All of us have experienced the feeling of stress, anxiety, and even fear that comes with moving. In our household, a move is a big deal. Throughout the years, we have learned ways in which to make the process easier on us and that I use with all of my packing and unpacking clients.
The key to making the relocation process as painless as possible is preparation. Preparation saves time, energy, and most importantly your sanity! It also saves money, yep, moving clutter and things that you will eventually get rid of is a huge waste of money, energy, and resources.
Here are five easy steps you can take to help you prepare your home for moving day: Know what you're packing or going to pack, who is responsible, when it will be done by, and the why my friends, is all about the clutter. This is your moment to practice discernment, don't just pack the 11 spatulas because they are there, take the second to select your favorite (2 or 3) and let go of the rest. Lastly, get help. Hire if you need to, recruit friends and family, and if possible, take time off of work to make the entire process more seamless.
5 Tips for Making Moving Day Less Stressful
Moving is one of the most stressful tasks that we'll ever undertake. There are so many things to take care of: packing, cleaning, and sorting. But with these helpful tips, it can be a lot easier and less stressful than you think!
1. Plan ahead: Plan the timing of your move in advance to avoid last minute preparations and scrambling for time off work or school.
Figure our your four W's: What, Who, When, and Why
2. Declutter, yep, like mentioned above, decluttering is essential to avoid wasted effort, money, and delaying the work. AKA, items left in boxes for months.
2. Get organized, starting with supplies. If you're not hiring out (a moving company or a professional organizer), plan to get lots of supplies. Home Depot generally has a reliable stock and fair prices, with a wide range of box sizes, durability, and purposes. If you didn't know, they actually make boxes specifically for large art and heavy TVs. Walk around the house and tally up what you might need. Again, if you are not hiring out, opting for smaller boxes that you can physically lift and move is worthwhile over less boxes that are larger (they are simply too heavy and too big!). Avoid personal injury whenever possible!
3. Start packing as soon as possible! Start with the easy stuff and pack what will not be used for the month or two weeks (whatever your lead time may be) prior to move day. Your personal belongings should be contained easily to one suitcase per human with what they need for the lead time. Everything can be packed.
4. Use labels - Labels are the best, especially if you are hiring movers. Whether they are printed out, in sharpie, or with color coded tape, it doesn't matter. Note that there should never be any mystery boxes. All boxes should be clearly labelled and have a clear "destination" in your new place. If you'd like to step it up a notch, make an aerial view of the new space and layout the furniture, listing the total boxes per room and which boxes (these could be numbered with a running list of contents). Personally, I don't think this mapping and listing is necessary if you are moving in. If boxes are going to storage instead, then listing items is helpful.
5. Give yourself grace. Yep! That means be prepared to eat out or get take out because you don't have your table yet, treat yourself to an extra coffee, whatever you can do to give yourself grace. Personally, this might look like sushi in our new home, exploring a new dog park with ice creams, or taking a personal day. Moves can be very stressful, do the work ahead of time to ensure that your next move is as smooth as possible.
Take Advantage of These 5 Tips on Moving Day and You'll Feel Great About Your New Place! Remember to pack your essentials so you have them when you need them (one suitcase per human will do). Take the time to declutter and organize your place so it feels more like home.
Take the time to explore the new neighborhood in which you are living to find new places that are close by. Lastly, invite friends over for a housewarming party when everything is in order (or to unpack if you're close).