Our garages, spare bedrooms and closets probably contain our mother’s vintage china that the kids don’t want, bowling shoes from someone that quit the league long ago or an old filing cabinet full of warranties for products long since replaced. Now we face another new year.

Time marches on. We remodel rooms, inherit Aunt Sally’s antiques, the kids move in and out and  we can’t bear to part with those sentimental knickknacks gathering dust and sending pangs of guilt every time we think of disposing them. We all have too much stuff, and it simply won’t all fit. Maybe it’s time to downsize. Postponing the purge just results in more overflowing, unsightly homes, garages or expensive offsite storage units sitting idle for years.

Before downsizing, we must ask ourselves important questions about whether we really need all this stuff or that these items have outlived their purpose. Belongings once treasured are transforming to burdens.

Let this year be a time to take action. Make the decision to cut the ties and free up time, money and energy without the burdens and clutter of the past. Inaction and indecision take an emotional toll on our physical and emotional health. Often the task of downsizing feels overwhelming, but the joy experienced when it is completed is indescribable.

For more information, call Dina Taylor, owner of Easily Organized, at 941-921-5066, email [email protected] or visit EasilyOrganized.com.