New Year’s Resolutions To Improve Your Moving Experience

The New Year is full of optimism and opportunity. This is the time where we reflect on our success and shortcomings in the last year and create new guidelines for a successful year ahead. For many, part of heir fresh start includes moving into a new home. A move can be chaotic, which makes it a perfect excuse to give up on those New Year resolutions like eating healthy, exercising, or staying organized. If you’re planning to move in the New Year, use these tips to make sure your resolutions don’t get left behind during the move.

Set Goals

Your moving for a reason, whether that be a new job, a fresh start, or a new addition to the family. As you prepare to move it will be helpful to set some clear goals to keep your move on track and in line with other New Year’s resolutions you may have.

Moving goals help you move better, so if you ever move again in the future -- or if someone asks for advice about moving -- you have worthwhile experience in that area. Moving goals can include creating (and sticking to) a budget, creating a task calendar, how to divvy up tasks between your household and your professional movers, etc.

When setting goals, it is helpful to also set deadlines for these goals. Personal accountability can be difficult, and setting deadlines will help prevent procrastination and stress.

Manage Pre-Moving Stress

A move doesn’t happen overnight (unless you’re in a rare and unfortunate situation). Prevent the pre-moving stress and anxiety by spacing out the task list over a couple months. When you tackle moving tasks little by little, by moving day you can rest easy and leave the final steps to your professional movers.

Moving is an emotional process as well as a physically demanding one, so schedule some self-care time on your moving calendar too. Visit with friends, schedule a massage, or simply take a day off work to relax and do some packing in your own time.

Get Organized

Moving is much easier when you have a system. Stick to your list of goals and keep all your belongings and packing materials organized. When everything has its place and you know exactly what needs done next, you can save some brainpower for tackling bigger issues like your family’s well-being during this transition.

 

Have A Green Move

It’s easy to throw your green resolutions out the window during a move, but it’s actually easier to have a green move than you think.

Moving results in a lot of waste -- from old belongings and junk drawers to moving boxes and packing materials -- but you can minimize some of this waste with a green plan.

Organize your waste into 5 bins labeled recycling, compost, trash, donate, and sell. It doesn’t take much effort and it can direct certain products to be recycled or repurposed. Keep these bins in your garage and be discerning when purging your home.

If recycling is new to you, consider your move as an opportunity to make a change in your life and the environment this year. Organizing your disposed items could be a new habit that you can continue at your new home.


Eat Healthy During the Move

Through all the packing, coordinating, and cleaning, takeout can become a regular habit at this time. But all those pizzas and trips to the corner thai restaurant can add up. Eating takeout too often can also be bad for your health. Save some cash and keep your energy high with regular healthy meals.