In this episode of the Storage Series, we explore the sneaky ways future-based thinking affects what we keep. From saving items for the “next house,” “the kids,” or “retirement,” we often hold onto things that don’t reflect our current reality. This conversation invites listeners to challenge the stories we attach to stored belongings and offers thoughtful ways to reconnect with what we truly need today—not just someday.
In this episode we talk about:
- The most common future-focused reasons people store things
- How to recognize when storage is based on hope, guilt, or fear
- Practical ways to shift toward storage that serves the present moment
Mentioned in this episode:
- The “Review in 6 Months” strategy for guilt-free decision delays
- Tips for talking with loved ones about items “saved for them”
- Episode 114: Storage vs. Stalling—Are You Keeping It or Postponing a Decision?
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hey friends. Welcome back to Organized and Cherish with your organized flamingo. I'm your host Stephanie, certified professional organizer and sentimental decision making sidekick, and this week we are continuing our storage series, and if you're new around here, welcome. I'm so happy and glad that you're here.
This series is not in order necessarily, so if you are just here to listen to this topic. Awesome. This is a series that I created this year that talks all about the nuances. Of having storage, whether it's your attic or your basement in your own personal property or the kind that you have offsite and you pay for either you and or a loved one.
So we're kind of just talking overall about all of the challenges, the pros and the cons, and things that you should think about when you're having and have decided to store things in an outside storage that's not just like your pantry. So that's what the series is all about, and if you want to listen in on the other part of the series, then just head on down to the show notes.
I did put the other episodes on there as well, but you can always listen to this on its own as well. All right, so let's get to the topic for today.
Welcome to the Organized and Cherish podcast. With the organized flamingo. I am your host Stephanie, your compassionate and efficient professional organizer. Whether you are part of the sandwich generation helping a loved one declutter, or just trying to simplify life, this is the place for you. Together we will tackle those overwhelming piles of stuff, uncover purpose in what we keep.
And let go with dignity and care, because it's not just about throwing everything away, it's about respecting memories and simplifying life. Sound like a plan? Let's jump in and get organized. So our topic is all about what are you saving for future plans versus present needs specifically for storage.
For the decluttering, organizing, downsizing phase of your life when you have decided and or are already storing things in an outside storage. Again, it could be on property. It doesn't have to be off property. What I'm talking more about is the storage that's bigger than a closet in a pantry room. Like this is such a dedicated space that you're occupying it for storage.
Intentionally or not. That's a story for another day, but those are the spaces we're talking about. Today we're tackling the question of what are you saving it for In making sure that you're asking yourself and or your loved one that you are helping declutter and downsize the questions that can help you get to the real reason and make sure that it's of value that you have decided to store all of this.
So let's talk about the someday day items. It's the things stored away that are just in case or for the next house, or when the kids might want it. So this episode is all about the honest look at how those future oriented stories can sometimes stall the present and may not be helping your decluttering and downsizing journey right now.
So let's start with a few familiar lines. Let's see if any of these sound like something that you have heard and or have said. These are some of the examples. So if you are getting caught in something to this effect, then then you know what I'm talking about. I'm saving this for my future craft room.
These are all real statements I have heard by the way, from clients and community members and some that I have said myself. To be honest, I might need this when I retire and have more time. The kids might want this when they move out. We're going to get a bigger house someday and all have space for it.
Then I think I can sell this for a really good price. These all sound logical, and in fact, they're usually based in hope or good intentions. But what happens when that someday becomes a form of procrastination? So we have an episode actually that covers procrastination. Are you keeping all of these items in storage as a form of procrastination?
So we did tackle that. Head on to the show notes and I will link that episode. But that is one of the reasons, right, that we, we say these things, it's like, well, I'll just worry about that problem later. So we end up storing a version of life that doesn't exist yet. It might not even ever exist because holds.
