When I set my monthly challenge last month, I said that I thought I would be either moving or close to moving during March. And that’s why I wanted to set my challenge to be about getting back onto a cleaning schedule. As I have started to pack things up in my house, it has also been getting messier. There are a lot of things making cleaning tough, but I also know I was using that as an excuse. So I wanted to try to clean things as much as I could.
And I think I did a good job with getting back to doing speed cleans every day. Some days I was able to do more than one speed clean in a day. Even though my house is getting crowded with boxes and things all over the place, I am still trying to pick things up when I can and try to keep the craziness as organized as I can. I am also still anxious because my house feels messy with the clutter, but at least doing some of my regular cleanings helps with that feeling a bit. I was hoping that this past month would somehow help me feel like the boxes all over weren’t making it as messy as it felt, but that was just a feeling I couldn’t get over.
This month, I am for sure moving! I submitted my 30-day notice to my landlord so I will have to be out of my current place by the end of the month. I’m also working on scheduling cleaners (I want to clean the condo before I move in because of all the renovation dust) and movers. I think I’ll be able to move in around the middle of the month, so I’ll have time to clean up my current place after everything is moved out before my landlord takes my keys.
And because this month is going to be busy with packing, moving, and cleaning; I’m going to make the monthly challenge one that isn’t really too hard for me. My challenge for April is going to be to move out of my home for over 12 years into my new condo. Obviously, this is going to have to happen because of the notice I gave. But it’s going to be a challenge no matter what. I’ve been going through things that I have and seeing what I really want to move with me. It’s hard to pick through 12 years of a place and really consider if I need it. I’ve held on to a lot of things over the years, and I don’t need to take stuff that will just be put into a drawer and never needed.
I am hiring movers to help me with some of my big furniture, but I also plan on moving a lot of things myself. I don’t have a ton of boxes, but I have a few and I also bought some moving bags that are similar to Ikea shopping bags. If I pack up all the boxes and bags I have, I can drive over to the new place, unpack them without necessarily organizing everything, and then drive back and pack them up again and do more than one carload in a day. I will have to be flexible with how I move, but my idea is to do 2-3 carloads one day after work and then the next day not bring anything else over and just put away everything that I moved the day before. I have no clue if this method will work or make things more stressful, so I’ll just have to see how it goes.
When I have the movers, I will be moving all the big things and then I will probably be living over at the condo more than in my current place. But I will have some flexibility because I am selling the bed I have now and already purchased a new one for the condo. So if I moved all my furniture but for some reason needed to not stay there for a night or two, I will be ok doing that. It won’t be convenient, but it’s an option. But that’s why I want to move as much as I can as soon as I can so my things are over there by the time my furniture is.
I can’t be sure that I will have everything put away and organized by the end of this month, but I’m going to try my best. I know how stressed I am living in a disorganized space, and I don’t want to extend that more than I need to. But I do know that I will have to complete this challenge because there is no other option for me. I will be moved to the condo by the end of the month and I will need to clean my current place as much as I can so my landlord doesn’t deduct cleaning fees from my deposit.
I can’t wait to be in my condo and I can’t believe that I’m almost living there. This has felt like it has taken so long since I knew my current place was going to be sold back in August. I know that it really hasn’t been that long considering everything, but I’m ready to be done with this in-between time and onto the next phase of my life in LA!