If you find moving stressful as well has hard work, you’re not alone. Moving house is one of the recognized major stresses of life. It doesn’t have to be an ordeal, however. Before you even call the removalists, you can have your move under control and under way. This saves a lot of the hardship and allows you to get organized a lot more efficiently, with far better time management.
Basic planning
The average domestic move is actually several different types of move:
- Furniture
- White goods
- Electronics
- Kitchen materials
- Bathroom materials
- Garage equipment
- Clothes
- Kids stuff
- Special items (valuables, etc.)
The actual hard work comes from the bulky materials like furniture and white goods. Fridges, lounge suites, beds, dining tables, and other major items are best left till last anyway, because they go on to the truck first.
This is where the planning comes in. Everything else can be packed and ready to move well before there’s any pressure. You can schedule the whole process, if you start about a month before the move.
The scheduling is important, because it gives you some time to play with, allows for any glitches, and better still, doesn’t require anything like the same amount of work.
The process is simple enough:
- Set up your destination and the date when you get the keys, etc. at the other end first.
- Find a good removalist, get a quote, lock in a date, either the same day or soon after. (Sometimes it’s best to be able to get in first, check everything out, and have a good idea where to put everything.
- Order good packing boxes (heavy duty cardboard, lasts forever) from the removalist or a storage company. You can get a lot done with one big box, particularly with clothes.
- Throw out everything you’re absolutely sure you won’t need to take with you.
- Set aside an area for your packed materials. A spare room is ideal.
- Label the boxes so you can find anything you need.
- Structure your packing so you can literally pack at your own speed. You can do the garage first, for example.
- Go through the house systematically room by room. Anything not immediately required can be packed.
- Make sure everyone’s clear about when they need to be packed. The time to think makes everybody more efficient.
When you’ve got the keys
If at all possible, any lightweight materials and fragile things should be moved ASAP. They take up space in the moving van, and they also use up a lot of time. If you can figure out a way of only having to move the bulky things on the day, do it. (A small van hired for a day can get all the little stuff out of the way.) It speeds up the move, which can run into hundreds of dollars if you’re paying by the hour.
This is so easy you’ll probably find yourself with time on your hands. No stress, no last minute crises, and none of the sheer hard work.