And all the while that stuff takes up space in the life we're living right now. And this making. That you are being self-aware of. This comes in in your organizing, decluttering, and or downsizing journey for yourself and or for a loved one because when you're self-aware, you're at least able to pick up some of those trigger points and then stop them hopefully in the before you fully commit, especially if you're paying for storage or if you're about to store a whole lot of stuff that.
Is not allowing you to live the life that you are wanting to live in that space. So for some of you, you end up keeping things for such a long time that instead of converting that room into your dream craft room, hobby room, reading room, exercise room, podcast room, nothing room, just an empty room to think, or yoga or to draw or just to, to have nothing.
Then you stop. You stop living for the right now and instead keep living for the tomorrow. Again, not knowing what will happen in the future. So that is where you're organizing and decluttering. Downsizing journey, halts, because then now you're making plans for the future. So much so that you're not enjoying the right now, not allowing you to make decisions.
That will help your future self because you are never in the moment. So you never really are making decisions based on reality and facts. And that is where we start to get into a little bit of that trouble of clutter because we are now saving for the what ifs that may or may not have happened or have happened or will happen and just stuff starts to pile up.
So that's what I see quite a bit. I wanna make sure that when you are planning for your storage or you are. Dealing with a storage room in your area or offsite that there's some kind of plan for it. And we've talked about a little bit of, of this in other storage series discussions, but I want you to be even more intentional after you listen to this podcast episode because that way as you're making decisions, you know that you are intentionally keeping the those items for the right now.
And that your future self will also be grateful and thank you for it, but it's both and it's not just for your future self. Let's talk about some of those self-check questions to see if you are so far in the future that you're not enjoying your items right now, and that's creating clutter. Some of the ways to do a self-check are to ask the following questions.
So, um, one of them is, does the item support your life right now? What I like to tell people is that usually six to 12 months is the timeline that I, I like to have you think about and not past the 12 months. So will you be needing that stuff in the next 12 months? This is especially important for every.
Place in life in every chapter in life, but especially if you have children that are moving very quickly and so you're saving stuff for them for the later. Um, I have a lot of clients who have saved some of their costumes so that they could use so that if their kid needed a costume or they were in theater, they could use it and that kid may or may not even like to dress up in the future.
We don't know If you know that your child is, you know, kind of into that, then yes. Keep it. If you don't, then I would go ahead and try again whenever they're interested again. So let go of those items right now. Keep the stuff that's sentimental to you. Maybe that was handed down to you and that is special from a loved one or your parents or grandparents.
But the rest let it go and come back to collecting that stuff again when it's relevant again. But don't assume that the stuff you're saving right now is going to be good after 12 months. So about six to 12 months is usually the the good question to ask yourself. So does the item support my life right now or in the next six to 12 months?
Second question is, are you holding it because of guilt or fear? So we talk about this quite a bit, right? We even have an entire episode about guilt. And not holding things out of guilt. I mean, the, the storage is not paying itself. You are paying for it, whether it's from your mortgage, your time, and or actual fi financially paying money that you are, um, having to spend for renting this space.
So. The guilt can come from other people giving it to you. It can also be because you bought it and it was expensive, and now you feel guilty about letting it go, even though it doesn't serve you anymore. In the next six to 12 months, you're not using that anymore. It doesn't fit you anymore. It won't fit you anymore.
It's not your taste, et cetera. So the list goes on. So if you're keeping it out of guilt, let's work on that piece. If you're keeping it out of fear is another big reason why people keep things, especially in storage, because you have the What If syndrome. It's like, well, what if this happens? What if I need it and I can't replace it?
Very predominant in very, um, I see this quite a bit in people who had collectibles, who their parents had collectibles. Um, they fear that if they let it go, it might be worth something someday. And, you know, they will have released it and they didn't get the return on it, you know, for, for the value of it.
If that's the fear piece, let's work on that because it may or may not happen again. Kind of like, you know, the what ifs, but also many of the stuff can be replaced. Again, I talk about this quite a bit, um, especially if it's not like a unique item, you can mostly replace it. Someone else might have it. Um, you might be able to rebuy it, but if it's not serving you right now, why are you keeping it?
