Achieve Scaling Down: Living Large In A Smaller Space Originated By Judi Culbertson File Brochure
this. the principles are basic and the advice direct, they acknowledge the challenges and emotional attachments and provide reasonable suggestions for moving through those reservations, really enjoyed this and found it useful,
definitely geared towards those later in life downsizing or getting rid of adult children's things, but very well organized writing and easy to skip parts that don't apply to you.
Culbertson covers both the psychological and practical aspects of decluttering and simplifying in this howto manual, Go from room to room as Culbertson discusses best practices for organizing paperwork, paring down memorabilia, and letting go of duplicates or lesser used items.
The book is aimed mostly at empty nesters looking to downsize, but the tips and advice given will help most any person looking to live a fulfilling life with less stuff.
The most helpful parts to me were how to downsize and organize necessary papers our file cabinet is atrocious and childhood artifacts.
This book puts my simplifying efforts to shame, It really delves into WHY you're holding onto all that stuff, and how to let go, Even though it's aimed at an older crowd, I was truly inspired to get rid of a lot more stuff.
It's also rather thin the authors pack the information in, without becoming too repetitive, The only parts that annoyed me were the ones on shopping and dumpsters, If you really are trying to scale down, the shopping has to be cut way back the authors seemed a little soft on this one.
I also don't appreciate the dumpster concept as much as they do because I think it encourages people to trash otherwise useful or recyclable or hazardous stuff.
It may help you cut down on belongings very quickly, but the method can be problematic, I'm in a constant state of decluttering my home, it seems, I frequently check out various home simplification and decluttering books, This was one that amazon recommended to me and I borrowed it from the library, Instead of just going with the various decluttering tips and tricks and whatnot, this book describes how to scale things down and really have only the things you love with you.
What I liked about this book were the stories they included about themselves or others who are on the path to decluttering.
As a result of this book, I have finally shaped up my closet after a few years of getting rid of things.
I'm also learning which knickknacks I want to get rid of and what things I do want to keep in my house.
Although it's not an immediate concern, I'll have to learn to live in a smaller space/share space again once I marry Ivan, so this book caught my attention.
The tips it includes and the pep talks for decluttering are inspiring, and it has chapters devoted to unique situations such as moving into assisted living, going through a loved one's stuff after she or he has died, marriage and consolidation followed, a bit disturbingly, by divorce, etc.
All the chapters are written sensitively and have good advice, although they do make it feel as if the book is trying to do too much at once.
Some of the suggestions for scaling down seem likely to just be more sources for potential procrastination, although they do address some of the more common concerns and objections people have to getting rid of their stuff.
Probably the most useful tool in the book is a checklist of items commonly found in a household, with a challenge to write how many of each item a household needs DVD players, coffee mugs, etc.
Once you settle on that, the idea is that you can get rid of an excess of that "needed" amount.
I pretended books weren't on the list, as they are my one material "blind spot, " The best part of this book is probably that it inspires you to WANT to scale down and maintain simplicity, both of which can be daunting tasks on their own.
S'alright. I bought this book in the middle of a crosscountry move to a much smaller rental home, I loved the authors' writing styles and their unique ideas on a popular topic, While the "whys" seemed innovative, the "hows" were dated at times and it became quite obvious that the target audience is older than I am.
There are many personal and client stories supporting their theories, many questions to help set up your own plan and encouragement to follow through in a variety of downsizing circumatances.
This book is entertaining and empowering, My mistake in buying this book as part of a library book sale, one of those ones you fill a bag for.
I thought this was about living in a minihouse, My mistake but once I started reading it, I very rarely dont finish a book,
These authors filledsome pages with common sense about decreasing clutter in your home, As someone who doesnt collects, other than Ohio and labor books, and likes to naturally be a minimalist, there was little I learned from this book.
If you are someone who just collects collectables and others have a hard time tossing magazines, clothing, or other things or you simply shop too much, this book might have value.
Highly recommend. I got this book out of my local library, and read about/of this book right before bed, Next morning I got out of bed, pulled four overstuffed folders from my filing cabinet and, following the guidelines in the chapter on "Collaring the Paper Tiger," threw out approximatelyof their contents in aboutminutes.
