Reducing the stress of your move
It’s no secret that moving is stressful. Often compared to the stress of losing a family member or planning a wedding, relocating can be a huge source of anxiety. Whether you are moving internationally or locally, it’s easy to become overwhelmed about the logistics and your growing to-do list. So, how do you ensure that you are calm for your move?
Create a plan
With the demands of work and family, it’s easy to get distracted and leave everything to the last minute. However, procrastination and putting off the preparation for the move will increase your stress levels. You can avoid this by writing a plan of what you need to do over the coming weeks and months before your move. Get organized by making a checklist to keep track of your progress. You can download our recommended moving checklist. Break big, overwhelming tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks and aim to achieve at least one thing on your to-do list everyday.
Moving can be unpredictable! You need to ensure that your plan is flexible and can account for unexpected problems or delays. Consider some possible problems and how you can solve or work around them. Having a plan which is able to adapt to changing circumstances can reduce stress as you’ll feel prepared no matter what happens during the move.
Declutter
Are you overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that you have around the house? Doing a big clean out before a move is the ideal. Not only will you feel more organized, but you’ll be only packing and moving the essentials.
So, where to start? Go through your wardrobe and donate any clothes that no longer fit or you no longer wear to a charity. You can donate unwanted books through a book recycle scheme, to a school library, or to your neighbours. And what about all that paperwork and your extensive CD and DVD collection? Digitize them, then donate.
Purging the excess clutter from your life will lighten the load to be transported to your new home. Decluttering frees up space for other things in your mind, in your new space and in your packing boxes.
Tackle the administrative tasks
Taking care of the small administrative tasks like changing your address ahead of time can help to reduce stress. By doing this in advance, you won’t have to worry about lost mail or the finer details as you adjust to your new home. Many countries have easy to use mail forwarding services, which will redirect mail to your new address, whether it’s in Malaysia or somewhere overseas.
Get your new home ready to live in before you move. We’d recommend having your house professionally cleaned and organizing any minor repairs to be finished before you move in. Not only does this make sure that your new place is clean and comfortable as soon as you move in, but it’s also a whole lot easier to accomplish with an empty house. Setting up utilities before you move is also important. There is nothing worse than spending the first night in your new home without any electricity or internet!
We also advise taking the opportunity of an empty house to carry out any other home services like painting, carpet cleaning and refinishing hardwood floors. There will never be a better time to perform these tasks. You’ll feel calm when you move into your new home as all administrative tasks have been taken care of.
Take care of yourself
With the stress of moving, you may be neglecting your own health – both physically and mentally. Make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and cutting down on the alcohol. Keeping a regular routine is especially crucial when moving overseas, the new time zone and climate may take some time to adjust to. Exercising and catching up with your friends can also help to reduce stress. When it comes to packing, take regular breaks and never overestimate how much you can carry.
Ask for help
Moving doesn’t need to be stressful or complicated. You shouldn’t have to do everything yourself so why not seek out a dependable and experienced moving service? The right moving partner can take the stress out of the move. We at Allied Malaysia make your move easy by providing a high quality, reliable and efficient service. We’ll handle the logistics, help with the packing and oversee the entire move for you - we will literally do all the heavy lifting!
Whether your move is domestic or corporate, make sure your moving day goes smoothly with Allied. Contact us today to find out how we can help make your next move a breeze.