We spend our lives acquiring “stuff”. Unfortunately, and all too often, our loved ones and executors later find that stuff in boxes, in junk drawers, messy garages, and dusty attics when we’re gone. Our loved ones or our executors must deal with the chaos we’ve created. Do them and yourself a favor – start decluttering today. Don’t leave it until after you’re gone to have others clean up your mess.
Numerous articles have been published that directly correlate clutter to stress. A 2009 study showed that a cluttered home environment causes people to constantly be in “fight or flight” mode. Clutter tends to raise our cortisol – causing us to feel overwhelmed and anxious. Clutter can also lead to heightened procrastination.
Elisabeth Beam is a terrific resource to follow on Instagram. You can find her material under the handle of “balancingbeams”. In a recent a post, she shared “When our visual space is overwhelmed with clutter, our brain stays in a constant state low-grade stress – even when we’re not actively thinking about the mess”.
The constant bombardment of consumer marketing implies that “more is better”. Clicking on the Amazon Prime button is like the rat hitting the bar in a Skinner Box. Hit the bar, get a treat. It’s only when the credit card bill arrives that we get that first pang of guilt. Later, those items frequently sit boxed in a garage piled so high and deep that we have to park our cars in the driveway. Then we can’t find our truly important items when needed.
Still waiting for that free weekend to de-clutter that never comes? Ms. Beam notes that a little bit of small, timely, and frequent decluttering is the way to go. 15-minute bites every day (or even every week) can make a huge impact!
I’m lucky. My wife was a disciple of Marie Kondo (author of “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” long before that book made Ms. Kondo a cultural icon. I took my wife’s skills for granted. Until my brother died.
Following his retirement, he downsized from a 4,000 sq ft home to a 1200 sq ft condo. Rather than declutter, he simply put what wouldn’t fit inside the condo into storage. The expense of that storage was absurd.
After his death, we found old tax returns, useless receipts, and paper bank statements in dozens of cardboard boxes. Silverware, dinnerware, and glasses that had not been used for ten years or more. TVs, appliances, and gadgets that dated before the Reagan administration. In retrospect, we can see he was absolutely stressed from the clutter. All that stress was later transferred to me when I became his executor.
Thankfully, I was introduced to the team at “The Settler” – a professional organization business and concierge move management company founded by Jackie Randall and Bridget Urgo. You can find them at www.thesetterhome.com They categorized, photographed, and tagged everything; what was to be shipped to beneficiaries, items to be donated to charity, what was available for estate sale, and what was declared as recyclable, yard waste, or trash. It took a solid week of work for four people totaling roughly 200 hours to clear the mess. All of this time and money was completely unnecessary had my brother just taken a few minutes a day to de-clutter.
The real challenge came when we had to find the truly important items required to manage his estate. There was no password list that he made available, no access to his emails (where many of his bills came), and no access to his computer. After many months, I was able to get through it all but it took much longer and was more costly than necessary.
Don’t leave a mess for your relatives, attorney, or executor to wade through. Significantly reduce your current stress levels now by taking a few minutes a day to declutter. In the process, dramatically simplify the role of your executor.
One way to start is to get your important documents organized and filed – either in the cloud or in a fire-proof box. That’s why I’ve partnered with the NOKbox (next of kin) to organize our important files www.thenokbox.com.
Each paid engagement with Westwood Solutions receives a complimentary NOKBox.
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