So not only do I recommend this book, I recommend it be read before going to bed so that its advice can work on your brain overnight.
Like Scrubbing Bubbles, it can dissolve almost every bullshit excuse you've ever had for keeping something you don't really need.
I only skimmed through the chapters on collections and cleaning out a loved one's home neither applies to me.
Inspirational! Have already made small gains declutterimg several areas!
This is a good book for anyone looking to downsize their home or belongings, moving, or even after the death of a loved one.
The authors offer a jculbertsonbookpractical approach to going through and getting rid of extra, unwanted, or unused items,
What is helpful about this book is it doesnt just tell you how to get rid of things, but takes the time to look at the process through an emotional and psychological lenses as well.
Within each chapter there are stories of the authors clients to help you see more clearly the point theyre trying to make.
The authors also tackle the “bigger and more is better” mentality that is so pervasive in American culture.
They promote living with only what you need and truly love and to adopt a “Living Large Mission Statement” : I want toButSo I will.
An example would be “I want to travel, but I have a large mortgage, so I will find a smaller, lessexpensive home in an area I love.
”
I checked out this book because its been my goal for sometime now to downsize our, which means mostly my, belongings.
Now that were moving this summer its the perfect opportunity to do so! The added bonus is that weve been living with my fatherinlaw for about eight months, so we can save for grad school, and have boxes of stuff stored in the garage.
It will be interesting to see what we have that we dont even use,
Overall, it was an informative, useful, and quick read,
My disorganized sister has a plethora of books about organization grouped together on her bookshelves, and I chose Scaling Down: Living Large in a Smaller Space to peruse during a recent visit.
As someone now over the age ofwho does not plan to retire in my current home, I enjoyed the solutions presented to help declutter and downsize in just about every area of a home.
The book has a lot of examples from the
authors own lives as well as from their clients to help make their suggestions easier to understand and less intimidating to attempt.
Im looking forward to tackling everything from closets to file cabinets to photos this summer, Cheers to managing less stuff!
Update: Its now October and I havent gotten around to organizing, yet, Maybe organizing is more of a winter project, A very helpful book to inspire me to start scaling down my stuff before I pack for our move, Lots of good tips for getting rid of clutter and stopping you from convincing yourself you need to keep something.
The section on organizing print photos was so helpful I literally stopped reading, brought in the big box of old photographs I had, and spent the next two days paring them down and organizing them.
I went from a big Rubbermaid box full, to just a small Photo Organizing Box by Iris got it at JoAnns full of the most favorite.
I then went on to begin making photo books with my digital images from trips I've taken, Two of them are already ordered, Definitely read this book if you have trouble with hidden clutter, You'll feel so much more free once you take it on! This book had some good tips about scaling down and making the most of the space you have.
I got rid of a couple more garbage bags of clothes after reading it so it was definitely effective, The authors' commentary on how we have become a 'bigger is better' culture really resonated with me, Do you have a lot of "stuff" everywhere I did and wanted to do something about it, This book gave me loads of ideas about organizing, donating, reassessing, etc, It gave me the push to start cleaning out and scaling down, Six bags went to Goodwill the first week and I'm still working on it, Very motivating! You might think that we humans have changed a lot since our early huntergatherer days, Indeed, hunting has gone a bit out of fashion and most of us forage in the supermarket instead of the forest.
Nonetheless, we still do a great deal of gathering, We just gather different things,
Our ancestors used to gather precious berries and roots whereas we modern humans like to hoard all kinds of useless junk.
Old clothes fill our wardrobes, tchotchkes crowd our shelves, and the boxes beneath our beds or in our attics are crammed with precious junk be it stamps, baseball cards or stuffed animals.
So, perhaps its time to scale down and toss some of this stuff out the window,
T first came across this book while I was doing research about minimalism, Then, I decided to give it a try,
Firstly, I must admit that I love the idea of this book: Living Large in a Smaller Space, It is quite popular in the US or in some Asia countries ex: Singapore, Vietnam that the population growth requires more houses or accomodations, which makes me think that there were any ways to have more space for each family.
