Planning a move can be an exciting time. But for the majority of people, that excitement is tempered significantly by the pressure and stress associated with moving. A British poll found that 62 percent of people ranked moving as their most personally stressful life event, beating out events like breaking up with a romantic partner and starting a new job.
When you move, you may feel like there’s nothing to do but suck it up. It’s true there are some stresses that are hard to eliminate, but that doesn’t mean you have to become a big ball of anxiety throughout the moving process. Here are three things that can help you stay sane when you’re changing addresses.
Recruit help (and get backups)
If you’ve got the money, you should really look into hiring professional movers. But you don’t want to stress your budget to the breaking point, as moving is already expensive enough.
If you’re on the fence, start by talking to your friends. A post on social media asking “Would anyone be able to help me move on (date)?” should give you a good idea of where you stand. If you don’t get any responses, reach out via text to friends who you think might be willing to help.
But if you go that route, don’t just get one friend to come over. Sure, two of you can probably move everything if you live in a studio apartment or small one-bedroom, but if you’ve got a larger space, you’re going to need more people. Try to get at least a couple people to commit to helping. Then ask a couple more people to be on standby just in case one of your primary helpers wakes up on moving day with a hangover.
One more thing: leverage any connections you’ve got. If you need to rent a forklift and you have a friend who works a material handling equipment company in New Jersey, give them a call. Because if you need heavy equipment, you’re also going to need someone who is certified to operate that equipment.
Donate or sell what you can
Moving has a way of shattering any illusions we might have about living the simple life. Most of us don’t realize just how much extra stuff we’ve got until the moving boxes arrive and we realize we didn’t order enough boxes.
Start going through your material possessions a day or two after the move becomes official. You’ve heard a lot about “sparking joy” from Marie Kondo, but moving requires a more ruthless perspective. Keep some sentimental things, but also be honest with yourself about what, exactly, counts as sentimental.
Your college diploma? Sure, bring that. But you probably don’t need to bring all your old college textbooks. Chances are, you won’t need a guide to organic chemistry in your new home.
Order new home decor ASAP
Well, now you’ve made it. Whether you had to drive 30 miles, 300 miles, or 3,000 miles, you’ve arrived at your new home with a reasonable number of boxes. You should feel good about being in the new space, since the road trip to your new home can be one of the most stressful parts. But after you get a good night’s sleep in your new home, you need to start ordering new home decor.
This part should be more fun than stressful. Decorating a new home should feel like a reward for packing up your possessions and leaving your old town behind. If you have trouble getting excited about home decor, then go back to the sentimental items.
Yes, that framed photo of your wedding day is nice, but it would look even nicer as a canvas print you can stretch across your living room wall. If you’ve always wanted a globe for your home office but never thought you had a good reason to buy one, well, here’s your reason.
