Many people hate moving. Of course, it’s exciting to start your new life in a new location. Whether it’s a new home or a new office, that fresh start feels good. But the actual process of moving from one location to another comes with a lot of stressors. Luckily, if you plan in advance, you can avoid some of the most common problems that people have when moving.
Here are five of the most common moving problems and some solutions to get you off to a great fresh start:
1. Stress of Packing / Worrying about Breakage
For many people, the biggest problem is figuring out how to properly pack everything up for a move. In particular, people worry about breaking their valuable items. Sometimes people don’t want to pack things themselves but don’t trust movers to safely pack for them. Therefore, they take on the packing task only to resent the stress of how much work it involves.
The solution: Hire movers with experience in custom packing. It’s best to leave packing to the professionals. But not all movers are skilled at custom packing. Search for a company that builds custom crates specifically sized to keep your valuables secure.
2. Confusing Over Moving Costs
Many people prepay for a moving job only to discover that the job costs more than they anticipated. Therefore, it’s important to work with your moving company to make sure that you understand all costs. If your company is helping to pay for the move, then you should also make sure that you understand what they do (and don’t) cover.
The solution: Plan in advance. Get detailed quotes in writing. Moreover, earmark additional funds just in case emergency moving costs do arise. The more you plan, the better prepared you’ll be for the fees.
3. Having Kids and Pets Underfoot
It’s really hard to move from one place to another when you’re watching little ones. Children often feel stressed out or anxious about a move. Therefore, you’ll have to take time out to help them work through their feelings. This can set you behind on moving. Likewise, pets trying to get out the open door or barking at movers can increase the stress of moving.
The solution: Hire a babysitter / pet sitter in advance. Preferably, hire people who can take your kids / pets to their home for the day / weekend while you move.
4. Stuff Doesn’t Have a Place As You Move
One of the most frustrating, yet often unanticipated problems with moving, is that it can seem like your amount of stuff doubles or triples in size as you move. Of course, that’s not the reality. But when you start pulling everything out of storage, it takes up a lot of space. As you move to the new place, things won’t have a set location, yet, and the amount of clutter can feel overwhelming.
The solution: Get a pod or in-house storage bin. Your moving company may offer these. They give you a safe, secure place to store items at either the old location or the new location. Then, as you get everything moved out and put away, you’ll be able to access that stuff when you’re ready.
5. Anxiety / Mixed Feelings about the Move
It’s okay if you don’t feel 100% excited about the move. Change is hard for many of us. Even when a move is a great thing, we can feel anxiety about it. That’s because the new is unknown.
The solution: Accept and honor your mixed feelings. Don’t let them overwhelm you but don’t try to shove them down either. Recognize the fear and anxiety. Then turn your focus to the positive things about the move.