The words “fun” and “moving” rarely go together because let’s be honest: moving is stressful. While we can’t promise you’ll feel like you just got back from the spa, we do think you’ll at least feel less stressful. Here are our best tips for making your next move dare we say it — fun!
Make a Packing and Unpacking Playlist:
This tip might seem a bit silly, but it works! Create two playlists that you can use for your move: a packing playlist and an unpacking playlist. For my packing playlist, focus on peppy music to keep motivated. And for the unpacking playlist, choosing songs that were a bit more relaxing but still had some pow. There’s something psychological that happens in your brain when you go through this process with playlists that you have designated for these two tasks. It could make you kick into gear way easier than normal when you hear your “packing playlist.”
Focus on Easy Peasy:
When you’re working on packing things up, look for every opportunity to make your life easier. Here are a few of our favorite tips:
If you have furniture like dressers filled up with clothes, leave the clothes in there rather than taking everything out and packing it separately. Your movers can wrap up your dresser and ensure none of the drawers move. When you get to your new place, you’ll know exactly where everything is!
For clothes that are already on hangers in your closet, leave them on the hangers. Rather than giving that stuff to your movers, you can move the items yourself and just transfer them right into your new closet. Make sure when you stack up your items, you leave them in the same order they were in (if you like how they were organized). This will minimize your work even more.
If your flatware, kitchen utensils, and other items are already in drawer organizers, leave them in the organizers and pack them that way. When you get to your new home, you can take them directly out of the box and just pop them right into a drawer. If you’re not using organizers and you’d like to, now is an awesome time to do it. Purchase some organizers that you know will work in your new space and pack your kitchen stuff in them before you put them in the box.
Smaller Boxes Are Your Friend:
Bankers Boxes are great! You don’t need tape to put them together, they’re small and easily manageable, and they stack up perfectly. However, you don’t necessarily need to use Bankers Boxes — just try going with boxes that are a bit on the smaller side. Sometimes you do need larger boxes, but maybe just a few. And even though you may have more boxes in total, you’ll still be happier in the end. You can also pack and unpack smaller boxes much quicker, as well as easily move them around as you’re going through the unpacking process. Unpacking the smaller boxes feels like your experiencing quick little wins, and that really could keep you motivated.
Use an App:
If organizing is not necessarily your favorite thing, then download a moving app like Moving Van. This app will help you track exactly what’s in each box, allowing you to snap pictures as you fill up your boxes. It also has a super handy search function, so when you’re at your new place wondering “where did I pack my design coffee table book collection,” you can search for the items and figure out exactly which box they were packed in.
Eat Some Junk Food:
Yes, we said it! For those that are lucky enough to have a group of friends that help out on your moving day, make sure you plan ahead with a setup that will make them want to put you straight into the BFF category. Our idea? Set up a junk food bar. Stock up on all the snacks that you know you shouldn’t be eating but love to anyway: chips, chocolate bars, gummy candy, cookies, etc. Put it all out during the move and encourage everyone to help themselves. If you want to get fancy and have some time before the move, you can whip up your own junk food buffet.
Create a Super Important Box:
In our opinion, is mission critical? As you’re packing up your space, make sure you have a box (or a piece of luggage) for all of your most important items. Think outfits for a few days, exercise gear, your fave shoes, toiletries, important docs, checkbook, food for your pet, medication, etc. Basically, all of the things that you’ll need as soon as you get to your new home. If you can’t fit everything in one box or one piece of luggage, pack two! Just make sure you clearly mark these super duper important boxes so that you don’t lose track of them on the move.
Set Up a Bribe Reward:
This is another tip that may really for you: Set up a personal bribe goal for yourself. Here’s how it works: Agree that if you could unpack all of the boxes in one week, you could make an appointment for a 90-minute facial or take a night off and see a movie. Working toward this special treat could actually really help keep you motivated. Tell your friends/family about your goal. They can remind you of your goal and make it fun to help meet your deadline. You could even offer a friend to join you.
The biggest thing to remember is:
Do whatever works for you!! Moving can be super stressful, so when you figure out the moving tricks that work best for you, do more of them and ditch the rest. Then you o can do the moving happy dance.
