Tips on how to let go

Some organization chores are more difficult than others, so we asked Ellen Pinsky of I Organize U in Geneva and Martin Pospeshil of klutter.org, based in Vernon Hills, how to deal with these.

• Older folk often have to leave homes where they have lived for many years and move to smaller quarters.

Creating a memory book with photographs of items that can't make the move, such as furniture, can help them feel much better, said Pinsky.

• How do you decide which family heirlooms to keep?

Talk to older relatives and find out what really came with great grandfather on that ship, said Pinsky.

She also recommends discussing with young people which family treasures they might want for their homes some day. Hint: It won't be the china. "Young people don't want their parents' dishes."

• Don't keep something just because a beloved relative gave it to you, said Pospeshil, who lives in Buffalo Grove.

"Your memory of Aunt Edna is her legacy. This plastic vase is not Aunt Edna, and it's not your memory of her."

• Pospeshil and his partner, Jeanine Farwell of Vernon Hills, often play "good cop, bad cop" when a client is having difficulty letting go.

"Say there's a client whose throwaway pile is three or four items. I would sympathize, and Jeanine would say 'This has got to go.'"

- Deborah Donovan