When people think of moving day, their minds tend to flash to scenes of chaos, confusion, and stress. Most people have had an experience during a move that validates the idea that moving is always a stressful experience. There are, however, plenty of ways to avoid the seemingly unavoidable problems that come with moving day—if you approach it in the right way. Here are some of my favorite tips to help your moving day be carefree. 

Make a Game Plan

One of the best things to reduce your stress levels on moving day is to have a tentative plan for how things are going to go. Especially if you are a lazy mover who is looking to do the least amount of work possible, you will want to start by outlining your plan for the day. If you do nothing else, doing this stage will help to reduce your stress levels by a significant amount, simply because it will help everybody to get on the same page so far as your timeline and expectations go. When you are creating your game plan, consider doing it online so you can share it with whoever is helping you or just print it out and put it in a place where everybody can see it. Here are a few of the things you will want to include:

• When you will be boxing everything
• How the boxes will be organized
• When you want other people there to help you (you might also want to include an incentive or reward to express your appreciation for the help—providing a meal or snacks is an excellent one)
• How and when you will transport your belongings from your old place to your new one
• How long you expect everything to take

When you make a gameplan like this, you will notice that the effort you put into it will pay itself off in the form of saving you time, energy, and a whole lot of stress in the future.

Get Some Help

For the majority of people, moving by themselves is an overwhelming and nearly impossible task. There are too many things to consider and too many things to do for one person to do it all. Whether you enlist friends and family or pay for professional movers, you will be glad you did. There is an ancient proverb that says: “Many hands make light work,” and there is a lot of truth to that.

If you decide to hire professional movers, you can consider it more of an investment. Professional movers have experience moving things quickly, safely, and efficiently, so you can spend your time doing other things without needing to worry about your things being damaged. You will want to clearly label everything, including the things that are fragile and which things you want near the front of the moving truck (if you rent one).

If you recruit your friends and family to help you, you will save money but will have to make more of an effort to move things yourself and make sure nothing gets misplaced or damaged. You will also want to consider providing a meal, snacks, or another form of compensation as an expression of gratitude for their help. In both cases, you will want everyone who is helping you to know your gameplan so you are all on the same page.

Box Most Things Early

One surefire way to make moving day a stressful experience is to try to box everything on the same day you are moving. The simple solution to this is to box most things a few days early, leaving out only the things you need to survive for the next few days until you move. Having everything ready to go will definitely make moving a breeze on the day of.

Before you box everything, make a “three-day pack” for every member of your family. These packs should include clothes, personal hygiene equipment, and a blanket or two. If you will be moving across the country, you will have your hygiene pack to rely on while the rest of your stuff is being transported.

Location, Location, Location

As you are packing everything, be sure to clearly label what is in the box and where it will be going in your new home. Be it the kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, or anywhere else, having the name of the room in which the box should be placed written in big, clear letters will save everybody time and confusion. Additionally, you will want to label everything that will not be going to your house (if you will be storing things at a friend’s or family member’s house or in a storage unit).

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