Moving is one of the top five stressors in life, along with losing a loved one, divorce, major illness or injury, and job loss. If you’re facing a move, you may be feeling anxious or stressed—but there are many ways to take the edge off, so you can move more peacefully and productively!
Declutter
The first step when you know you’re going to move is to declutter. It doesn’t make sense to move things you don’t want or need, so take some time and go through your belongings. Let go of what you no longer need, and both packing and unpacking will go much faster.
Plan your space
Get measurements for your new home as soon as you can to ensure that the furniture you want to take will fit in your new space. You’ll also want to consider how you will use the rooms in your new home, especially if there is a different configuration and you have more or fewer rooms in the new space. Also consider the amount of storage space in your new home. Is it more or less than you have now? You may need to make some decluttering decisions based on the new space.
2-3 months prior to your move
- Arrange for your utilities to be transferred or discontinued.
- Begin packing infrequently used items, like holiday decorations and memorabilia.
1 month prior to your move
- Purchase moving materials, like boxes, bubble wrap, tape, and packing paper.
- Hire professional movers for large furniture, and to pack if you prefer.
- Reserve the elevator in your building if necessary.
- Request mail forwarding.
- Notify insurance companies of your new address.
- Change your address with banks, magazines, subscriptions services, etc.
- Pack items that are sometimes used, like seasonal clothes.
- Start to use extra supplies of food in your pantry.
1-2 weeks prior to your move
- Make sure your new home is clean, so items can be unpacked promptly.
- Notify your internet and cable companies of your move.
- Get the internet set up in your new home.
- Transfer your prescriptions to your new pharmacy.
- Cancel any local gym, club, or co-op memberships.
- Use up the food in your fridge.
- Continue packing everything, except what you need for the last few days.
- Plan where the items you’re taking will go in your new home.
- Buy shelving or other large items you need for storage or organization in your new home.
If you start early, and take the time to prepare, your move will go much more smoothly!
I especially appreciate the reminder to cancel memberships. This is something that would be so easy to forget!!
Glad you found that helpful, Seana!
This is an excellent (and not overwhelming) list of how to approach moving. Being that it IS one of the most stressful things in life, it’s great to have a plan, which helps mitigate some of that stress. While I don’t specialize in moving, I DO help with the pre-move editing piece. Ideally, we take the time for that important stage. If not, we end up taking things with us we truly don’t want or need. Moving is a great motivator for letting go.
Absolutely, it invites a critical eye on all our belongings. It’s stressful but there are a lot of positives!
Great tips! I find that checklists help when moving. Even if it is a dump list initially, it will allow you to see every task on paper and prioritize them later.
Good point, Sabrina! Visual people especially find checklists helpful.
Decluttering before moving is some of the best advice we as Professional Organizers can tell our clients before they start packing. A good tip to follow is to declutter a few days before the trash pick up–that way decisions are made and the items are out the door quickly!
That’s a great tip, Stacey!
Such good all-around advice and a wise timetable. So often, people call to declutter/purge after a move, and I just hate that they spent extra money and effort packing and moving things that could have been donated or discarded beforehand.
Turning on the power, internet, and cable, ensures that moving day goes smoothly, especially nowadays when all the answers to lingering (or problematic) questions must be found on the web.
Thanks, Julie! You’re too right, it’s frustrating to see someone expend energy on things they don’t even want!
I love how clear and concise this list is. Moving can be so stressful and overwhelming. Having a HUGE list of tasks to complete on top of all that can make the process even worse, lol. Great post!
Thanks, Melanie! It can be easy to get lost in the details, that’s why lists like this are helpful.