One of the most stressful times in a person’s life comes with moving. Lower your stress level by following these moving tips to make your moving process easier.
Planning is key
When you know for certain that you’ll be vacating your apartment, start planning. It’ll save you lots of stress down the road by following some simple tips.
Move only what you love
Take stock of your belongings and pitch what you don’t need, don’t wear anymore, can’t fix or can’t fit into your new place. This will ease your burden on moving day, because you’ll have less to move, and in the meantime, less to pack.
What will you need to move it?
Once you know what you’ll be moving, you can plan on how you’re moving it. How many boxes will you need? How big a truck will you need? What needs to be stored? What needs to be shipped? Write all of this down so that you’ll know what to get. Be sure to give yourself a little extra to allow for miscalculations.
Set a moving budget
Once you know what you’ll need to move, you can figure out how much this will cost you. Set up a moving budget far enough in advance so you can save up to cover the costs of moving.
Stay organized while packing
Moving brings chaos to your home, but you can have a stress-free move by staying organized while packing. This will help you keep track of what’s been packed, where your belongings are and what needs to go on the moving truck first and last.
As you pack up your belongings, write clearly on the box what’s inside. Instead of just a general description or room, write exactly what’s in the box. This way when you go digging for your kitchen towels, you’ll know exactly what box they are in.
When packing up your personal belongings, make a list of everything you’ll need immediately upon arriving at your new place. Put those items in a Priority Box, and put those in the truck last, or keep them with you. That should be the very first box you unpack.
Stay rested, refreshed
A really good way to torpedo a stress-free move is to get tired, get dehydrated and get cranky. No move is easy, but if you’re exhausted, it’s even worse. So take periodic breaks where you sit somewhere cool with cold water. Make sure to eat snacks — and meals — at appropriate times so that you stay fresh.
Take your time
Moving stress can be compounded by being in a hurry. You’ll never finish as fast as you want to, but there’s no reason to make it worse by frantically loading up or packing as fast as you can. So take your time. Slow and steady wins the race, and it’ll make for a stress-free move as well.