Keeping an Downsizing Journal

A journal is a great place to write down goals, record experiences, reflect on progress, and keep track of information. Personally, I have kept (and continue to keep) journals for a variety of purposes. Examples include a prayer journal, a devotional journal, a gratitude journal, a diet and exercise journal, and an experience journal (which is what most people think of when they hear the word journal). Indeed, journals can be dedicated to any purpose that meets a need. 

Recently, as I have begun to work virtually with clients, I have encouraged them to keep a downsizing journal. ​

Why Keep a Downsizing Journal?

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A downsizing journal is exactly what it sounds like: a journal dedicated to the process of downsizing. Downsizing is a major undertaking that involves a great deal of physical, mental, and emotional effort. At times, it can be overwhelming, frustrating, and/or exhausting. Staying on track and maintaining your motivation for such an undertaking can be challenging. Writing about the experience can help you appreciate your purpose, examine your feelings, vent your frustrations, and record your progress. 

What to Include in Your Journal

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You can obviously include anything you like in your downsizing journal. That's the beauty of journals; they're personal. That said, I do have a few recommendations for how to utilize a downsizing journal effectively. Consider including the following:

Define Your "Why"
Your "why" is your purpose for downsizing. I enthusiastically encourage you to start your journal off by creating your persoanl list of reasons for embarking on the downsizing journey. Take your time producing this list. Ponder. Ask yourself questions such as:

• "Why do I want to downsize?"
• "What do I hope to achieve?"
• "What positive outcomes do I anticipate from this process?"

​Record your answers. You can create a simple bullet list or write detailed paragraphs explaining each of your reasons. However you choose to record the information, it's important that you look at it frequently throughout the process. Use it as a reminder of why you started the downsizing process and a source of motivation to keep you focused and moving forward.

Describe Your End State
Your end state is closely related to your "why" but different enough to merit a page or two of its own. Your end state is what allows you both to visualize and to recognize success. How will you know when you have successfully downsized if you don't have a picture in your mind of what that will look like? 

​Again, it's helpful to ask yourself a few questions and record your answers. Some questions to ponder include: 

• What are my goals?
• How will I know when I have met them?
• How do I want my space to look, feel, and function when I am done?

Again, it's important to revisit your answers periodically in order to evaluate your progress and be reminded of what you are working toward. 

Outline an Action Plan
If you are working with a professional organizer, he/she can assist you in creating an overarching plan for achieving your downsizing goals. Downsizing is a comprehensive process that typically involves editing all of your possessions, at least to a certain degree. As such, it is best to break it down. I recommend taking one of the following approaches:

• Downsize by Room - If downsizing by room, create a separate goal or set of goals for each space. Then break the process for achieving each goal down into manageable tasks. For instance, if you are downsizing your kitchen, you could break it down by space or item (i.e. upper cabinets, lower cabinets, and drawers versus small appliances, utensils, dishes, etc.). 
• Downsizing by Category - If you are downsizing by category, you will want to create goals for each type of item you'll be dealing with such as books, clothing, kitchen items, sports equipment, and so forth. Your goals might be centered on the amount of space you have - such as pairing books down to fit on a single bookcase - or what you anticipate needing - such as so many pairs of slacks, so many dressy tops, so many pairs of leggings, etc. 

Creating a detailed plan for downsizing will take some time and thought, but it will make the actual process much simpler because you will know when you have met your goal. Decision making will be less stressful if you have a clear set of guidelines in place to help you determine what you want/need to keep. 

Record Your Progress
A journal is a great place to insert before and after photographs to document your progress. You might also use your journal to make to do lists. Personally I find crossing items off a list extremely satisfying. You can also just write about your progress in typical journal format by describing what you accomplish each day or week. 

Vent Your Frustrations
As with any major undertaking you will encounter challenges throughout the downsizing process. Things will not always go according to plan. Venting your frustrations on paper can be wonderfully theraputic. It's a way of purging your soul while purging your belongings!

Work Through the Decision Making Process
If you're having trouble determining what to part with or struggling to let go of things, write about it. Make a list of pros and cons for keeping or getting rid of a particular item that's causing your stress. Seeing it all laid out in black and white often yields an obvious solution.  

Record Your Feelings
When you're feeling overwhelmed by the sheer scope and scale of the process, write it out. When you're feeling proud of what you've accomplished, record those emotions. Writing down your feelings can be an effective way of processing them. The simple act of writing it down can help you to make sense of what you're feeling and deal productively with those emotions.  

Write About Your Stuff
Do you have fond memories of a particular item? Whether or not you are keeping the item in question, I recommend writing about it. Describe the circumstances that led you to acquire the item, who gave it to you, what you love about it, why it has value to you, and where it came from. You might even experiment with writing to the item itself. Pretend you are transcribing a letter to the beloved item. Reminisce about how you "met", who "introduced you", what kinds of experiences you enjoyed together, and so forth. Be sure to include a photograph of the item as well. 

Keep Track of Things
We downsized as part of a recent move. For us the process involved giving away many items to friends and family, donating items to charity, and selling some items. Because I was giving away a lot of things to a lot of different people, I kept an ever-evolving list of the items I had offered up, who had claimed them, and when/where the items would be handed off to their new owners. A downsizing journal is the perfect place to keep track of such information. If you're selling a lot of things,  you can also use your journal to list each item, your asking price, your rock-bottom price, and other pertinent information. 

Summing Up

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If you are embarking on the downsizing journey, I hope you will consider keeping  a downsizing journal. Doing so can help you manage, process, record, and preserve the process. Your downsizing journal can be private, or you can share it with a family member or trusted friend. If you are working with an organizer, I recommend you share portions of your journal with him/her as you deem appropriate.  ​