Moving is a rewarding and positive experience. It can be an exciting time for many reasons, including becoming a homeowner for the first time or moving into a new family home. It allows you to have a fresh start in a new area and provides the opportunity to meet new people.
While it can come with an element of stress, there are many ways you can make the moving process easier. For example, being organised and booking a moving company in advance can help to make the experience less stressful. In this guide, we’ve compiled 10 tips to help eliminate any moving house stress you may face.
10 Tips To Cope With Moving House Stress
Here are some of our best tips to reduce house moving stress. These will help to ensure you are fully prepared for moving day:
1. Create A To-Do List
Before you begin your move, it’s a good idea to create a moving house checklist of everything you need to remember to do. This will significantly help to relieve any moving house stress you may have. You can follow it from point to point to ensure you haven’t forgotten any steps.
Here are some things you can add to your to-do list:
Choosing a moving day
Booking a removals company
Purchasing packing materials
Creating an inventory of items to pack
Making time to pack items
Create a list of items to get rid of or sell
Get rid of rubbish when moving house
2. Start Packing Early
Packing early will help you to stay organised and on track. It will make sure everything is completed before your moving day.
How early you pack is down to personal preference. It’s recommended to start packing for a move around 7 weeks before your moving date. This will provide you with enough time to get everything packed and organised.
Here are some quick packing tips to follow:
Pack items room by room to keep everything organised and in the correct places for unpacking
Pack clothes you wear the least as it’s unlikely you will wear these before your move
Pack books you won't read. Place these in a suitcase as this can hold more weight than a cardboard box
Pack kitchen utensils and equipment that aren’t used every day
Pack important documents such as birth/marriage certificates in one box. Label the box clearly to ensure it doesn’t get lost
Read more on How to Prepare for Moving House
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3. Plan Ahead
It’s important to plan well in advance for all potential eventualities. Careful planning will help you to avoid additional moving stress. Make a list of everything that needs doing so that you can plan accordingly.
Here are some things to consider doing before your move:
Book time off work
Book your removal company in advance
Organise moving with pets
Have a deep clean of your old home
Begin the packing and decluttering process well in advance
Contact a new school if you’re moving with children
Use up any perishable goods and food you have
Cancel bills and contracts connected to your current house
Change your address for important documents/deliveries
Set up essentials like gas/electricity/water/broadband for your new house
Planning can help to prevent any unexpected or additional expenses. Keeping track of your budget and having money saved to cover expenses can remove the stress of unexpected costs. It also helps to prevent money worries.
4. Use a Removal Company
Choosing the right removal company for your move will help to reduce moving stress and anxiety. Removal companies can relieve pressure as they carry out all the organisation and heavy lifting for you.
A removal company will:
Be fully experienced in moving heavy items, they will avoid damage to walls and floors
Lift, load and unload boxes for you
Provide a partial or full packing service to avoid moving stress
Offer to disassemble/reassemble your furniture
Often provide both removal and storage services
By using Compare My Move, we can help you save up to £700 on your removal costs. If you’re worried about the cost of moving house, it’s useful to put aside money in advance.
In addition to this, using a comparison website will allow you to compare and contrast quotes, helping you to find the best deal. Many removal firms offer packing services and storage facilities.
House clearance services can be useful to consider when moving house. The house clearance company will collect any unwanted goods for you and dispose of them safely and legally. This means you don’t have to worry about transporting large items such as white goods and unwanted furniture to your new home. You can find cheap house clearance companies by comparing quotes through us.
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5. Focus on the Positives
Concentrating on the positive aspects of your move is a useful way to help reduce moving house stress. Not only will this help your mental well-being, but it will also help to offset any negative emotions you may have.
