I have some friends who have moved several times in the past few years. Some people have moved almost once a year and some have moved maybe twice in 5 years. For the friends who have moved somewhat regularly, it seems like they have a pretty decent packing and moving plan in place. Maybe it’s because, for many of them, they were moving a far distance so they had to do it all at once (like moving across the country where you really can’t go back and forth). Or maybe they did more research on how to be smart when moving or they are just more organized. I’m not sure why it seems like some of my friends are pros and moving and I’m learning that I am far from a pro.
I know that it’s been 12 years since I’ve moved so I also haven’t had to do this in a long time. And when you’ve lived somewhere for so long, you get a lot of things and you have everything in a particular place. So having to adjust where things are or decide what to take can be very overwhelming. And as I’ve written about quite a few times on here, moving has been so stressful for me and I don’t think I was really prepared for it.
I think that each stage of moving has had its own type of stress and it’s been building upon each stage. At first, when I was just going through my things and deciding what to get rid of, that was stress I’ve gone through more recently and it was a bit more manageable. Coordinating movers and everything that comes along with moving was something I had done before, but not for such a long time so I really didn’t have a plan in place for that. I just reached out to multiple places that were recommended either by friends or online review sites and compared what each offered. I ended up going with one of the cheaper ones because I knew I wouldn’t have a lot for the movers to take.
I think almost all the moving companies I looked at had a 3-hour minimum, and I knew that I wouldn’t need all that time. When the movers were at my old place over the weekend, they even kept asking me if I had more that they could take for me. I started giving them random things that were easy to add to the boxes they were using. But I was pretty unprepared for being able to give them more boxes. I’ve been using banker boxes for the move and I usually fill them to the point where you can’t put the lid on them. And if they couldn’t be closed, the movers couldn’t take them for me. Of the 3-hour minimum, I barely used 2 hours to move the big pieces of furniture and other things I could give to them.
And now, I’m in the phase where it feels like there is a time crunch to get everything out of the old place and into the condo. I know I have about a week and a half left and a lot of things are being picked up by friends or charities so it won’t seem as bad soon, but it feels like I have so much left to move out of there. I’ve been trying to move stuff every day, but it doesn’t seem like I have made that big of a dent yet. But I know that’s probably my mind playing a trick on me.
I know that as soon as this month is done, the moving stress will have to end. The unpacking and organizing of the new place will probably still be happening and causing me stress, but at least everything will be in one location at that point. And because I have reorganized my old place several times, maybe that will be stress that I’m able to handle a bit better.
I’m trying to manage the stress of moving in the best (and hopefully healthiest) ways that I can. And the biggest thing that I think is helping me is having a very regular routine. I still have to work every day (which is also stressful since I wish I could be working on the move during the day but I can’t). And I go to my workouts in the morning. I also still have the regular evening things that I do throughout the week, although just like work, that is making me stress a bit since I know I could use that time for moving stuff. As much as I’m trying to manage how I’m feeling, I also can feel the effect that the stress is having on my body. It’s tough to not get stressed about that too, but I know there is no point in worrying about how this is affecting me.
I can’t imagine how I would be doing with this all if I didn’t have my regular routines keeping me grounded. Right now, that’s my sanity even though it does cause me a bit more stress because my time is being used for other things. But I can’t wait until this time is done so I can be past the stress of moving and can get back to the regular stress that I’m used to in my day to day life.
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Some Real World Results From My Workouts (or Only Moving A Few Heavy Things)
A Few Delays With My Monthly Challenge (or This Month, I Will Be Moving)
Getting More Moving Help From My Friends (or Seeing Things Come Together)
Moving So Much Yet So Little (or Continuing To Decide What I Really Want)
A Transition Of What Feels Like Home (or Getting Even Closer To Moving)
Planning Ahead Even If It’s Stressful (or I Might Be Moving)
