Who can benefit from my services, pt. 2?

This article is the second of a multi-part series in which I will outline persons who could benefit from services and explain why.

Are you over sixty and have lived in the same house for decades? Good for you. Moving is highly stressful, and having secure housing is something to cherish. Many young people don’t get this opportunity with mortgages being unaffordable and secure rents a thing of the past. But there is a downside to this.

Moving regularly and living in small and/or shared houses makes you more mindful about what you buy and leads to purging your belongings. You don’t want to lug unnecessary stuff when you move in and out of house shares every couple of years.

Living in the same house or flat for years makes you lazy. Why declutter? Why curb your buying habits? You’ve probably got the space to store stuff and the ability to ignore the piles in your loft.

Older people often have decades worth of belongings and not just their own clutter. If they’ve had families, they will most likely have stuff belonging to their kids, parents, or spouse.

Older people either feel overwhelmed, unsure where to start, or indifferent. After all, they have lived with their junk for so many years. They’ve become clutter blind. They know deep down that leaving the mess to their kids is not the solution, but they can’t face tackling it.

Swedish-born artist Margareta Magnusson wrote a well-known book, Döstädning The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, in which she describes how and particularly why older people should tackle their belongings.

‘I am death cleaning, or as we call it in Swedish: Döstädning. Dö is death, and standing is cleaning. In Swedish, it is a term that means removing unnecessary things and making your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet.’

In a nutshell, rather than leaving clutter to your children when you die and risk fallout between them, she advises older adults to sort their possessions while alive. Do you really need everything that you have amassed over many years? Do you even know what you have amassed? Would you feel better and happier living with less?

For me, there is another element to this. It is not just about what you leave behind; it’s also about making your life more pleasant and easier as you age. Do you really want to spend the last few decades of your life cleaning and moving stuff from one part of your house to another? Do you want to use limited energy to try to keep your home clean? Or do you want to live with less and have more spare time and energy to enjoy hobbies, travelling, family and friends?

When you hire a professional organiser like me, you will get a very hands-on service. I would never force you to part with anything. Instead, I would gently nudge and guide you and ask relevant questions as we go through your belongings. You need to be in the room to have the final say about your things, but you won’t have to lift boxes or move heavy stuff. You can sit in an armchair with a cuppa and direct me as I handle your stuff.

I have some years of experience working with older people, helping them sort their paperwork, wills and years’ worth of random knick-knacks.

I also deal with digital decluttering, an area that someone who hasn’t grown up with Twitter, emails and mobiles might struggle with. I help people locate their essential files and documents. I arrange them for ease of retrieval and teach how to make the most out of an ever-growing digital world.

If that is you and you want some help, what are you waiting for? Don’t delay any longer, and give me a ring so I can help you tackle your decades of clutter.

trabantbettina

Bettina Anna Trabant, Founder of Life Organised, your professional organising and decluttering service in East London. Eco-conscious minimalist and avid tea drinker,