3 Strategies That Will Reduce Your Stress As You Prepare To Move

1) Focus on the important stuff first. 

Believe it or not, most people spend about 75% of their time and energy before a move sorting, moving and selling the items they don’t want, leaving the important items until last! We recommend beginning your project by sorting and packing what is most important to you (not the things you use every day…we’ll talk about what to do with those next time). Carefully label 2 sides of every box or bin and stack neatly with labels showing. This will give you peace of mind that the important things are taken care of when things heat up later.

2) Make a task list.

Sit down early in the process and write down every move-related task that’s on your mind, even the small ones. You can add to this list as you think of more things. We often use sticky notes on a wall to create a giant ‘Command Center’ for the move. Be creative! Emptying your head of all of the small details will dramatically reduce your worry and stress and allow you to keep the big picture in mind. Hint: It also lets others know what still needs to be done so they can be part of the process (see Tip #3 below).

3) Don’t be a task hog.

If you are lucky, friends and family will offer to help, so it’s smart to be prepared ahead of time. After you’ve written down all of the tasks (Tip #2), separate the tasks that absolutely must be tackled by you from the tasks that someone else can handle. When an offer of help presents itself, you will be ready! You can even offer helpers their choice of tasks. Hint: A reasonable task is something like “Deliver the stack of donations marked in blue to XYZ charity” or “pack the books on the shelves marked with green tape”. Avoid writing down tasks such as “sort and pack the garage”. These mega-tasks will make all but the most dedicated volunteer run for cover.