Moving day is coming much too soon. Panic starts to set in when you worry about how you’re going to get everything packed up and ready for the moving truck.
The simplest way to get your belongings packed and ready to go is to declutter your home. The truth is, anything you can do to lower your stress level is going to help. According to Psychology Today, there are a number of reasons mess causes stress. You don’t need any extra stress in your life, so take advantage of these 7 simple decluttering steps to keep your stress level down as much as you can.
1. Set your decluttering goals ahead of time
You know you have a date by which everything has to be ready to be loaded onto the moving truck. Take the time to walk through your home and make a list of the rooms that need decluttering before you can pack them up.
Assign each room a 1, 2, or 3. The ones are the most cluttered so start with them. Finish those and move ahead to the 2’s, then the 3’s. Having an organized plan like this is going to make your move much simpler.
2. Decide on a sorting system for your clutter
You can’t simply move clutter from one room to another; you must eliminate it. A simple way to do this is called the “3 Box System.” Label three boxes, Keep, Get Rid Of, and Store. Take the boxes to the first room and put the clutter into one of those 3 boxes. Once an item is in a box, don’t’ change boxes. Just put your items in the boxes and do what the label says.
3. Get rid of the clutter
Even governmental agencies as diverse as the Bedford, Massachusetts Board of Health tell their citizens that clutter is a problem.
Add the extra stress of moving cross-country and, you have chaos in your mind. Once you’ve gone through all your rooms, decide what to do with the Get Rid Of clutter items. Recycling works; so does donating your items. Have a garage sale and as a last resort, rent a dumpster.
4. Eliminate without regret
Use the famous 80/20 rule. Get rid of the 80% of your stuff you don’t use. This can cause some tears, but your stress level is going to go down.
5. Forget what you paid
You wanted something, and you bought it. Then you used it once, and now it’s in the back of a closet. Your goal is less clutter to make your move easier. If you don’t use it, let it go.
6. If you don’t love it, let it go
Decluttering, especially before a move, makes everyday life seem dramatic and crazy. If you find something that you don’t love. Leave it behind; in 6 months you won’t remember you ever had it.
7. Like attracts like
After you’ve eliminated what you can from your home, organize your remaining belongings so that similar items are together. This lets you look at them as a group and allows you to declutter even more when you realize you have 3 of the same thing.
Moving is stressful, plain, and simple. Following these 7 simple tips is going to go a long way toward making your cross-country move as hassle-free as possible.