So I was helping my friend clean out her garage last weekend and I swear to God we found a treadmill she forgot she even bought. Like she literally looked at it and went “oh yeah, I remember this.” She’d been paying for a gym membership too. The whole thing was just sitting there collecting dust for three years. Three years!
And it got me thinking about how we all do this. Maybe not with treadmills specifically but with stuff. Just… stuff. We pack it away, we tell ourselves we’ll deal with it later, and then later turns into next year turns into oh my god how long has that been there.
My own apartment is a disaster zone right now. I’m not even going to pretend it’s not. There’s a box in my hallway that I’ve been stepping over for like six months. I know exactly what’s in it – old notebooks from college, some random cables, a lamp that needs a new bulb. Nothing important. And yet every single day I walk past it and every single day I think “I should really move that” and then I don’t.
Why? Because it’s easier to ignore it. Because dealing with it means making decisions. And decisions are exhausting.
The guilt is real though
Here’s the thing nobody warns you about. Getting rid of stuff is emotionally draining in ways you don’t expect. That sweater your aunt gave you that you’ve never worn? It’s not a sweater. It’s a guilt trip. You keep it because you feel bad. Because she’ll ask about it. Because she bought it for you specifically and what kind of person are you if you just get rid of it?
I’m here to tell you that you’re allowed to let go of guilt. Your aunt wants you to be happy. She doesn’t want you to be miserable every time you open your closet. She’d probably be horrified to know you’re keeping something just because you feel obligated. Unless your aunt is a monster. Is your aunt a monster? Probably not.
Same thing with things you bought yourself. We keep stuff because we spent money on it and we can’t stand admitting that we wasted that money. But guess what? The money is already gone. Keeping the thing doesn’t bring it back. It just makes you unhappy every time you see it.
The reality check I had to give myself
I had this moment a few years ago where I was moving apartments and I had to pack up my whole life and I realized that like half of my stuff was just… things I was avoiding. Boxes I’d never unpacked from the last move. Stuff I’d shoved in closets because I didn’t know where else to put it.
And I thought to myself, “Self, why are you paying movers to transport boxes you haven’t even opened in two years?” It was ridiculous. I was literally paying people to carry my procrastination from one apartment to another.
So I made a rule. If I hadn’t touched it since the last move, it went in the donation pile. No exceptions. Not the good china I never use. Not the books I was definitely going to read someday. Not the craft supplies I was going to make something with.
I got rid of so much stuff. And honestly? I don’t miss any of it. I can’t even remember most of what I gave away. That’s how unimportant it was.
But what about the REAL stuff
Okay so I’m not saying you should become a minimalist who owns like three shirts and a toothbrush. That’s not realistic. You have memories. You have things that matter. You have a life.
But here’s the thing. There’s a difference between the stuff that actually matters and the stuff that you’re just afraid to let go of. And you know the difference. Deep down you know.
That box of birthday cards from your grandmother? Keep it. That’s real. That’s memory. That’s love.
The box of random magazines you clipped recipes from and then never made? Toss it. You’re not going to make those recipes. You know you’re not. The internet exists. You can look up recipes.
The broken furniture you were going to fix? If it’s been broken for two years, you’re not going to fix it. Let it go. Someone else might actually fix it. Or it might get recycled. Either way it’s not your problem anymore.
The thing about storage
Here’s where I get real with you. We run a storage facility. Obviously I want you to rent a unit from us. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But I also genuinely think people misunderstand what storage is for. They think it’s for hiding their problems. They cram a bunch of stuff in there and then they never go back and then they’re paying us every month for stuff they don’t even remember they have.
That’s not how it should work.
Storage should be for the stuff that matters but doesn’t fit. The seasonal stuff. The sentimental stuff. The stuff you actually want to keep but don’t need in your everyday life.
I’ll give you an example. I’ve got a friend who keeps her winter clothes in storage during the summer. She lives in a tiny apartment with like no closet space. Instead of having her parka taking up space in her bedroom in July, she pays like 20 bucks a month and it sits in our facility. In October she swaps out her summer stuff and brings the winter stuff back. It’s efficient. It makes sense.
That’s what storage should be. A tool. Not a dumping ground.
Actually looking at your space
Walk through your house right now. Seriously. Look at every room. What’s the first thing you see? I bet it’s not the couch or the TV or whatever you actually use. I bet it’s the pile of mail on the counter. The stack of boxes in the corner. The exercise equipment that’s become a clothes hanger.
Your home should feel like a place you want to be. Not a place you’re embarrassed to have people over to. Not a place where you can’t find anything. Not a place where you’re constantly stressed.
I’m not saying your house needs to be a showroom. Nobody lives like that. My own house is messy. There are dishes in the sink right now. I’m not perfect. But there’s a difference between lived-in messy and overwhelmed messy.
The ADHD tax is real
Okay I need to mention this because I struggle with it too. If you have any kind of executive dysfunction – ADHD, depression, anxiety, whatever – decluttering is 1000% harder. Your brain doesn’t work the same way. The whole “just make a decision” advice doesn’t work when your brain literally cannot prioritize things.
If this is you, you need different strategies. Smaller bites. More breaks. Maybe even a buddy to help keep you on track. Don’t beat yourself up because you can’t do it the “right” way. There is no right way. There’s just your way.
Let’s talk about the stuff you actually keep
When you’re done purging, you’re going to have two piles. The stuff that stays in your house and the stuff that needs a different home.
The stuff that stays should be:
- Things you use regularly.
- Things you love looking at.
- Things that genuinely make your life better.
That’s it. That’s the whole list.
If it doesn’t fit those categories and you still want to keep it, that’s when you think about storage. That’s when you make the call to me or whatever facility you end up using.
One last thing
You don’t have to do it all at once. I keep saying this because I mean it. Nobody clears out their whole house in a weekend. The people who claim they did are either lying or they just moved in and haven’t accumulated stuff yet.
Give yourself time. Celebrate the small wins. Clear out one drawer today. One shelf tomorrow. One closet next week. It adds up.
And when you’ve got that pile of stuff that you want to keep but don’t have room for, come see us. We’ve got units in all sizes. You can rent one for a month or a year or whatever works for you. We’re flexible.
But more than that, give yourself permission to live in your space without feeling suffocated by it. That’s what this is really about. Not just making more room. Making room for the life you actually want to live.
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