As the wife of a US Marine, I’m no stranger to moving. With four moves in the past four years under my belt, I’ve become all too familiar with the stress of a process that most people liken to their annual dental exam. Call me a sadist, but I’ve actually come to enjoy moving and relish the opportunity to experience life in new settings. Don’t get me wrong, I always need an extra glass or two of wine as my move date approaches, but after countless mistakes and expensive missteps, I’ve finally figured out how to alleviate the strain of moving:
Keep Your Eye on the Prize:
Moving is an exhausting process with lots of little moving parts. Inevitably, you’re going to feel frazzled and overwhelmed. When you find that you’ve hit that wall, remind yourself of the end result. Eventually every box will get unpacked, the cable will get installed, the pictures will be hung, and you’ll be rewarded with an amazing sense of accomplishment and a new place to call home.
Start Preparations Early:
Spreadsheets are your new best friend! I always itemize each task that needs to be completed so that it’s on paper instead of constantly running through my head. Start tackling each item by urgency and be sure to track your progress. It also helps to attack your least favorite part of the list first so that it’s not looming ominously. Whether you abhor notifying everyone of your change of address, hate hiring the movers, or dislike sketching out your new furniture arrangement, face it head on and early.
Have Organizing OCD:
By no stretch of the imagination am I a methodical person, but when it comes to moving, I develop organizing OCD. It starts with the systematic purging of everything in my home that I deem “non-essential” via donating, trashing, or selling. Next, is my fool-proof coding system where boxes are labeled with a colored sticker denoting the room that they belong in and a number correlating to a list of the items packed in that specific box. In four moves, I’ve never had to waste a single minute looking for a lost cell phone charger!
Moving has gotten a bum rap as an expensive and stressful process, but I feel that I’ve debunked that misconception by creating a process that works for me. I encourage you to do the same and to never let the fear of moving deter you from experiencing new and exciting places. Just remember that it’s going to be worth the aggravation in the end because you’ll have a great space to create new memories, cultivate new friendships, make new mistakes, and write a new chapter of your life.
