Everyone knows that moving is a stressful process. In fact, one study found 45% of participants found the stress of moving to be worse than pressures of marriage, divorce, or parenting. For a first-time homeowner or experienced buyer, the process of getting all your belongings from your current space to your new home is intimidating, whether you’re moving across town or relocating to a new city entirely. Fortunately, there are convenient relocation tips you can utilize to make your move a whole lot easier—and a whole lot less stressful.
1. Cut back on extra steps.
The various technicalities and legalities are a factor in creating the hassle of a move. Hiring movers? Paperwork. Investing in a home warranty? Paperwork. Closing on your new place? You guessed it—paperwork. More often than not, this hassle and similar requirements are unavoidable, especially where law or finance are involved. Certain instances, though, can be skipped with a bit of planning. For example, you know you need to rent a moving truck or van. Rather than dealing with conventional rental companies, you can turn to fluidtruck.com to save time, effort, and busywork. With their entirely virtual rental experience, you spend a little less time dealing with paperwork and have more time to focus on the other aspects of your moving process.
2. Work with a detailed checklist.
If you take to the web, you’ll find numerous moving checklists freely available for download. For the best results, though, you’ll want to create a unique checklist based on your individual moving needs. Use those examples as a starting point, then mix, match, and add items to create your custom list of to-dos. For example, do you plan on purchasing new appliances, like a refrigerator or washer, to add to your new home? If so, then you’ll want to find and invest in the top real estate home warranty plan to have the peace of mind that those appliances will be covered should disaster strike, even if that’s in the first days you spend in your new space. However, that’s one detail that likely won’t be highlighted amidst the home inspection and lender applications on most checklists. By curating your own list with unique add-ons, you can be sure you have all your bases covered and streamline the whole process, adding new tasks as they arise.
3. Pack your belongings strategically.
There’s no shortage of advice available when it comes to packing, and each suggestion will insist it’s the best one of all. To make the most of your move and simplify the stressful process, you’ll want to browse your options and choose a strategy that works best for you. For instance, you might decide to print custom, color-coded labels to organize your boxes by room—or even different colors of duct tape! Whichever method you decide on, consider setting aside a specific box or boxes for the day of your move. There are some items you just can’t pack away early, like a phone charger or the clothes you plan on wearing for the big day. Then, there are other pieces you’ll need right away at the new house—and you most likely won’t feel like digging through dozens of boxes after a day of lugging them around.
4. Beat procrastination.
It’s all too easy to find yourself procrastinating when it comes to packing, especially given all the other tasks on your to-do list. By starting to pack earlier, though, you can pack more thoughtfully, putting your system into place and boxing each item with care. Also, consider creating a timeline for your packing process, beginning well in advance of moving day and leaving plenty of wiggle room in case of emergency—or in case you start to procrastinate anyway.
5. Coordinate with your team.
Whether you’re incentivizing friends and family to lend a hand in exchange for dinner or drinks or you’re hiring professional movers to make your move even more manageable, clear communication with your team of movers is a vital component of a stress-free moving day. In addition to labeling them accordingly, specify if any boxes contain particularly fragile items—that way, you can have an extra layer of protection in the peace of mind of knowing they’ll handle them with care. Offer a copy of your color key if you’ve used various hues to label boxes or otherwise indicate where certain groups of boxes need to end up. Then, you’ll save everyone the trouble of waiting for you to dictate destinations at the moment while avoiding the need to sort them yourself later on.
If you’d ask anyone who’s done it, there would be unanimous agreement—moving is ridiculously stressful. With a few tips in mind, though, you can make your relocation process the exception to that rule. From creating a moving checklist and packing timeline to cutting down on excess busy work and procrastination, you can move into your new home with minimal hassle. With less energy spent on stress, you’ll be ready to enjoy the excitement of your new city or street!