Some pros for moving house include:
A chance to start fresh in a new neighbourhood
You’ll have a blank canvas to decorate
You may have more space, a garden or a spare bedroom to utilise
Moving nearer friends or family
Opportunity to make new friends and find new hobbies
Commute to work may be shorter
Getting on the property ladder
6. Ask For Help
Whether it be from an insured, removal company or your friends and family, getting help is essential in tackling the moving stress. Even if you are an experienced mover, the more people you have on hand to help, the easier your home-buying process will be.
Here are some ways you can receive help:
Get your friends/family to help pack and clean your old home
Hire a cleaner to clean your old home
Hire a removal company. They will carry out the difficult aspects of the move for you. This can include packing, lifting and loading
Accept help from your neighbours if they offer
Use Compare My Move to compare removal quotes. This will help you to save time and money. Our services eliminate the stress of having to find a trusted and verified removal company yourself.
See if you qualify for a DWP moving house grant
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7. Pack a Bag of Essentials
There are some essentials you won’t want to be packed away with everything else. This is why it’s useful to have a bag of essentials to hand during and after your move.
Items to keep handy for the first few days include:
Medication
Toiletries (e.g. toothpaste, shower gel, soap, and face wash)
Toilet and kitchen roll
Underwear, a change of clothes and pyjamas
Phone charger/laptop charger
Toys for children or pets
Kitchen essentials (e.g. milk, cutlery, tea and coffee)
Anything that you use daily (this can vary from person to person)
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8. Get Rest
Moving home is an extremely busy and tiring time. You shouldn't push yourself too hard throughout the moving process. Ensuring you get enough sleep and rest during this time is important.
You can look after yourself by:
Make sure you’re getting enough sleep
Take regular breaks from packing and unpacking
Take your time with packing and do not rush the process
Eat well and keep hydrated through the process
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9. Choose a Moving Day that Best Suits Your Needs
To help combat stress, it’s best to choose a moving day that best suits your needs. It’s useful to work the move around your schedule and choose a time that will provide a moving day that’s as relaxed as possible.
It’s always best to book your move with a removals company as early as possible if you are opting to use their services. This will help you to choose the best time and day for you.
Compare My Move's research has shown that our most popular day for moving is a Friday. Moving on a Friday will give you the whole weekend to get settled in. If you move on the Friday before a bank holiday, you will have an extra day to unpack and adjust to your new home.
10. Meditation
Moving house requires a lot of physical labour. This is why it can often cause stress and anxiety. Will Williams, the founding teacher at Beeja Meditation, describes moving home as "a classic example of a ‘positive’ life event putting so much strain on the nervous system". Williams also stated that it can cause people to “feel "overwhelmed" and "emotionally very challenged".
One example he suggests to help beat the stress of moving is meditation. It is one form of professional advice to help you through the process and reassess the situation, helping you see things more clearly.
Williams describes mediation as "incredible for calming the nervous system down and giving you so much extra bandwidth that you can take these big life events in your stride, enabling you to enjoy your achievements and keep your relationships happy and nourished even when there is so much on."
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Why is Moving House So Stressful?
Here are some reasons why you might feel stressed when moving house:
It’s a big life change for all family members
The packing process
Leaving friends and family behind
Feeling unprepared
Physical labour of the move
Financial strain
The stress of moving house affects everyone differently. For some, it may be a task you’re used to, and cause little stress. For others, it can be a major source of anxiety.
Moving house can inevitably have a psychological effect on individuals. This is because it brings change with it. Often you’re uprooting your life and potentially leaving behind important relationships. If you’re worried, it’s important to identify the areas of the process that have the potential to cause anxiety or stress.
The official Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale ranked a 'major change in living conditions' as only 28th on the list of most stressful life events.
Enjoy A Stress-Free Experience With Compare My Move
Here at Compare My Move, we can help to make your move as easy and as stress-free as possible. Simply fill out our online form to be connected with up to 6 trusted and reliable removal companies.
All our removal partners have passed our strict verification process. As a result, you can rest assured knowing you will be provided with the best possible service. We can help you to save up to 70% on your move.
