Downsize: How to improve your life with less stuff Does this look like your life? Time for a clean up! Photo: Supplied. Wendy Hanes is a professional declutterer. Selling possessions is like "hitting the refresh button" Downsizing is a chance to "live with your best stuff" Have you downsized? Comment below DAVID Miller was a 28-year-old living a comfortable existence in a swanky Adelaide apartment with all the mod-cons when he decided to sell everything he owned. "I just woke up and felt stressed in my job," he said. My relationship had broken up a few months before, so I just decided to move to Brisbane. I had a nice apartment and I sold or gave away everything that wouldn't fit in my car. In 24 hours I had moved states. It's like hitting the refresh button on life. I can be flexible, spontaneous and move at the drop of a hat if I need to. Some people would be terrified by the prospect of leaving absolutely everything behind but Mr Miller said he found the change invigorating. That's probably why the changes didn't stop there - he's since moved to Indonesia and now back to Adelaide. Mr Miller said this semi-nomadic lifestyle has forced him to change the way he values the material things in life and has genuinely influenced what he feels he needs to take with him. I don't have keepsakes, like concert tickets or birthday cards or photos. I've changed the way I remember things," he said. Everything I need is in my head. I think the fact that I am a photographer helps me to remember things and frame them in them in my mind. The human relationship with "stuff" and "things" is fraught with complications. Wendy Hanes, a professional de-clutterer from Victoria, said this was mostly because of society's belief that bigger is always better. Space is a status thing. People feel that when they downsize they are somehow having less of a life," she said. The way to overcome this is to ensure you are exchanging quantity for quality. Downsizing is an opportunity to live with your best stuff and sharply focus your style. Pick out your best furniture, china, sheets and towels and furniture and surround yourself with your favourite things. Mr Miller said he prizes his laptop and camera above all other things and no matter where he goes, they will move with him. He also admits to missing a portable barbecue that he left behind during one of his several moves. I cooked on that thing every night, it was great. I definitely miss that," he said. He also said that his friends think he's crazy because he doesn't make decisions with a plan. But I have no problem with that. I enjoy my life when it's spontaneous - I think more people need to embrace spontaneity in their lives. It helps you feel more balanced," he said. Constant change can be unsettling for many people. According to Carol Martyn, who is known as Dr Declutter and has a background in counselling and working with people in crisis - most of her clients feel overwhelmed by the changes life throws at them. "Very often they don't know where to start," she said. They look around the house and feel overwhelmed. There is a struggle to find a balance between the things that are sentimental and the space that they will actually have in their new place. Ms Martyn describes her job as a privilege - given so many people allow her into their homes when often they would have been too embarrassed to show anyone else. "They essentially are allowing me to shift through their memories and their life," she said. I focus on being sensitive and taking my time - it can be a slow process. I will often I take my signage off my car, or park a few streets back so their privacy is maintained. But not everyone makes drastic changes in order to give space in their lives. Oberon Carter, 37 from Tasmania, spends one weekend every six months de-cluttering the home he shares with his wife and three daughters, aged 9, 6 and 2. He told news.com.au that it's constantly surprising how much the family can accumulate in such a short space of time. Magazines, baby clothes, toys and technology that has become redundant are the most common things we throw out. On the Australia Day weekend I threw out something like 1200 CDS. I still have all the music on my computer but I don't need the actual discs," he said. To make the process easier, Mr Carter and his family have committed to simple philosophy: "If it doesn't fit in our dream house then we don't need it." "We want to live in a way that means we get more out of using less," he said. We live in a three-bedroom house and we also run a business and home school our kids from here. Sometimes we want for more space, but think back to the 1950s when people raised six children in a house like this. It's not that we need space, it's the perception that we need more space. It's also possible to downsize and de-clutter relationships. Like Jessica Jeffrey, 23 from Victoria, who told news.com.au she's been a lot happier since she decided to "clean out" her friendship group. "I had a lot of people in my life who were not good for me, and I realised this after I went through some tough times in my life and they showed that they were not really good friends so I have slowly cut them out of my life," she said. As for Mr Miller, he is on the move again but said he intends to keep his downsized approach to life when he finds his feet again. "Admittedly I'm probably ready to plant my feet now and settle a bit more," he said. I'll probably aim to buy an apartment wherever I am at the end of this year and I'll buy the couch and television again. But if I ever feel the need to take off again, I'll just rent it out fully furnished. Have you downsized your life? What was the hardest thing to ditch? Share your experience in the comments below. For more stories like this, follow Lucy on Twitter: @lucyjk