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How to Deal with the Stress of Residential Moving

Anyone who’s ever moved from houses or apartments knows well how much stress is involved. On top of it being a time of great change in your life, there’s also the constant worry of having all those things you worked hard to buy go missing or get damaged. Moving doesn’t always have to be a difficult emotional experience. Here’s how you can turn it into a happy and relaxing one.

Developing a Plan

The first—and probably most important—step is to develop a structured and easy-to-follow plan. Doing things haphazardly will lead to confusion and stress, so you’ll need to consider every aspect of your move before you even start.

Timing Is Everything

Faced with a big move, most people will try to get it done as quickly as possible—often on a weekend. This is fine, as long as nothing goes wrong, but why give yourself such a tight and inflexible deadline if you don’t need to?

Really consider how long things will take, and try to allow space for the odd hiccup and some time to unwind. Consider taking a few days off work so you’re not constantly running around.

Where Are You Moving To?

Research the area you’ll be moving to before you start hauling boxes. Find a nice place to break for lunch, find out how many trucks you can fit on your street, even find your closest mall for those things you just can’t bring yourself to unpack yet. Above all, get comfortable in your new neighborhood!

Not only that, but it’s a good idea to visualize where everything will fit in your new place before you start packing those boxes. That way, you can organize better and work out if anything needs to be sold or put in storage before you move, saving you a headache further down the line.

Setting Goals You Can Achieve

If there’s one thing about making a plan that can’t be overstated, it’s that you need to make your steps, and your goals, small and manageable. You want to make every little thing you do a victory that you can celebrate, not just an insignificant step in a monumental undertaking. Make your plan as detailed as possible so you can check it off—and give yourself a high-five—as you go.

Taking Care of Yourself

While moving might seem like it’s all about protecting and moving your things, it’s quite an emotional time for you, too. It’s not uncommon to feel a level of grief when leaving an old home behind—in fact, many people rate a move as a heart-wrenching experience on par with a break-up or the loss of a friend.

Add these feelings to the inherent difficulty of a move, and you’ve got a recipe for some very high emotions. In order to avoid a meltdown, you’ll have to look after yourself just as much as you’re looking after your possessions. Make sure you:

• Call on friends for support and a helping hand
• Give yourself plenty of breaks to appreciate the little things
• Get plenty of sleep
• Celebrate both your new place and the memories you left behind
• Say hi to your new neighbors
• Keep in touch with old friends you might be leaving behind

Engaging the Professionals

It’s likely, at this point, you’ll be considering getting some outside help for your move. After all, it’s a lot for just one person or a couple to manage, and reliable and professional movers can make a world of difference to your stress and sanity.

Box-n-Go can make all the difference to not only the security and speed of your moving process but, ultimately, also your stress levels. We love every little challenge that comes with moving and storing your stuff—contact us now at 877-269-6461 and let us do the hard work for you!