As older adults begin to see retirement coming toward them, there is the age old question about whether to leave or stay put. Perhaps a more crucial question is what to let go of in order to move on. Downsizing can be as simple as reducing the amount of items in your living space or it can involve several months of sorting and eventually moving to smaller quarters.
Deciding When It's Time for Seniors to Downsize
Sometimes it is clearly obvious when illness intervenes and requires more sudden adjustments to make daily life more manageable. However, it can also be a series of small events and situations which cry out for consideration of downsizing.
Since the process of sorting and making those decisions about what to keep and what to give to family, donate or sell can take up to a year or more, it is well worth thinking about it as one plans for retirement. At the same time seniors consider other locations or retirement in place, they may look around and find much of the space and stuff is just there by default as its active usefulness has been outlived.
Economic Reasons for Retirees to Consider Downsizing
The economy, whether it be the nation's or an individual's, may point toward lowering monthly bills and eliminating excess expenses. Older adults may continue to pay ever-rising utilities and other expenses like mortgage, etc. for spaces they no longer actually use.
This can be done without great sacrifice to one's general way of life. A clear-eyed assessment of actual space used on a daily basis is often far less than the area being lived in. By the same token, a long hard look around may show a number of items in need of being let go while saving a picture of the memory.
Physical and Health Reasons for Older Adults to Downsize
As seniors age they may be holding onto things they enjoyed and used earlier in life but have recently been collecting dust. Look around and notice the exercise bike now being used as a clothes horse, or the bike or motorcycle in the corner of the garage. As an older person's physical abilities and needs change, they may benefit from a different living situation and downsizing may help meet their current physical and health needs.
Chances are if the items in the corner have become stacked in almost unrecognizable ways, they are no longer being used. Even items for the yard or garden, which may have been a life love, now may pose a physical risk in terms of safety both in being stored and being used.
There are times when caring for a spouse requires a smaller sphere of activity. That may be a clear sign that it's time to downsize within current space or eventually consider a smaller living space.
Changes in Daily Activities as People Age May Indicate Need to Downsize
A home which was just perfect when moved in to may no longer fit a senior's daily living patterns. If yard care used to be a thrill but has gradually become a burden, consider a place where you don't have to struggle with keeping up with landscaping issues.
If you find yourself mostly using certain rooms, gently ask yourself which areas could be done without. It may be that occupying less space specifically designed for daily needs would leave the other barely used space hardly noticed if it were not available.
If keeping house has become a dreaded chore, consider having less to maintain. If you used to relish repairs but now find them challenging or hard to pay for, it may be worth looking at other choices. Some older adults prefer a smaller space where they can live with more independence to a larger space which is cluttered with the past and needs to be updated to current needs.
Getting a clear vision of a better life without so much unneeded and unused space and stuff can be paramount to lessening the stress which can accompany the aging process. It may be motivated in a number of ways: by the death of a friend or family member or even by watching programs like Hoarders on TV. Current situations involving economic, physical and changes in daily living routines may be reason enough to start gradual downsizing. The rewards can include an increase in both safety and enjoyment of senior living!
Hildra Tague - Mrs. Hildra Tague is a freelance writer, consultant, and teacher dedicated to issues of education and parenting. This all started when she ...
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