I wrote this elsewhere geared towards an oversized wardrobe, but much of it can easily be adapted to other belongings.
In no particular order:
- Use a new one of these approaches every week or month. New approaches will give you fresh eyes when an old approach gets more difficult.
- Consider all of these options first and choose your favorite(s). It will also make it easier if you get to choose the approach that seems easiest to you. Make sure you at least calculate savings from getting rid of storage and estimate what a physical or online sale might bring in, whether or not you choose those options.
- Take pictures of all items with sentimental value: old concert T-shirts, a favorite jacket from school with fond memories associated, etc.
- Remove all items with holes, stains, missing buttons, broken zippers, etc. Some of these can be donated/recycled. I know quilters who donate the smallest leftover scraps to a program that turns the material into rags (if I remember correctly), and fleeces can be recycled. You might call fabric stores to find the first type of program if online searching doesn't help. Contact outdoor clothing stores like Patagonia and Columbia that sell fleeces to inquire about fleece recycling. Some stores offer discounts on new fleece when you bring in old items.
- Calculate the cost of giving up the storage unit and make plans for the money. Something fun and immediate for part of it, savings for half, and long-term fun plans for the rest. Or donate to a favorite cause. Knowing it will help others can help you.
- See what you can sell (online, garage sale, consignment shop) and add that money to the above budget.
- Talk with a therapist to address why it's so difficult to let go of stuff. If you live with others or have family, have a frank discussion about how much easier it will be on one of you if the other happens to die first, or if either of you (or any family) need to do this process alone because one of you is in the hospital (or both of you die) and you need the money, or have to get the place ready to move out (gods forbid).
- You may be able to find some guidelines online to probe why you feel you need to hold onto things. If you have pictures of memorabilia, you won't have to let the memories go, but you won't have to deal with over-stuffed storage or the increased budget either. If you realizes how much work it would be for others to have to deal with, you may realize it's your personal responsibility to downsize and not leave the burden to others, to minimize your impact on the environment, or to optimize your budget. Use whichever tactic appeals to your values most. If you've saved or made money in this process, you can use a portion of that to replace or update items you regrets getting rid of, if you ever realize you should have kept at least one sport coat, for instance.
- Get rid of everything that doesn't fit. If you're hoping to lose weight, start with everything too large; if you're hoping to gain, with everything too small.
- Hang everything in the closet 'backwards' and if you wears something, hang it the 'correct' way after it's laundered. After 3-12 months, remove everything that's still hanging backwards. 3 months should be enough time for daily wear items. 12 for seasonal items like heavy winter clothes or light summer things.
- Donate items directly (especially warm and waterproof winter stuff) to the homeless or needy, so you can see how much more they will value the items.
- Choose a number of items to get rid of for every short unit of time, like one item per day or 5 items per week. This will make the project more manageable.
- For every new (or new-to-you) item you get, get rid of X number of items. Two at least; up to ten if you have a lot of excess.
- Hold each item in your hand and consider if it is (a.) functional, (b.) brings you happiness, and (c.) flattering. If it's not all three, find a way to get rid of it. (There may be some exception to (b.) and (c.) for work or specific sport/activity clothing.)
- If you're helping someone else with this process, do not remove anything without their consent and tell them you won't. They needs to trust you so they can go through this process.
- If you're helping someone in your household, others in your household should also do all of the above as fits each of you. You may have fewer items so you'd offer to get rid of one item per week or 3 per month vs. their 1 per day or 5 per week, for example. If you have the most stuff, you can ask them to do it with you in a similar, scaled manner. If you're working at this together as a family it will help. Every so often, each of you should look around and note how much more space you have, how much less time you spend organizing, how much easier it is to clean without moving stuff, how much easier laundry is, how much nicer life is, etc.