And sometimes I have people that are renting out storage that cost them like thousands of dollars and they were keeping this item that was maybe worth $25. You know, and it does, so it doesn't really make sense. So if you're fearful that you might need this. Let's think about it and let's see if you can replace it.
If you do need it and that time comes, will you be able to easily replace it? Hi, cherish friends. Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter and everything in between. That's why I created the Organizing Cherish Weekly email that goes out every Wednesday straight to your inbox.
To help you keep the momentum inspiration going with tips and reminders of our upcoming events, all you have to do is head on over to organize and cherish.com and sign up for the email newsletter. It's free and you can up subscribe whenever you'd like. It's my way of helping you simplify your life and respecting memories along the way.
Now, back to our show. Another question to ask yourself is, is the fantasy life it supports. Actually aligned with your goal, so would your future. You really want to deal with this item. So when I talk about fantasy life is I, I talk about the future. Pretend that you will be into it in the future. Like that's why we say kind of fantasy life, right?
Would your future, you even want to take care of this? I have quite a bit of people and I've been guilty of this, where I'll keep something because it's cute, pretty, I want it to fit my life. But the realization of what it really means to upkeep these items is completely different. This is, uh, very, uh, it stands out with clothing, with dry cleaning items.
So if you have, if you lived a life where, if you were maybe in incorporate or you just purchased a lot of items that you know easily are easily wrinkled or dry, clean only, and now you don't li lead that life. Everything has to be dry cleaned all the time, or it wrinkles easily and you're traveling all the time.
That fantasy life of wearing that, again, as cute as it may sound, doesn't seem feasible or practical or fun. So is your future self going to be burdened by it? Ask yourself the questions about like, are those items good for your life right now? Again, we talk about the six to 12 months, but are, will you ever want to relive that fantasy life again?
If you've inherited stuff from a loved one where you loved their style and you do want to incorporate it, does it support. Your, the life and your goals. Um, this is very, um, it comes up a lot when it's collectibles, so the thought is great. Like, oh, this is, you know, I loved my mom's collection. I loved the library that my dad left me.
It's just beautiful. It reminds me of him. The books just smell and they look beautiful, and they're just great. Right. Okay, great. But if you're not a big reader and you need to dust all of those books all the time, is that something you want to deal with realistically? So be honest about that. And then the fourth and last question to ask yourself is, has the someday timeline been moved more than a few times?
I like to say twice. Three times already. So. Been in storage for, you know, let's say five years waiting for a specific future moment. It might be time to reassess, like, have you moved that timeline over and over, like the first year, you know, we always say, go in and reevaluate when you first put stuff in storage.
Every, you know, three months, six months, nine months, and then 12 months. But then after the first year. Did you already move the needle again? Did you already do that whole process again? Did you again go in three months, six months, nine months, and then go to 12 months and now that this is your third round, like your second and third round of that timeline being moved?
If so, then it's time to be a little bit more honest about it. And have a different approach. It's no longer just these three questions that I ask. Now we're talking about the financial burden and the mental and physical burden it might be bringing onto you. We do have another episode on that of the, the value of storage, mental, physical, and financial.
So things for you to start thinking about, like those are more, you know, series. Like sit down and look at the facts and make sure that it's worth it. Okay, so we've talked about ways to identify if you are in this place where you're saving things because you think it might be worth it someday or for the later, right?
Okay. So I've given you some of those warning signs to look out for for you and or your loved one. And if you are in this place, what can you do instead? If you recognize that something you're storing is really tied to a hopeful future, here are some choices to consider. We've talked about some of these in podcast before and we go into in depth in some of these conversations.
So if you, one of these gets your piques your interest, go into our blog site, like our podcast site, the organized flamingo.com/podcast, and then you can do a search for any of these keywords. And if you want to dive a little bit more, we talk about creative like a, almost like a review in six months box.
