearly: “We began donating, recycling, and
\nremoving our unnecessary personal possessions.
\nWe embarked on an intentional journey to own
\nless stuff. As a result, we discovered more money,
\nmore time, more energy, more freedom, less stress,
\nand more opportunity to pursue our greatest passions:
\nfaith, family, friends.”<\/p>\n

It’s a rite of passage as we all grow older and the
\nnumber of people living at home grows smaller.
\nWe don’t need the big house and we’d rather not
\nspend our free time maintaining the homestead.
\nIt’s a privilege of getting older to choose a smaller
\nmore manageable space or maybe two–one here
\nare one down south for winter time.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s you, your parents, friends or
\nrelatives most people would love to be free of
\nthe burden of a large home with space that’s not
\nused and stuff that hasn’t seen the light of day in
\ndecades. So why not get started?<\/p>\n

What to do about it?
\nThe $8 billion home organization industry has
\nmore than doubled in size since the early 2000s,
\ngrowing at a staggering rate of 10 percent each
\nyear.<\/p>\n

As a seasoned member of the “organizational
\nindustry,” I recommend starting now, get a date
\non the calendar. What you own is only likely to
\nincrease over time not decrease. Hire a professional.<\/p>\n

I help people downsize, that’s what I do.
\nAll of my clients, without exception, no longer
\nsubscribe to the theory that bigger is better or
\nthe more the merrier. Smaller is saner, it’s not
\na quantity conversation, it’s about quality of life
\nand peace of mind.<\/p>\n

There’s no magic number or special formula
\nthat dictates the amount of stuff that’s right for
\nyou or for anyone. Like so many other things it’s
\nabout finding the balance, setting some boundaries
\nand most of all conquering fear. Fear you say?<\/p>\n

Yes, getting rid of stuff takes courage and getting
\nrid of things that you really don’t like can be emotional and overwhelming. Yes, read that again. It
\ndoes sound odd. It seems counter-intuitive that
\ngetting rid of things you don’t really want anyway
\nand experiencing some peace of mind should be
\nso hard – to start with anyway. You do build sorting
\nstamina over time.<\/p>\n

To put it another way: you only have to keep
\nthings that give you joy or serve some specific
\ndesignated purpose (like a stapler or tax documents).
\nIt’s natural to need a little help in getting
\nstarted and well worth the short term investment
\nwhether at home, at work, the family camp or
\nthe storage unit get a move on. Sooner is better
\nthan later.<\/p>\n

What’s in the Way?
\nIf you know it will feel great, what’s stopping
\nyou? We weren’t taught in school how to regulate
\nthe stuff in our lives to maintain peace of mind.
\nYou can try reading the books. “The Life-Changing
\nMagic of Tidying” by Marie Kondo is one of my
\npersonal favorites. Apparently, for most of us,
\nhands on, one-on-one is the key. Someone objective
\nhelping you with your stuff–asking questions,
\ngetting clarity, being bold and honest and
\ncompassionate–and apparently asking for help
\nis tough for many of us.<\/p>\n

You know you’ll have to do it someday. For
\nthose who are worried about a family member and
\nthinking that they are really the ones that could
\nuse the help, here’s a little reality check. You can’t
\nforce someone to sort, organize, downsize or discard.
\nYou can’t talk them into it. The best and only
\nway to motivate someone is to be a good example.<\/p>\n

Chances are your relative is just as scared
\nas you are. Or overwhelmed or short on time or
\nenergy. But if they hear that you can do it, then
\nthey may think they can too. When they hear the
\nsense of relief in your voice and understand that
\nthe process really won’t kill them and may even
\nbe fun–that sooner really is better than later.<\/p>\n

Why not feel great now and make space in your
\nlife for more passion and fun instead of the same
\nold stuff and worries?<\/p>\n

Cornell is a professional organizer, senior
\nmove manager and founder of Onward &
\nUpward, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Courtesy Onward and Upward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laurie Cornell is founder of Onward and Upward Inc. in Saratoga SpringsBY LAURIE CORNELL The Situation: 25 percent of people with two car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32 percent only have room for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-17493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-reports","tag-business-reports"],"yoast_head":"\r\nBusiness Report: Downsizing: Better Now Than Later - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/08\/downsizing-better-now\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business Report: Downsizing: Better Now Than Later - 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