Aging: Honoring Our "Stuff" - Kerry Thomas

Kerry Thomas is an organizing and productivity coach. She has a lot of different passions, but her favorite is working with offices.

Kerry has some things she needs to get off her chest when it comes to people’s “stuff” as they get older. Let’s start with, “what small changes can I implement now that’ll make things easier for those we leave behind?”

When you have the luxury of helping people through the process of decluttering over time, it can be good and bad. First, she has seen success when the approach doesn’t come from a place of judgment, but when you come at it from a place of improvement. It doesn’t need to come from a place of telling them what to do.

One thing that is helpful is when somebody else does the touching and smelling of clothes, especially. There are a lot of emotions associated with clothing, so when you’re trying to get rid of things, it helps to detach from the emotional side of things a bit.

The more things you can do to tap into your subconscious (which is really “running the show”), you are able to find the emotions around your things. Feelings are fuel. This is what’s going to get you where you want to go.

The reverse happens when we’re trying to let go of things and get rid of things. So, it’s very helpful to have an accountability partner or somebody who can help you to avoid that.

If you’re the helper, it’s important to honor the other person’s wishes. With any age, if you go into somebody else’s environment, you can’t tell what might be somebody’s “favorites.” Duplicates and triplicates are a great place to start when decluttering or getting rid of stuff.

Kerry encourages people to do the 90 day test; have a box for the questionable things and let them sit for 90 days. If you find that you still don’t need those things after that time period, it’s time to get rid of them.

On thing she wants everybody to think about is that when we’re going through and helping our aging parents to declutter, it can be a good idea to record the stories that come from the trips down memory lane. This happens often when you have the opportunity to help somebody sift through their stuff, and capturing those memories can make the experience worthwhile.

One of the best things you can do for your loved ones is to let them know ahead of time what you want kept in the family, what you want to be donated to specific charities, or if you truly don’t care where your things go, let your loved ones know. If it’s appropriate to ask the people who are aging in your life, please ask them that question. Do the work before it’s needed.

Make sure you know what accounts are out there and make sure your loved ones have access to them. This is important for end of life events, or if there’s a memory issue.

You can find more about Kerry Thomas and Conquer The Chaos at:

ctcorganizing.com

*here you can find her TED Talk and other information.

Or on Facebook: FB Group: “Less Clutter, More Peace”