People who accumulate things are fond of saying “let’s just keep it for now” or “we’ll hang on to it for the time being.” But nothing’s going to change, so there’s no point in putting off the decision.
People will keep anything “for now,” from information items (documents, magazines, flyers, junk mail, etc.) to food, clothes, gifts, furniture, and appliances.
Hanging on to something “for now” is an easy way out, so we tend to do so in lots of different situations. Here are some examples:
Full of flyers as usual. Mm… could be some useful information in this lot. Hey, this stuff looks cheap… I want a new computer. Ah, a sale at that posh department store… That reminds me—I haven’t got enough shirts for the warm weather. Well, I’m too busy to look at these now, but I can read them this evening when I get home. The wife’s not got a lot to do, so I dare say she’ll read through them all this morning. She’d better not throw them away. “Keep this pile for now, dear, till I can have a look at them.”
What’s all this? How am I going to get my shopping in there? Well, I’m going to use it this evening anyway, so I suppose I’ll try to slip it in at the front. Oh dear, those jars at the back—where did they come from? I’ll have to sort all this stuff out. But I’ll leave it for now. Oh no! There’s no space for the natto! Perhaps it’ll squeeze into the vegetable compartment. Oh, look at that wilting spinach! Well, I’ve already decided what to have today… maybe we can have it tomorrow. I’ll keep it for the time being.
A summer gift from Mrs. Tatsumi… Oh dear! More dried noodles! Never mind! Well, we won’t use them straight away, so I’ll put them in the cupboard. Ugh, the box won’t fit! Oh well, I can get rid of some of this packaging. Yes, that’ll do. Good, I’ll keep them for the time being.
The couple has gone to the trouble of choosing individual presents for each of the guests… What have they given me? Well, that’s a surprise. Not quite my kind of thing. Can’t be helped. They’ll notice if they visit and it’s not on display. I’d better hang on to it for the time being.
Yes, it’s a great design. Perfect for the room. Now, what shall we do with the rattan shade we’ve always had? It would be a waste to throw it out. It’s still in good shape. I like the design too in a way. Let’s keep it for now and maybe we’ll find a use for it.
That was a surprise! I never thought they’d send that many people. I was lucky to have enough business cards. But what about all the cards they gave me? I can’t even remember who was who. But I may as well keep them for the time being. And then there are all these documents… The contract’s gone through so it’s not my responsibility now—I won’t really be involved. But, I suppose I’d better keep the documents for now, just in case.
I’m sure the situations above will be familiar to many readers. Let’s consider whether the characters involved have anything to gain from “keeping things for now.”
In Situation 1 we can imagine the flyers piled up on the dining table. When the husband comes home late from the office he’s going to be much more interested in having a bath and watching TV. His wife will say, “Are you going to read these?” and he’ll say, “Of course! I said I would, didn’t I?” He’ll then give them a quick glance, and that will be the end of it.
In Situation 2 the woman will take the jars out of the fridge some time later and be horrified to find the contents moldy. The spinach will wilt away in the vegetable compartment for another week, before finally being thrown out.
Situation 3 will be resolved in the end-of-year clean-up. “What’s this?” they’ll say, as they look in the cupboard. Then they’ll open the packaging to find the noodles rendered inedible by humidity.
The newlyweds in Situation 4 will never come round and their present will end up being put away somewhere. The old light shade in Situation 5 is destined to occupy the corner of a closet for years before finally being thrown away when the owners move, and the business cards in Situation 6 will just fill up the person’s card holder, making it irritatingly bulky, while the documents will lie at the back of a drawer, their purpose entirely forgotten.
The truth is that most of these items have been a nuisance from the moment they were received or replaced. They could have been thrown away immediately, but people don’t face up to that. They keep the item in question “for now,” only to persuade themselves sometime in the future that it should go: “Well, we kept it, but we didn’t use it, so…”
Slightly damaged items are often treated this way too—a teacup with a fine crack, a pen that doesn’t write very well, a blouse with a small stain… These are nuisance items as well, but it somehow seems a waste to get rid of them, so we hang on to them “for the time being.”
Things that are kept “for now” are in a kind of limbo, held back on the brink of becoming trash. “For the time being,” “for now” are just ways of escaping the act of disposal.
When something is actually necessary, the “for now” psychology does not come into play at all.
In a way the “keep-for-now” response is like the Recycle bin on a computer. If you send a document to the Recycle bin it’s no longer in front of you. But it hasn’t really disappeared. It’s still on the hard drive. It’s only when you “empty your bin” that you really get rid of the document and it’s deleted from your hard drive.
But there’s one big difference between a computer and the real world. A computer’s Recycle bin can fill up without using any physical space, and if you exceed capacity old files are automatically deleted. But in the real world, if you put something somewhere “for now” it will occupy that space until you finally get rid of it.
Don’t let the “for now” idea even enter your head. If you really want to look at a flyer, pick it up straight away. If you’re bothered by jars in the fridge, take them out immediately. If you receive a gift of food, take it out of its box and place it somewhere where it stands a chance of being eaten. Even if you’re unlikely to consume it now, take it out of the box anyway. The fancier the box, the more likely people are to leave the food inside, but if you take it out you’ll find you get an opportunity to eat it and share it.
People often feel it’s a waste to throw away lamps, appliances, or furniture, so they end up keeping them “for the time being.” But you must find another way out. Use second-hand shops or your network of friends. I’ll talk more about these later.
Documents, business cards, and magazines can be very difficult to deal with, but again, don’t just keep them “for now.”
The function of a business card is that it helps when you want to make contact with someone. There’s no point having the cards of lots of different people from the same department of the same company. And unless the name on the card means something to you, the chances of you ever having to contact the person in question are very slim. When you put documents or magazines away somewhere, ask yourself what exactly you want to keep them for. If you keep them for no particular reason, they’ll just get in the way and make it more difficult to find things that are genuinely important. If you’re going to keep them, have a clear reason for doing so. (I’ll say more about papers and documents under Attitude 7.)