6 Tips to Make Moving Less Stressful
04 Aug 2020
6 Tips to Make Moving Less Stressful
One of our most common summer organizing projects in Boston is move management. We have helped hundreds of Boston-area households move. Moving takes time and can be very stressful. We use our organizing skills to ensure our clients have a smooth and stress-free move. Here are our top 6 tips to make moving less stressful.
1. Let your family and friends know that you’re moving. Your world is about to change, and you want them to know you’re about to start a new chapter. If you’re friends with your neighbors, make sure they know too. They may even be able to help (or even take some unwanted stuff off your hands!). It is also important to notify your employer and the post office, so you can still receive mail and important documents. You can fill out a change of address form online with the United States Post Office.
2. Create a moving checklist and budget. When moving, there is a lot to keep track of. You don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute or forget something. As professional organizers in Boston, we have a checklist we provide to help our clients get through each step of their move. This checklist should be done 8-10 weeks before the move. Once you have a budget, you need a system for tracking expenses throughout your move – for some, it’s a spreadsheet; for others, it’s an envelope stuffed with receipts. Give yourself plenty of time to be prepared. Depending on the size of your space, start setting aside an hour a day to pack about a month or two out. If you do a little bit each day, you will be able to complete your checklist and create an organized system.
3. A great way to get started with the moving process is to declutter. It is easier and less expensive to move only the things that you need. As you begin to organize, you can create toss, sell, donate, and keep piles. When moving into a new house, you only want to bring the things that you know will have a place. Don’t pay to move stuff you’re just going to leave in a box for years.
4. Invest in good quality packing boxes. It’s easy to go to your local grocery store and try to obtain some boxes for free. However, moving boxes are relatively inexpensive, and the added durability can be worth the cost in the end. Grocery boxes and reused moving boxes can be compromised due to wear and exposure to moisture or worse, a bug infestation. The last thing you want is a box falling apart while you’re trying to move it into the house.
5. Speaking of boxes, you don’t want to over pack a moving box. One mistake a lot of people make when moving is trying to cram all of their belongings into a few cardboard boxes they have around the house. Use as many boxes as you need to create easy-to-lift loads. Keep your largest boxes to no more than 50 pounds. Movers are not super-humans. They need to be able to lift it. Fill in any gaps with packing paper, clothing or foam peanuts to prevent items shifting around during the move. Use tape to close the bottom and top seams and around the edges where stress is concentrated.
6. To stay organized during and after the move, color-code your rooms. Use multi-colored packing labels, colored masking tape or post-its and give each room its own color. Label the contents of each box and include the color for the room it belongs in. Then in your new place, use a post-it to mark entrances to rooms. This moving tip will save movers a ton of time (and you a ton of money!). Instead of needing to read the label explicitly or play the room guessing game, they can just match color to color.
We hope these 6 tips to make moving less stressful will help you have a smooth move!
