Monday 30 July 2012

Well, we survived moving.....

Let's get real for a moment. Have you noticed that I haven't published a blog post in over a month? There is a great reason for why that is so; I have had nothing good to say. It has been a very hard month, with many tears and frustrations and much stress. And guess what? That isn't fun to blog about, since this blog is supposed to motivate me to accomplish my goals and hopefully share helpful tips as I find them.

So next time you read this blog and think, oh wow, this girl really has her whole act together, just remember that I have to take months off at a time, where I can't think of a single thing to write about because I am not accomplishing any goals or doing anything fun.

Which of course is not true. I have accomplished much, such as finding and moving apartments and dealing with tendonitis in my foot. But it is one of those things that you look back on and realize it is good, not something that feels good while doing it.

Which is why I now bring you this post.

Things to remember when moving

1. It is going to be stressful, and never go as planned. Remember however you plan it, something will not go right. So instead of trying to plan around the not going right, just prepare your thoughts for it.

2. You will need more boxes and more helpers. You can never have enough of these two items. Even a child can lift small boxes and carry light objects. Not to say that you should necessarily get kids to help, but just don't reject help because you can't think of something for them to do. Get them to come, and on the day of, you will probably think of something.

3. It will take a lot of time. It might take over your whole life. But this is ok because it is just a weekend or maybe a week. It will be over soon.

4. If there is any, any, any way that you can hire someone to do your post-move clean-out do it! To me this is the worst part, because it is time not spent setting up my new apartment, it is cleaning up the messes from before. But if you have to do it yourself, then slog in and really go at it, so it will be over as soon as you can.

Here are the tips I used to move in a more sane way

1. The first thing I did was start packing ridiculously early, and had a plan for my packing. For instance I started with anything in closets. As I went through each closet I would leave out the bare minimum needed and move this to a better spot. For instance all that was left from my linen closet was a single set of towels which were moved to under the bathroom sink. While this made this area very crowded it freed up space in my linen closet which I then filled with packed boxes. I turned our 2nd bedroom into our box room and as I would clean the house I would often bring things into this room that could be packed. This made it possible to live in a house that was half packed.


2. I printed labels from my computer and had corresponding sheets which I wrote down what was in each box. Of course in the last minute rush this was not done nearly as well. So all the of the boxes that were packed early are well labelled. But this is still incredibly useful when we are unpacking and trying to find certain things. I also organized my labels by room. So for instance Kitchen 1-20, Office 1-20 etc. Obviously things that were labelled kitchen go in the kitchen. Makes it easier for helpers to know where to put stuff.

3. Think outside the cardboard box. Most types of storage containers you are currently using can probably be moved as is. Which is great because it means less packing. Just slap a label on it. Also consider your own luggage for things beyond clothes and garbage bags for anything soft or excessively dirty (like tools and barbecue propane hoses). I found this great idea on pinterest to simply leave my hanging clothes hanging, and then I took sections of them and tied them up in garbage bags (I had the ones with drawstrings which worked great). This made packing and unpacking these clothes pretty instantaneous.

4. Shrink wrap may be the greatest invention ever. Seriously we used SO MUCH of this stuff. If you are moving, buy some. Since it klings to anything simply by stretching it, it can be used on tons of surfaces you wouldn't want to tape. We used it mostly for binding together pieces for furniture we had taken apart, such as shelves. We also used it for securing plastic drawer towers, so that they could be packed as is. Also if you take any furniture apart, simply lay the hardware on packing tape, wrap it up and tape it right to the furniture pieces. Resist the temptation to throw these into a communal jar of bits, as this will surely become lost in that last minute rush I talked about and then you will either have no furniture or you will have to buy all new bits.

5. This is the last thing. I know that it seems ridiculous to spend money on disposable packing supplies, but please let me tell you how much easier these things can make your life. Our favourites include moving blankets for protecting from scratches and nicks, wrapping paper (unless you have a really huge newspaper collection, and don't mind things perhaps getting ink smudges), shrink wrap, one specifically tall box and enough dish boxes, because they come with foam protectors. The duds we have found are mattress bags (yes they protect, but they make it impossible to carry), extra-large boxes, and bubble corners for paintings. Get good supplies. It will make you much happier and are easily reusable.
I hope none of you have to move in the near future, but if you do just remember that almost everyone has done it and has realized how stressful and not-fun it can be. Do what you can to make it as painless as possible and prepare yourself for the inevitable changes. And most importantly ask for help! Friends can make hard tasks seems so much easier.

Have you moved recently? Do you have any tips for moving?

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