Everybody who has moved knows that moving is not easy and anyone who is moving for the first time will quickly realize that it is a complex task. These five steps will help you enjoy moving like you have never imagined. To simplify your move, follow these tips.
1. Game Plan
Professional athletes, politicians, and movie stars don’t make it to the big leagues without Game Plans, so don’t try moving your entire life without one in your back pocket. No matter how many times you have moved it is inevitable that things will get messy. The game plan below will help you get every last item moved and keep you sane too!
- Time
Let’s start with the most important stage of this game plan. The timeline is the key to your sanity in between packing sessions. The first step, get a timer. You can use the timer on your smartphone but let’s be real, can you think of a better time to buy those adorable timers from Anthropologie?? I would suggest packing in one-hour increments, whether your break time is an hour or just two minutes, make sure you take a quick break every hour. Getting up for a breather will do wonders in maximizing your actual packing time. The cute timer is actually for making sure you leave time to get your life back in order after your packing session. If you have an hour allotted for packing you need to set the timer for 45 minutes. Pack for 45 minutes, declutter for 10 and then clean for five. The worst part of packing can often be the cluttered conditions you live in for weeks while you pack up your life. Regardless of how long you have to pack in a day, leave 15 minutes at the end to make sure you tidy up before moving on to the next thing.
- Boxes
I would recommend getting some good sturdy boxes to pack your items. Banker boxes make moving easier. They are a good size, have handles, and the lids make them easy to stack; plus, you don’t have to buy tape! You can pick boxes up at Walmart for about a dollar twenty-five a piece or have them delivered to your house from Amazon for about $2 a box.
- Labels
You are going to need about four boxes for each room, one 30-gallon black trash bag, and a recycling bin of some sort. If you don’t have a recycling bin consider using a laundry basket. Make sure the trash bag is black so you can’t second guess things you throw away. Moms have used that trick every trip to the goodwill for years. Label the boxes with a big, fat black marker to say: Keep, Put Away, Donate, and Sell. Assign items appropriately and knock out your whole home, one tidy session at a time.
2. Transportation / Helpers
You have everything packed up; high five! How the heck are you going to get your mattresses, couch, and 63 boxes to your new home? Luckily you live in an age with incredible technology. Unpakt can quickly help you find and book movers online, and with guaranteed prices, you won’t be hit with surprise charges on your move day. You can also add packing service, disassembly and reassembly of your furniture items, and temporary storage to your move. Unpakt verifies all of their movers’ licenses and insurance so you never have to worry about dealing with shady movers. Comparing and booking movers online saves you an average of 45% off your move, so you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg; you can save both arms and legs while they move your stuff and sip on piña coladas on the back porch.
3. Food
Have you guys caught onto the amazing food delivery services yet? There is a long list of companies that deliver groceries and tasty restaurants to your doorstep. You’re not being lazy having someone else bring your food, you are just maximizing your resources! Between work, working out, taking the kids to soccer, spending time with your family and friends before you move, you don’t always have time to make food, especially when you have already packed up all the seasonings, pans, and utensils…oops. Search for delivery companies in your area. There are lots of promo codes that many companies offer for using them for the first time!
4. Utilities
Uh-oh, are you seeing this and just remembering that you haven’t scheduled the internet guy to come set up your wifi? Oh, and what about the water and electricity, shoot. Don’t worry, speaking of living in an age with cool technology, MyUtilities.com helps you find all the service providers available to you, connect with the best deals, and you never even have to lift a finger setting up the services; they make all the connections for you so you don’t have to. Given that this is a free service there really is no reason you should waste your time trying to figure out who, what, when and where your internet, gas, electric, water, TV, and security systems are getting connected.
5. Processing
It is important to emotionally process all changes in life. Moving is a heavy dose of symbolism, hopes of new beginnings, crushing disappointments, loss, anxiety, fear, and excitement. Take time to process the move in a healthy way but if you take too much time, at the wrong times, you may do everything but simplify the moving process. Game plans are just as important in this stage of processing as they are in the packing stage. Be careful not to let all your precious allotted “packing” time to walk down memory lane or else you might never make it to the finish line. Try to allot time specifically to process the move and say goodbye to friends and familiar places. Pick certain days or periods of time to go through memories associated with the items you are packing, but don’t forget to get your work done too or else you might find yourself crying on the floor of your bedroom at 4 am. You have more on your plate than usual with the move, take care of yourself along the way and suddenly you will look back on your move and think, “that was so simple!”.
This article was submitted by our friend, Connie Harlan from MyUtilities.com.
