4 Ways to Reduce Stress When Moving – Let’s face it: Moving is inherently stressful. Packing up your home and relocating to a new one is typically time consuming, emotionally and physically taxing, and there may be some bumps along with way.
Having said this, moving does not have to be a 10 out of 10 on the stress scale. There are plenty of proactive steps you can take that will reduce the stress level. For example, consider the following tips for your moving checklist:
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Downsize, Downsize, Downsize
No matter how long you have lived in your current home, you may have accumulated a lot of things you no longer need. Before you pack your first box, go through your items—everything from the junk drawer to the boxes in the garage—and start creating piles of things that you will keep, donate, and toss. If you have the time and desire, you can sell some gently used things on a site like eBay or hold a big garage sale, or you can donate things to a local charity. While this pre-packing step may take a while, it will ultimately save you time and money.
Get a Moving Cost Estimate as Early as You Can
Another one of the stress-reducing tips for planning your move involves money. If you plan to pay professionals, reach out to several companies for a quote. If you’re planning to move yourself, gather information to make an educated estimate. This way, you will know how much money you will need to cover the moving expenses. If you put this item near the top of your changing address checklist, it may also inspire you to downsize even more to reduce the final cost.
Take Lots of Photos
Moving involves taking apart larger pieces of furniture as well as unhooking electronics. To help make the process of reassembling these items as easy as possible, take photos of everything ahead of time, and then use the photos as a guide to show you how to put them back together in your new home. If there are multiple steps to disassembling anything, you can take pictures (or a video!) during the process. Once an item is in pieces, gather up all of the nuts, bolts, screws and/or wires and place them into a large Ziploc bag that is then labeled and attached to one of the pieces with masking tape.
Invest in High Quality Supplies
It may be tempting to grab free and empty produce boxes from your grocery store and wrap up your dishes in newspaper, but as much as your budget will allow, spring for high quality moving supplies including clean and sturdy boxes, masking tape, plain wrapping paper for your dishes and a nice supply of waterproof markers for labeling boxes. You will be so glad that your dishes are clean and not smudged with newspaper ink when you arrive at your new home. And you will also rest assured that the boxes will withstand the move and not come apart during the process.
Proactive Planning is Definitely a Plus
Moving will probably never make the Top 10 List of Fun Things To Do, but you can definitely take the proverbial bull by the horns and make the process as stress-free as possible. By de-cluttering and downsizing, getting a handle on finances, taking tons of photos, and buying plenty of supplies, moving out of your old place into a new one will hopefully go better than you ever imagined.
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