So you put items. A in a place with a specific date that you go in into look at, if your storage room is really large, then what you're going to do is you're going to go in and grab a sticky note paper with really good adhesive, because in storage rooms the temperature changes and that adhesive in the sticky notes will come off if you're not careful.
So go in and. Label and go and, you know, or the painter's tape, like the green or the blue, and go to all of the items that you want to go and review in three or six months. So that if you're not sure, you know, which ones you've already looked at and you were, you were on the fence about it. And then three or six months from now, you can know which ones you were on the fence about in the past and can make a quicker decision.
So that's one way, you know. So a, a quick way. You can also digitize the storage room and then start to actually downsize into clutter. Take a photo. For some of you, you're, you really would like to tell the story of the storage room, so if that's more you, then do a voice memo, do a video, go around and tell the story of what everything is or is meant, and then start to let go of stuff slowly but surely.
So digitize the area and then start to let go. The gift it now, not later, is a good one where basically you let people come in, into your room, into that storage room and you have them pick out stuff that they want and put their names on it and put a, again, we go back to the painter's tape or sticky notes and have them choose what they want.
And so that way you know that people are starting to pick things and you know what's left, and then you can work with what's left. Then give, give it a timeline. So you gift it. Now, you don't wait until later. You don't wait until you're, um, having to make quick, you know, the last minute decisions like you're trying to do, do a little bit more of a planning, but you also get to see the person actually pick the stuff that they want.
So if it's something you're saving for someone else, ask them if they even want it to begin with. And you might be surprised. They may say, oh my gosh, I'm so glad. And now you feel good and you feel good about the decision that you saved it all these years, and it makes it all worth it. But they also may come back and say, no, I hate it.
I hate it then. I hate it now. And that will make that decision much, much quicker. Don't be afraid to just ask people, especially if you're saving it for, for others, right? Like children, grandchildren, or your friends or whatever. Ask them now, not later. Let it go and make space for the present. So this part, I know it's very broad and, and sometimes I feel very cheesy even saying it.
Let, let go and, and make space for what matters the most. Okay? If you are having a, if you have a storage room where you have plans for it to be something else. Remind yourself as to why it is that you are trying to downsize and declutter and do that often. Put it in a vision board, create a visual reminder of what the space could look like so that that could be a motivator for you to start letting go of things.
And if you don't know where to, to even start about letting go, give us a call. We can help you to process that. Ask your friends, ask your loved ones and see what they have. They have to say sometimes they have really good input. I get that you don't want, or may not want too much input or might be embarrassed to let people in your space.
But if you have someone that is trustworthy that you trust, like their advice, or maybe an interior designer friend or someone you can hire, then bring them in and invite their feedback so that that can start giving you motivation in a different perspective so that you can start to let go of stuff. And then remember to always pick a place that means something to you, um, like a nonprofit or something to that effect.
And so you can actually see where the step goes because that also is part of the motivator, right? Like if you know that that room or that space, you want it to look like something totally different, but you don't know where all this stuff can go, contact that nonprofit. See if they have ideas on what to do with the stuff.
And then it's a win-win, right? Like you get rid of stuff, um, but you also will start to reclaim your space. Let's ask that question one more time before we head out for this week. What are you saving it for? And what would it feel like to live in that space for today? Because having a storage unit is not bad.
It's when the storage unit is taking control of your physical, mental, and financial efforts, that's when it becomes overwhelming. You start to ignore it. The clutter starts to accumulate from there. So I want you to make sure that you think about the stuff that's in there, making sure that it's serving you in the right now and yes, in the future, but most importantly, that you are being intentional about the stuff that's in there for the right now.
Okay? So until next week, friends, happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the Organized and Cherish podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoy today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps others discover our show. For full show notes, resources, and more organizing inspiration, visit www.theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast.
Until next time, happy organizing.
