You’ve finally arrived, but there’s still more to be done. Here’s how to stop procrastinating and speed up the unpacking process.
Start with the kitchen to give yourself a sense of accomplishment on your first day at your new home. Nothing brings a family together like a place to prepare your meals and dine together. This is one of the easier rooms to unpack and will allow you to take less stressful and necessary meal breaks.
Make a plan and hand out assignments to the family. Focus on necessities over pleasure – beds before hobby stations, workspaces before entertainment centers, bathrooms before garages, attics, or basements. This way you can slow down as time goes on.
Give yourself a deadline. Schedule a housewarming party or a more casual get-together for a few weeks after your move to provide yourself with a set end date for having all of your unpacking done.
Music makes everything better. Skip the TV for now as it will just be a distraction, and put on some good tunes to encourage productivity while unpacking and provide a much-needed distraction from the monotony.
Do a little bit at a time instead of stressing yourself out trying to get every single box unpacked right away. Get the major things done, and then focus instead on doing what you can as you can with breaks, rest, and family time instead of working straight. It will all get done eventually, and without the stress-induced rush, you may become inspired as to how the final placement of furniture and decoration should look.
Give yourself no choice by dumping out a box worth of stuff onto your bed or in your bathtub so that you have no choice but to clear it all out and put everything away if you want to get use out of your space.
Get rid of boxes and packing materials as your done with them. As soon as a box is emptied of all its items, break it down and recycle it. This will give you a physical marker of progress and open up space in your new home.
Moving hacks are all about making things just a bit easier on yourself. Follow the ones above and you’ll notice that, this time around, maybe your move isn’t quite as bad as you expected it to be.