There are a million ways to declutter. My approach? Go tiny

“Microparing,” or tossing two items a day, rewards me with the same hit of dopamine I once got from retail therapy. Today’s target is the Ikea Billy bookcase in my home office. On tiptoes, I reach a high shelf and lift a lined wicker basket.

Tucked among boxes of paper clips and pads of pastel Post-it Notes, I find a black wooden egg with the glowing face of an extraterrestrial printed on one side. I shake it and the maraca beads rattle, prompting a faint memory of the music class I took my daughter to when she was 3. In the same basket is a photography loupe I used for magnifying contact sheets in my ad agency days, before everything went digital .



I carry both objects into the storage area of my basement and add them to the cardboard box designated for Goodwill. And with that, I mentally cross another day off my list. My husband and I, recent empty nesters, are preparing for our first move in more than 25 years.

It’s the big one: we’re planning to downsize from our single-family suburban house to a one-bedroom condo by the Jersey Shore in the next two years. The work of sorting and removing what won’t be coming with us felt monumental – until I stumbled on to a solution. Introducing: Microparing.