Because of our recent move, my life has been full of boxes, bins and bags for about a month now. Of course, everything was well organized and I knew where everything was thanks to my master packing list, but it still became a bit of a challenge as we got closer to moving day. One can only maneuver around the packed stuff for so long before it really starts to bother you.
One good thing about our move was the timing. I usually purge and get rid of things we aren’t using, can’t wear or no longer want about the beginning of May, which was perfect because once that was done, I knew we weren’t taking anything with us that we didn’t want or need. I started by packing everything that wasn’t being used and moved on down the line, labeling each box and bin with a room and a box number. Keeping a master list of what was in each box or bin made getting everything in the right place at the new house and unpacking much easier. Add to that a list of everything that had to be done and a schedule for those things and everything was covered.
Well, almost everything. One thing you can’t completely plan for is the disorganized way that other people in the mix function. You can prepare and make allowances for some things, but not all of them. Although I made allowances for others in the mix, I was still impacted by the way they function, but not as greatly as I could have been had I not taken those things into consideration. For instance, I extended our move date beyond the time that I was told the house was going to be empty, which was a good thing. One not so good thing is that because of the delay in the previous owner exiting the property, not all of the cleaning was done before we moved in, so there was the inconvenience of cleaning around everything. Pretty minor, but still an inconvenience nonetheless.
The bottom line here is that you have to plan and prepare and think about the things that could come up in the process. Over the next few posts I’ll share steps that will help you prepare for and have a smooth move.