Then, this book popped into me!
Secondly, I find this book easytofollow and easytoread,
The key message in this book:
We dont need a whole lot to be happy, Though its not easy to break the habit of overconsumption, finding ways to sort and reduce your stuff without sacrificing meaning and memories can help you live with less, and be happier for it.
Learn how to be happy with fewer things,
You might think that we humans have changed a lot since our early huntergatherer days, Indeed, hunting has gone a bit out of fashion and most of us forage in the supermarket instead of the forest.
Nonetheless, we still do a great deal of gathering, We just gather different things,
Our ancestors used to gather precious berries and roots whereas we modern humans like to hoard all kinds of useless junk.
Old clothes fill our wardrobes, tchotchkes crowd our shelves, and the boxes beneath our beds or in our attics are crammed with precious junk be it stamps, baseball cards or stuffed animals.
So, perhaps its time to scale down and toss some of this stuff out the window,
In this book, youll learn how to part with those belongings you probably dont need, as well as how to decide which items to keep, which to toss and which items of sentimental value to let go of.
If you want to scale down, start by creating a Scaling Down Mission Statement,
Is your closet or garage overflowing with old stuff that you refuse to throw away Or maybe you even pay for an external storage unit if you live in a city where closet space is a luxury reserved for the lucky few!
If that sounds like you, youre not alone.
Keeping too much stuff has been an American trend ever since the Great Depression,
In the earlys, people ravaged by the economic recession simply couldnt afford to throw out anything unless it served absolutely no purpose.
But, of course, old habits die hard and mentalities are naturally inherited from generation to generation, So, even when conditions improved, the mindset of keeping anything that might be even slightly useful, whether now or in the future, was passed on to the next generation.
As a consequence, weve accumulated a lot of stuff, and what was once considered prudent thriftiness now looks more like outoftouch greed.
So you own seven sets of china and an entire wall of sneakers, Thats not unreasonable, right
Yeah, right, If youve realized that this hoarding mentality is ridiculous and wasteful, youve jumped one hurdle, But the next thing is actually to get rid of the excess, a process that can be a bit overwhelming after all, theres just so much stuff!
To help yourself out, try creating a Scaling Down Mission Statement SDMS.
An SDMS articulates the motivation behind why you want to scale down, A sample SDMS might be something like, “My great aunt is moving into assisted living with less space, so I want to help her sort out the important belongings shell take with her.
”
If youre struggling to put your goal into a clear oneliner like that, try jotting down just a few keywords.
Maybe its “make room for home office” or “simple living, ” Putting your ideas and goals on paper will both give you a clear destination and help you get there, too.
People have many apprehensions about scaling down but theyre easily overcome,
Hopefully, the SDMS has helped you figure out your goals, Nonetheless, the execution of the plan can still be daunting, If youre feeling apprehensive, rest assured that this is perfectly normal,
Maybe youre thinking, “But I might regret throwing this out later on!” Most people have done this thrown something out only to regret it a few days later, so this is definitely an understandable mentality.
Heres the thing, though: if you hadnt been rummaging through your old stuff to organize and streamline your belongings, you probably wouldve forgotten you had, or would have been unable to locate, the thing youre now worrying about throwing out!
So, dare to be bold.
If you havent used something for five years, chances are you wont use it in the next five, either, So chuck it!
A second common apprehension is fear of the tasks overwhelming nature the worry that its going to take forever to make a decision about every item.
The antidote to this fear is simply to get started, Grab a bag and walk around your home with the goal of throwing out a certain number of items maybe its five, maybe.
Attack anywhere and everywhere, especially parts that look easy!
Of course, youre probably going to have difficulty parting with things that have some kind of sentimental value, especially since life circumstances are always in flux.
Relationships, hobbies and jobs can change in the blink of an eye, and some things are just too difficult to shrug off and throw out.
So dont be afraid to keep things for a set amount of time, and make a decision about it once that time is up.
For instance, maybe you just changed jobs and have a box filled with old meeting agendas, a coffee mug, sentimental goodbye cards and so on.
