Moving to a new house is enough work to inspire the average person to go into hibernation or make do with their current situation. After all, moving involves not just the cleaning of your old house and the packing of all of your possessions, but also the physical tasks of lifting and carrying boxes of possessions and furniture. You need careful planning and organization to make the process as simple and smooth as possible.
Be Realistic About How Long Moving Will Take
Ideally, you will have several weeks to plan before the move and several days, if not a week or more, to complete the actual process. Moving often involves unexpected setbacks, such as discovering a cache of boxes you had forgotten in your basement that have to be sorted and moved. The more organized you are, the easier the process will become.
Make a list of everything that you need to achieve. It should include:
- Packing and boxing up your possessions
- Deciding what items travel with you and what goes with the truck/movers
- Arranging for waste disposal/donation pick-up for items you aren’t keeping
- Cleaning your old home as you pack
- Prep cleaning your new home, if you have access
- Hiring cleaners to prepare an out-of-state home for your arrival
- Purchasing moving insurance, if you have valuable possessions
- Arranging for the shut-off or transfer of utilities
- Backing up digital records and files to ensure nothing gets lost in the move
- Securing help from movers, who can take a lot of the stress out of the process
- Planning to transport your vehicle and any pets, especially if you’re flying to your new home
There are some other steps you can take as well. If you’re using movers, for example, you likely want to document what goes into the boxes, especially when it comes to very valuable and fragile items. You’ll need to take time off work, change your mailing address, and collect all the keys, garage door openers, and other access tools to leave for the new tenants or owners.
You may also want to prepare for some jobs to be carried out at your new home. This is particularly important if you need to make changes to your property to accommodate any accessibility requirements, such as widening doors or installing a ramp. Ideally, these should be carried out before you move in.
Get Help So You Can Focus on the Mental Work
There are so many things to consider when moving. With all the mental effort required to manage the transition from one space to another, you shouldn’t have to physically exert yourself as well. Allocating the physical labor of your move to professional movers ensures that you will have the resilience and energy necessary to handle the logistics and planning of your move. You might even want to consider hiring a temporary personal assistant to manage the many tasks and phone calls associated with organizing a move.
Moving your home doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Although there is always going to be work involved, partnering with moving and logistics professionals can make the whole process less stressful. When you have professionals that you can trust to handle the gritty details of the move, you can focus on settling into your new home and keeping everything organized for when you begin the process of unpacking.