7 Tips to Reduce Moving Stress

How To Reduce Moving Stress

Mindset Strategies and Practical Tips 

7 Tips To De-Clutter Before You Move

From the time that you know you are moving, besides your new address, you now have two new names. One is Moving! One is De-cluttering! If you learn the mindset strategies and practical actions that live up to these names, you will have a less stressful and more successful move.

Moving and de-cluttering share two very broad action categories: Coming and Going.

Moving asks the question, “What’s coming?” (To our new home)

De-cluttering asks the question, “What’s going?” (give away, sell, throw out)

Moving asks, “How is it coming?” 

De-cluttering asks, “How is it going?”

This article will focus on one of the single most important tasks that you can do to handle stress and save time, money, and energy before and after the move:

DE-CLUTTER BEFORE YOU MOVE


1      Get the Right Mindset
Moving is stressful. But you can navigate it and make it better. Do not fall into the mind trap of telling yourself I will just pack everything and de-clutter after we move in. Unless you are under tremendous time pressure, this is a costly mistake. Now is your opportunity to pare down. Tell yourself, The more I get rid of now, the more Time, energy and money I will save. I will really appreciate all this effort. Now is my opportunity to lighten our load!

 Info Alert: Clutter Increases Stress

Research findings from Princeton University Neuroscience Institute—clutter increases your stress by:

• creating environmental chaos
• interfering with your ability to focus
• making you more vulnerable to frustration

If you want to think more clearly, be calmer, more focused, more productive, clear out the clutter from all your environments and improve your health, your relationships and productivity.

2      Do It NOW! BEGIN DECLUTTERING NOW!
Begin immediately. Go to local grocery and chain stores to gather boxes, buy large bags, masking tape, a thick black marker, some labels. Even if you are hiring movers to pack, you need to organize what you are giving away. Immediate Action will relieve a good part of the moving anxiety and will create momentum.


Info Alert: Winners Do Hard Things First!!!!

The hardest part of any important task is getting started. —Brian Tracy

3      Make De-Cluttering Decisions:
Take your pad and pen. Begin by walking through each room. Survey the contents and ask yourself:

• What can I definitely give away right now?
• What can I throw away?
• What can I sell?
• What am I definitely taking with us?

Begin with the definite items and start throwing out. Measure your success by the number of trips to the waste bin and recycling dumps.

4      Designate a Place in Your Home 
Pick a corner and put all the give away or sell items there. Keep going. Ask the question, “What are the next small steps that I can take right now that will help me move forward?” Is it a messy desk or dresser drawers? A kitchen cabinet that doesn’t close? A front hall closet that is the family dumpster? Don’t fret! Research tells us, that the first 20-30 minutes of a task are the difficult time of transition into it.  After that, we pick up our momentum and are on our way. So look at each item, take a deep breath and ask the following questions:

• Is this essential?
• When was it used last?
• Does it work?
• Is it purely sentimental?
• If I keep it and pack it, will I score high on the Hoarder’s quiz index?
• If I give it away and discover that I need it, can I easily replace it?

Honor your feelings. They are real. You might be the type of person who finds it a little hard to let go of things but it is not a psychological issue. Honor your feelings and memories. But remember those feelings have a special place in your heart. Do you have to really schlep them in boxes also?

5      Make Your Resource List
Get out your phone book, community directory, or get on the Internet and see what people, places or organizations will be kind enough to come take away your stuff. Call now.  If you are selling stuff, is it through an internet post, a yard sale or neighborhood flyers? What
is your back up plan. Do you have a used furniture or thrift shop that will come to pick up the stuff if it doesn’t get sold?


6     Remember Expired and Broken Items
Check your pantry, kitchen cabinets, basement, attic, wall safe(!) garage, medicine cabinets for anything that has past the expiration date. Put the stuff in a bag or box and go throw it out.  Now is the time to make the rounds of the recycling bins for paper, plastic, glass, old clothing and old broken unfixable appliances. Often a repairman in the industry will be happy to come and pick up and appliance and even just use it for parts.

7    Books and Papers, Papers, Papers
What goes to the local library? What goes to the paper drop? What have you saved to read someday and haven’t touched in at least three years? Have your saved tax files expired and are now eligible for the shredder? Go For it! Be disciplined, consistent and resourceful and do something every day. Remember little things add up. What is the next smallest action you can take in your environment that will move you forward in the right direction?  Do it now!