Why You Should Downsize Your Stuff (Even If You’re Not Moving)

In midlife, many of us are living in homes we chose for a different season of life. Extra bedrooms for our kids, lots of storage to house sports equipment, camping gear and everything you need to entertain a crowd. As the kids begin to filter out, our homes and the stuff in them tend to stay static. We may anticipate the need to downsize someday, but in the meantime we keep all of that stuff because we have room for it.

Here’s a thought: You don’t need to wait until you move to begin downsizing your belongings. In fact, you don’t need a smaller home to begin enjoying the delights of living with less.

Just Because You Have the Space Doesn’t Mean You Need the Stuff

Over the years we somehow felt the need to fill up every space in our homes, as if it was wasted if not used. We absently stuffed things into closets and drawers even after they were already full because we could. Furniture we inherited but didn’t actually need found a home alongside what we already owned. It never occurred to us to make room for it by letting go of something else.

You may have a guest room currently serving as a dumping ground for everything that doesn’t have a home. Or a garage you can’t park in due to the boxes, bins and furniture that have piled up over the years. Or closets that aren’t fun to open. If any of this sounds familiar, now would be a great time for a downsize of your stuff.

Sure all those things aren’t actually bothering you. They aren’t interfering with your daily life because you don’t really interact with them much.

But you may not realize they are actually weighing on you mentally. Well, more like the knowledge that you’ll have to deal with them eventually is weighing on you. When you declutter the things from the earlier seasons of life, you aren’t just doing your future self the favor of making the downsizing process easier. You are clarifying the things that matter in your life today, and making room to appreciate them.

Don’t Downsize Everything. Rethink What You Need

I’d like to clarify that when I tell you to downsize your belongings, I don’t mean focusing exclusively on editing down every category. Sure you may edit down from 12 wine openers to 6, or rethink how many mugs you actually need, but some categories could probably be edited entirely. 

Do you have a closet full of ‘work’ clothes you never wear now that your office is at home? Is camping a distant memory? When was the last time you entertained a crowd? So much of what we own supports roles we no longer play. Keeping all that stuff around doesn’t preserve those chapters of our lives, and letting them go does not erase them! Reconsider categories based on your current lifestyle, rather than a smaller version of your old one.

Remember, your goal isn’t to own less of everything. It’s to be intentional about what you keep.Your belongings should serve the life you’re living, not the one you’ve already lived. Believe me when I tell you that you won’t miss those things when they are gone. And if you end up needing a tent someday, you can always borrow one!

Make the Hard Decisions Before You Have To

When you downsize your belongings before you downsize your home you are doing future you a huge favor. Because downsizing under pressure (a move, health event, family emergency) makes an already emotional process harder.

When you start downsizing your stuff early, you have the luxury of taking my favorite approach: small efforts performed consistently over time! Breaking the huge job of downsizing the buildup of 30+ years into small, manageable pieces allows you to build up your decluttering muscle. That means you’ll gain decision-making confidence. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment after each effort is complete which boosts your momentum. And you’ll be well-equipped to push through the temporary feelings of discomfort.

Another bonus of decluttering before you have to? Having the time to involve others (like your grown kids

) in the decisions, help a reluctant spouse along the path and potentially find good homes for the things you loved but no longer have use for. None of that is possible when the need to purge is urgent. Take the time now to make thoughtful decisions and you will appreciate the wisdom of those decisions decades into the future.

Start Living Smaller Now

Listen, you may not be planning a move in the next 5 years. Maybe your plan is actually to age in place and not leave your current home at all. Whether you think you’ll downsize someday or not, you can enjoy the benefits of less stuff starting now.

After all, we have decades of life left to look forward to. How about making space for what’s important in this next chapter? You may have all the space in the world, but that doesn’t mean the junk filling it up is serving you.

Maybe try living with less stuff and more space and see how it feels. You may realize how good it feels to open a closet of things you actually wear. Or find what you need immediately when you open a drawer. One of my favorite feelings is the sense of calm and relaxation that washes over me when I remove visual clutter from open shelves and surfaces.

You don’t need the urgency of a smaller home to downsize what’s filling up your current one. Start your downsize today and see what a difference it makes in your midlife!