Every summer many
families decide to move to a new home. This move can be across town or on the
other side of the country. Making the move in the summertime is easier on the
children. Change is always difficult even in the best of times. Now with the job
market and the housing situation many families are forced to downsize. Then we
also have our parents deciding to get rid of their larger homes and move into
something that fits their life in retirement. Some families are moving in
together. Moving can be overwhelming and emotional! We can help you!It
all starts with making it fun even if you are not excited about the move. Your
attitude is everything. If you think it is going to be hard it will be; if you
imagine it being a breeze then your dream will come true! What you think about
you bring about!Just 15 minutes planning your move is going to help you
feel in control of the situation. Pour yourself a nice tall glass of lemonade,
prop your feet up and get your notebook out. We are going to build your Moving
Control Journal.You will make lists of things to get done. We all love
lists but instead of this being one big random list that goes on for ten pages
we are going to break this move into babysteps. Place a heading at the top of
each page. As you think of things you can flip to the page it goes
on.Things to do in the new location: Turn on power, telephone,
television, gas and any other thing you can think of like cleaning carpets and
painting. Just the basics; don't get caught up in your perfectionism before you
even get there. It doesn't have to be perfect! Progress not
Perfection!Things to do at your current location: Turn off power and
other utilities, get a truck, hire movers, declutter and PACK!List
things you will need when you get to the new location. This is usually the same
things you needed the last day in your old house: sheets, towels,
clothes, toiletries, basic food preparation tools and food. The last thing on
the truck is the first thing off. Plan it this way. Unless you are going to get
to your new home way ahead of your moving van; then you will have to take this
stuff with you! Think of it as going camping.Make a list of things you
need to make packing go smoothly; moving Control Journal, lots of same sized
boxes, colored markers, colored note cards, lots of packing tape and several
tape holders, duct tape (for labeling trash so you don't move it), bubble wrap,
tissue paper and several boxes of big tough trash bags. I like the new unprinted
newspaper sheets because the dishes will be clean when they go into the box and
they will be clean when they come out. Keep a master list with your boxes
numbered and color coded per room. This will help you put the boxes into the
correct room at your new destination. Then you will be able to find stuff
easily. Your job will be to direct traffic with your master list in hand and
your color coded note cards posted over the door of each room. Please don't mark
every box miscellaneous. This will create CHAOS for years! Can't Have Anyone
Over Syndrome!Now in order to pack, you are going to have to change your
attitude. You can't move everything you have. Moving clutter makes this job
unbearable. Release your clutter and bless someone else with it. Put a FREE SIGN
on it and place it by the curb. You will be blessed tenfold because you will not
have to pay to move the stuff, figure out how to pack it or put it away when you
get to your new home. You can't organize clutter; you have to get rid of it so
you can move in a peaceful fashion.
For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out her Web site and join her free life coaching at www.FlyLady.net, listen to her
channel www.blogtalkradio.com/flylady,
or read her books, Sink Reflections, published by Bantam, and her New York
Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter, published by Fireside. Copyright 2009
Marla Cilley. Used by permission in this publication.