Moving is a lot of hard work. As well as the normal pressures of life, you have to manage budgeting for a new home, buying a house if you haven’t already found one, organising your move, packing, changing utilities and so much more. But the truth is we often make moving house much harder than it needs to be. Here are the reasons why moving house is so stressful and how to avoid it.

1. Lack of planning

Moving will always be a stressful job if you don’t make a plan. There are so many tasks to remember, even if you have a superb memory, you’ll probably miss something important along the way. Make a plan, write it down and sort each task by the completion date. Don’t try to do everything yourself and share the load.

2. Your old friend Mr Procrastination

Procrastination goes hand in hand with inadequate planning. As soon as you start delaying jobs for another day, the plan spirals out of control. Once your moving day is fixed, if you have procrastinated, you’ll cluster a ton of jobs into the final days. Not only is this stressful, it makes the move go slower and may incur extra moving costs. Don’t put off jobs and stick to your plan.

3. Dodging downsizing

We’ve covered the importance of downsizing your move in many articles. It’s a simple equation. The more you have to move, the longer it takes and the more it costs. More time and additional costs equals unnecessary stress. Most people have many more belongings than they actually need. Moving is the best time to sort your belongings into what you’ll keep, what you can sell or donate, and what you can recycle or throw away. Lightening the moving load also lightens your mental load.

4. Packing… packing… packing…

Or rather, not packing everything before moving day. This is arguably the single most stressful thing that could happen when moving. You’ll rush around in a panic trying to get everything into boxes before the movers arrive. Poor packing significantly increases the chances of breakages and makes unpacking more difficult. If you have a significant amount of packing still to do, you could even get your move rescheduled. That’s a huge recipe for stress. This is why it’s best to start packing as soon as you know you’re going to move house. And always give yourself much more time than you think you’ll need.

5. Taking on too much

As we noted before in the planning stage, assigning too many jobs to yourself is another source of stress. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when moving house, even if you have lots of time for everything you need to do. Ask for help from family and friends, even if it’s just for child minding or taking the dog for a walk. Hire cleaners to do the dirty work, or ask your moving company about packing and unpacking services to lighten your workload.

If, at any point of the moving process, you stop and ask yourself why moving is so stressful, review these tips to find a way to make your move easier. If you need any further help or advice, please give us a call.