Though some of that stuff might be ready for the garbage, give it a couple of months to see whether your life takes a new direction.
In some cases, only time will tell,
Among the various strategies for scaling down are grouping and skimming,
Okay, maybe youve resolved to collect memories instead of shoes, Thats great! But theres still the business of getting rid of all the excess that youve already accrued, so lets explore some of the most common scalingdown strategies.
One strategy is called grouping, It consists of grouping together all the duplicate items to get a grasp of what should stay and what should go.
Do you have two, ten, orumbrellas In cases of such everyday objects, you might not even have been consciously collecting them.
Rather, you may have added one here and another there as a precautionary extra, in case someone needed it in the future.
Of course, in the process of scaling down, some items will inevitably have to go, Grouping is a good method because seeing all the similar items together will make it easier to see which ones are worth keeping.
Skimming is a different approach with a similar effect: when skimming, you keep the best and throw out the rest without a second thought.
For disposing of anything, from jackets to vases, skimming is a great strategy, Just get started by identifying anything that brings you only a moderate amount of use or satisfaction,
Using this strategy, many objects might leave you wondering “what if” and thats actually a great sign that the item needs to go.
Maybe your cupboards are stuffed with dishes, so you open them intending to throw out all but the best two sets.
But then another voice inside your head says, “But what if I want to have that huge dinner party one day and serve allpeople with real china”
Here, you need to counter that voice with another: “But am I ever going to have that party And will they care if their food is on real china or not” Answer: most likely not.
Performing triage and taking a photograph are more great strategies for scaling down,
Everyone is different, and different people will prefer different scalingdown methods, So, in addition to grouping and skimming, try out these two additional strategies to find the best fit for you.
Performing triage means collecting all the items in question into one spot, then picking out three from the pile randomly.
Out of those three, pick your least favorite, Once you do that, pick out another three random items, and again pick out your least favorite, In this way, youll easily cut down your belongings by onethird,
Triaging is an especially great approach for collectors who have a lot of variations of one item, but its also applicable for smaller, everyday clutter, too.
The final strategy is taking photographs of your beloved objects,
It might sound trite, but photos will truly help you hold on to the special memories or meanings attached to objects without taking up much space at all.
Of course, photos wont have the same physicality as the actual item, but you might be surprised at how much satisfaction you can get from a twodimensional reproduction.
Much of the time, the value of an object lies in its ability to evoke the feelings or experiences attached to it.
As we all know, photos can be invaluable when it comes to remembering that special dinner party or vacation with your loved ones and the same is true for photos of your belongings.
Maybe you dont have any room left for your mothers wedding dress or the vintage car thats been sitting in your garage for years.
Its not easy to say goodbye, but photographs will help you remember and share the special stories behind such items, even when theyre gone.
Youll feel better about scaling down if you give your stuff a good home,
Youve now successfully found a strategy that works for you and have culled the best from the rest.
But the idea of trashing all your old belongings is still pretty distasteful, right Well, the good news is that you dont have to!
Finding good homes for your stuff is actually an important part of scaling down in a happy, healthy way.
Knowing that your objects will go to appreciative new owners instead of disappearing into the landfill will make the process much more bearable and even enjoyable.
Finding the best match for ones belongings might mean finding a specific person or donating them to the right charitable organization.
Lets take Jeff as a case study, Jeff needed to scale down, and so decided, rather reluctantly, to part with his beloved old car, which held many great memories.
Naturally, he didnt want to give it away randomly, so he found a reputable charity that would ensure someone else would benefit from it.
Doing good while also decluttering his life was a doublewhammy, in the best way possible,
Recycling is another way to part with your things with a positive result for both you and society.
Instead of throwing your things in the bin, try to salvage what parts can be recycled, Many communities have recycling programs for paper, metal, plastic and other materials,
As the saying goes, one mans trash is another mans treasure, Knowing that your stuff will be reused will ease the process of scaling down since youll know someone will take advantage of it!
We dont need a whole lot to be happy.
Though its not easy to break the habit of overconsumption, finding ways to sort and reduce your stuff without sacrificing meaning and memories can help you live with less, and be happier for it.
.