Moving house is one of the most stressful times you can experience, and people renting in London go through that stress a disproportionate amount: 25% of all London renters moved house in 2016. That’s a rate of change so fast that many private tenants could classify as nomadic.
Fortunately, if you’re looking at moving house or buying a new home in the next few months, there are some simple things you can do to cut down on the stress of moving house and make sure you’re moving day is as simple and straightforward an experience as you can make it.
Plan Ahead
Preparation begins months before moving day. Keep a chart, calendar or diary, noting tasks that need to be done months, weeks and days before moving day. Tasks can be as simple as ‘finding boxes’ to pack into, or as complicated as calling internet and utility providers and navigating their maze of options and holding music to make sure your new home has electricity and a web connection waiting for you.
Keeping all these tasks documented not only means they’ll get done in time but will also help you share them out among everyone who’s moving with you, to make sure the effort is shared equally.
LIFO
While you’re packing, keep a Last In, First Out box: the last box to be loaded into the van and the first one you’ll get out when you arrive. This can be packed with valuable items like keys and documents, but also a kettle, mugs and tea bags, even a phone charger.
This means you’ll keep access to the essentials of life for as long as possible, and get them back immediately when you start to unpack.
Moving Day
Using a professional moving company may be expensive but the gain back in time is worth it: professional movers will fill the van or lorry more quickly than you could hope to, and pack your boxes with efficiency you couldn’t dream of.
If you’re putting any of your items in storage collection and delivery is a useful service to see if the company offers, and is one less thing for you to worry about in the run up to the move.
Finally, use colorful labels to mark your boxes. “All the red labels in the front room” is less easy to misinterpret that relying on handwriting scrawled on the side of an in a panic box at the last minute.
