A Love-Hate Relationship with Storage Units

Almost every month I drive past some new self-storage facility being constructed, and I sigh. I know, I know, storage units are necessary for people who are moving, in transition, serving in the military overseas, small business owners who need to store their business inventory, yadda yadda yadda.

There are a couple of reasons I sigh. 

One, because the storage building is being constructed on what was previously a natural bit of land and the wildlife is being displaced. 

Two, because I feel like there’s no reason on earth we would need this many freaking storage units if people could reshape their relationships with their objects. As of 2015, there were more self-storage facilities than there were McDonald’s, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Target, Taco Bell, and Dunkin’ Donuts locations combined, and those places are everrrrywheeeeere.

Things can be different, remember?

Storage Units Contribute to Hoarding Even If You’re Not a Hoarder

Storage units in and of themself are neutral, and not everyone who uses one is a hoarder (see all the reasons I listed in the first paragraph). 

BUT (and this is a really big “but,” Simone) when we use self-storage units as a way to avoid having to make decisions about our objects, that’s when we veer into the same mental territory as someone with hoarding tendencies. Pain avoidance is a big reason people can lapse into hoarding-related behavior.

Way too often, “short-term” self-storage becomes “indefinite” self-storage, where your best intentions to take a look at those boxes of treasures “someday” turns into a recurring and regularly increasing payment to the self-storage company with no clear end in sight. Out of sight usually means out of mind. 

“The one thing for sure is that it’s a culture. We’re consumers by nature and most people don’t like to throw things out.”

Industry insider in TheRealDeal

Self-Storage Companies Make Big Bucks Off Your Pain Avoidance

This typical behavior is helping to fuel a booming self-storage industry that makes BILLIONS of dollars every year and that has an occupancy rate of 94.5%. As one industry insider was quoted in a recent TheRealDeal article, “The one thing for sure is that it’s a culture. We’re consumers by nature and most people don’t like to throw things out.”

Change Your Mentality About Self-Storage

I’ve used storage units on two occasions, both when I was moving; however, the circumstances were different for each. The first time, I stored a lot of things that I didn’t want to take with me yet but that I was sure I’d come reclaim soon. A year or two and many dollars later, I wound up deciding to let everything in the unit be donated or sold and didn’t take any of the stuff with me. The second time around, almost all of our possessions were in the unit, and we reclaimed it as soon as we settled in our new place. No doubt I’ll need to use storage units again in the future, and I’m going to set some parameters about when, why, and how long I’ll keep anything in storage. 

What Are You Getting Out of It? 

If you use a storage unit simply as a way to store excess stuff, ask yourself whether you’re truly deriving any pleasure from those items you’re storing if they didn’t make the cut to keep in your home where you can engage with them, take care of them, and see them everyday.

If they aren’t worth being part of your daily life, why are you spending thousands of dollars a year to keep them in the dark? (You can make an argument about your prized collection of something or others, and I realize that specialized, archival storage is an entirely different story, but I still believe you should ask yourself the same question.) Also ask, “Would my life feel lighter without all this stuff? Could I do something more fun, enriching, or rewarding with that money?”

Time for a Change 

If you’d like to start decluttering, check out my Start Cleaning assortment of posts that explain how I prepped for tackling a hoard.

Hope and joy,

Rachel