Moving houses

You have my sympathy Inah.

Although it has been almost 25 years since I moved into my current home, I have not forgotten how stressful I found it. The proximity of my current home to my previous home was so close that it wasn't worth enlisting the services of a removal firm. My dad and my then-boyfriend took on the role of being my removal men, and my task was to ensure they had clear access to the rooms in my current home, and provide them with refreshments.

For me, the number one priority was organising my kitchen, promptly followed by my son's bedroom and mine. I wasn't too bothered about the rest of my house being in a state of disarray, as I knew I could tackle the other rooms the following day.

I wish you well with your forthcoming move, and hope it won't take you too long to adjust to your new home.

Thanks Homebird 

It is difficult and I find it takes a while to get used to the new place. 

The way I manage it is by organizing as much as I can. I make a list of all the places that need a new address and if possible and time let them know before. Some of the utilities can be done online, so you could do before you move in case you have to wait to get the broadband set up again. I also try to plan room layouts so it is quicker to get sorted.

When I pack, I sort a box with essentials and also labelled boxes for rooms. Last time we moved I put the bedding in a black sack, so it was handy to get out quickly. I hate chaos too, so having a few things ready to create areas of calm helped.

I hope all goes well and you soon feel comfortable and settled.

Thanks TheCatWoman 

Thanks Iain, I used Trello for the last move, I was thinking of doing that again I think I am just dreading it because this move wasn’t planned as we just moved a year ago.. I think I will do it again though.

The chaos is mainly the physical one atm, all I can see is a dirty looking flat, things to fix and clean once we’re out, and obviously packing and unpacking everything! I have a hard time thinking in such an environment and get angry and frustrated quicker.

I've spent quite a few years living in rented houses and having to move often, it's horrible, just when you start to feel settled you've got to pack up and move again, it's very unsettling.

I've had 18 years now where I've only moved once, I'd hate to go back to feeling so insecure again.

((hugs)) to you.

Inah said:

I hate chaos and losing a safe place to be. 

You can at least manage the chaos using some project managent techniques to let you plan things and organise your time and resources well.

I would start with brainstorming the situation - get a big sheet of paper and a load of small post-its and start writing down the things you can think of that need doing as part of the move. You can then group these by category and start thinking of which are dependent on other things and more items start being added to the list as you flesh out these ideas.

Once you have no more ideas to add (for now) then create a spreadsheet of these as individual tasks (eg contact bank with change of address, give the post office the form to forward mail fo a year, buy packing boxes and tape and so on) and use whatever colour coding works for you to mark which are dependent on other things so you can prioritise the tasks.

You will fairly quickly have a list of tasks to do ASAP so I recommend doing the fastest of these first to give motivation, and keep a notepad for the inevitable extra tasks that will appear as you go along (eg buy bubble wrap, get the coffee machine repaired etc).

I do recommend just working from your prioritised tasks on any given day and every few days revisit your main list, mark as completed the ones you have done and you soon start to see that you have it under control.

Make sure you have plenty of time off for the actual move as there will always be last minute stuff to do that takes longer than expected. Having a box with survival essentials for work is a tip I learned so you don't have to unpack 20 boxes to find your laptop charger for example.

You now have chaos managed. You have much more control but still the same amount of work but somehow it feels less stressful because it is constrained by your planning and adaptable to unexpected events.

As for losing a safe place, think of it as finding a new one instead - one you can shape to your needs quickly because you have prepared for it.

That would be my approach anyway and I move house about once a year (I buy, renovate and sell flats where I live so I have the chaos of the renovation managed using the same principles).