Congratulations! You’re on your way to your new home. Whether it’s down the block or across the country, no matter what, it’s going to be an ungrounding and stressful experience–if you approach it in a chaotic and haphazard fashion!
Here are some ways to maintain your internal organization, your zen, and your peace of mind as you embark on your new adventure. Here are our recommended ways to leap into the fast lane and get your move done in less than a week!
1. Get Your Resources in Order
That means having the contact information of anyone and everyone who might be of service to you during this move. Instead of trying to do it all yourself, get some family members or friends on board and promise to cook them dinner after a day’s work that you can all enjoy.
If you’re living in a location where close friends and family aren’t an option, get on Craigslist or your local community board and recruit some help in exchange for pay or even some other creative trade or energy exchange.
2. Get Yourself in Order
It’s only stressful if you allow it to be stressful. Be organized. Label things. If you’re just not that type of person, learn to enjoy the chaos around you. You can do that by keeping a firm grip on only the minimal amount of things that you need around you for the final few days in your old place.
All other extraneous things get swept away into boxes where you may or may not recall the contents of until they are all unpacked.
That means you’ve got your necessities under your finger and all the rest of the stuff will get there whenever and however it gets there.
3. Minimize Your Schedule For the Week
This goes without saying. You may still need to show up at work, but consider what obligations really don’t need to happen until after the move is done. That will keep you from getting too tired and overworking yourself.
Request shift coverage at work if you can– you might be giving a relief worker a chance at some extra pay while taking the load off of yourself. Go grocery shopping for the week in one fell swoop and plan your meals instead of having to decide and get something going each day, taking your time, focus, and energy away from packing.
4. Plan for a Big Thrift Store Drop-Off
The great thing about moving is that it allows you to get rid of all the old things (and with them, old energies) that no longer serve you and might actually be metaphorically weighing you down! See the packing for moving stage as a cleansing stage and be ready to see all of your old things as someone else’s treasure.
Get ready to drop off a big load of old stuff at your local second-hand store to be reused and seen with new eyes. Of course, you may also have lots of truly worn out things to recycle and dispose of too.
5. Use Garbage Bags, Suitcases and Other Luggage to Pack Your Stuff
Not everyone moves in perfectly organized, robotic fashion with everything padded with bubble wrap in perfectly stacked, unanimously sized boxes bought from a specialized moving store. Frankly, that’s a waste of supplies.
Use bedding and clothing for padding and packaging your breakables. Fill your suitcases and duffle bags. Have a party and require each guest to pack a box. Be creative in how you stack it. Don’t worry about cleaning and organizing everything. That can be done once and for all at your new place.
Conclusion
Streamlining your moving strategies is important when you’ve only got one week to move. However, it’s also a tremendously soul-filling exercise in surrender and cleansing.
Remember that your new place will give you the chance to unpack and organize everything when you get there, so don’t worry so much about doing all of that during the move-out.