Do you duck and cover every time you open a closet or tread carefully around piles of stuff that clutter your house? When was the last time you carefully inspected the possessions you’ve accumulated over the years? Is there maybe a little bit of “hoarder” in you?

Well, according to a recent post on the TED Ideas website, and in a recent TED talk by hoarding expert Matt Paxton, many of us have a little bit of hoarder lurking in ourselves. But there are things you can do to examine the problem and shed some possessions. For so many of us, our possessions represent decades of hard work, good memories or pleasure from their purchase. Yet the gratification from this “stuff” is often short-lived and in fact, the over-indulgence and accumulation may be short-changing your current life, if the possessions get in the way, take time away from relationships or leave you unable to get involved in pleasures outside of your home. 

So how do you approach and solve the clutter conundrum? Matt Paxton urges you to recognize you won’t become a “minimalist” overnight and to pace your approach to solving the problem with short bursts of attention, every day, for many nights a week until you’ve gone through your possessions. Over at Savvy Senior, Jim Miller suggests a number of resources available to help you sort through the mess, including The Institute for Challenging Disorganization, and Hoarding Cleanup, which connects you to resources throughout the country.

And of course, for many of us, this decluttering is a necessary first step toward thinking about downsizing our lifestyles, which can be a very complicated process. AARP advises that before you can deal with your possessions, you need to address the personal feelings that inevitably surface when you think about a downsizing transition. They advise you to bring in a neutral 3rd party to help you sort through your stuff and start with the least emotional place in your home. And over at Next Avenue, writer Ellen Ryan urges you to consider downsizing well before you actually need to make the move. Why do so? Among the reasons she gives are avoiding the pressure of a deadline, eliminating the burden on loved ones and making time for the necessary conversations that will arise. So pull out your boxes and packing tape and read more here.