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Undeniably, moving home can be one of life’s most stressful undertakings. From finding a new property, to giving away your current home, to reorganising utilities, the things to do never stop. And then, suddenly, at the end of it all, you have to pack up everything you own and ship out, which can often be where everything boils over.
Nobody wants to feel crushed under the weight of a life event which should mark the turning of a new leaf, so how can you stay sane when moving home?
The five most important things you can do to stay sane when moving home are:
Keep reading to explore in depth how you can stay sane when moving home with our 7 core pieces of advice.
We understand that the whole process of moving home is stressful, but when it comes to the big day, tensions can run even higher. Protect your peace of mind with these seven quintessential tips for moving home:
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Moving Home Maestro or an Amateur Box Packer; the fundamental value of making a plan is always the same. And there are some important things you can do at this stage to make everything else a breeze.
Sometimes we can dive headfirst into a problem, thinking we know everything there is to know already. It’s good, though, to take a moment and consider whether you have accidentally skipped anything. Some important planning questions include:
When you’re writing this mega checklist that will define your life for the upcoming months, make sure to actively include moments—full days, even—where you can catch a breather. This will help prevent the feeling of being swamped in, helping the time you do spend thinking about the move to feel less frantic.
Once packing has begun, you might find yourself tempted to keep everything you own, or worse, find something long forgotten and want to keep that! Be wary of sentimentality getting in the way of practicality. Consider how much you’ll still value that entire cardigan collection or those long-thought-dead trinkets when you have to transport and then store them properly at the new place.
Moving home is a great opportunity to make a fresh start; why bog yourself down with things you stopped valuing a long time ago?
Besides, there are great ways of dealing with those old things that can still benefit you! Giving items away to charity shops or to people you know is a perfect way to give something to your communities, or you could opt to sell those pre-loved clothes and objects and make an extra bit of money to fund the next chapter of your life.
Tackle as many errands as you can in bulk, even over just one day if possible. You want as few loose ends dangling over you as possible once it gets to Move Day, so set yourself up for success by bundling them together.
Set up cancellation dates for your utilities all at once. Get all the tools you need for packing in the same shop trip. Return all the things you’ve borrowed from neighbours and friends over the years in one trip.
This will help make inevitable on-the-day errands less stressful because they’re not then sat atop a mountain of neglected errands.
You think you’re going to remember how everything was set up; I absolutely promise that you won’t, but that’s okay. No one ever does.
With two quick and easy steps, you can make setting up your tech in the new place super simple:
If you can, have a look at the place you’re moving into and get a good understanding of how you’re storing your things — in both the short term and long term.
If people live there currently, ask what they do to manage the storage and how they deal with the amount of space in the property. Maybe, looking at it again, you’ll realise that you definitely won’t be able to fit as much as you thought. Or maybe — happily — you’ll realise the opposite! Either way, try to establish a thorough understanding of the space before you try to squeeze everything in.
Get all the things you are definitely going to need on the other side into one place so you don’t have to scrounge through 15 boxes to find a fork. These essentials include:
You know what I mean; everyone has bought sticky tape that’s remarkably un-sticky, or flimsy cardboard boxes that are less reliable than a chocolate teapot. Don’t make your life harder by using low-quality packing supplies. Here are some notes on the supplies you’ll rely on the most.
Wide, sturdy parcel tape is your best friend. And it might even be worth investing in a decent tape gun to expedite packing further. Keep tape on you at all times in case boxes and bags need sudden resealing.
Make sure you have labels of different sizes, and put them on everything. On boxes and bags, write on the label the main theme of the contents and also list some of the most important items within.
Bags are going to be the secret weapon of your whole move. Use bags of different sizes, from huge IKEA bags to sturdy shopping bags to sandwich bags. They’ll stop you from missing odd bits and are great for squeezing into extra spaces in your car or van. You’ll be surprised how much of a life-saver a tiny bag for nails, wires, and other knick-knacks is.
If you can, buy sturdy boxes with handles. The last thing you want is for a heavy, flimsy cardboard box to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. During packing isn’t the time to be assessing whether the boxes you’ve got are good enough; plan ahead and get more!
Moving home is incredibly stressful and time-consuming, so make sure that you’ve got somewhere you can escape to even up to the last minute. Consider not packing up one last area until the day of so that there’s always somewhere you can get some R&R.
If you really can’t preserve one area of your current home, then make sure to get out to a coffee shop or park that you enjoy every once in a while.
This one can be hard to do, but your friends, family, and even neighbours are your best bet for avoiding house-move burnout. Don’t ask them to do everything, but do talk about what’s stressing you out or ask to share an odd task; it’s a great way to remain balanced through it all.
Find your future home and start planning the next chapter of your life today with Plumlife. Contact us here to learn more about our amazing range of properties.
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