Why I Hate Moving!

Last time I swore it would be the last time I ever moved. I promise that every time as I unpacked the last of the boxes wondering how many hours I've wasted. Then things in life come up. Break-ups, new jobs, falling in love, babies- you know life! All together I would say in the past five 10 years I moved around 20 times. I am an expert on moving only because I hate it so much I learned very quickly how to make things a little less painful. 

The last 5 times I have used a moving company to make the process easier.  Let me tell you, movers are magical people! I have no idea how one dedicates themselves professionally to such an arduous task, but they definitely earn every penny we pay for them. I'm telling you why I hate moving to let you know why you should hire a moving company to avoid tears, disasters and other atrocities. Or just not move at all possible! 

1. I own too much stuff. Even after getting rid of stuff continuously through Craigslist, donations and trashing, I still own a lot of crap. Unfortunately, I need MOST of this stuff. I even like most of my thing until I move. Then I realize how much STUFF there really is as I pack it all away into boxes wish I lived a less materialistic lifestyle. 

2. Stress. Stress is probably the number one killer in the world! At least I think I read that somewhere. Anyways, there is no way to avoid stress in a move unless you are some sort of zen monk. It stresses out all parties involved, even the household pets. 

3. Cardboard boxes. I stopped using cardboard boxes and switched over to green moving boxes in the last three moves not just because I'm a tree-huger either. It is because of the paper-cuts from the cardboard boxes. I even seem to get even when I wear gloves. There is nothing worse than a paper-cut! Or a cardboard box deciding to give out in the middle of the move. As bad as that is, paper-cuts are worse! 

4. New Bathrooms. Unless it is a completely new house, I am completely grossed out when moving into a used house due to the bathrooms. I immediately scrub down the bathrooms with bleach as soon as possible. Sometimes twice if it is particularly gross. I'll never forget the time I moved into an apartment where the previous owner dumped their cats litter into the bathtub. I literally scrubbed that bathtub five times, and still felt like it was unsanitary when I used the shower. I recommend hiring move in cleaners if at all possible to help with the cleaning if at all possible, these cleaners are also magical in my book.  

5. Children. We all know being a parent is stressful, but kids are especially monstrous during moves. They are either complaining or making a mess. I sometimes wish during a move there was a storage facility that took children in until the process was over. In our house we call this type of facility grandma's house.

How to Motivate for a Move

Moving can test the boundaries of what you are capable of in your personal life. It tests your relationships, motivation and general sanity. There is so much more on the surface of moving than just throwing stuff in boxes. It is a matter of transplanting your life to a whole different location.

There is no real way to make moving easy unless you have a boat load of cash to hire some to do everything for you, but I can offer some tips to ultimately make the move a little bit easier for you. The main secret is finding motivation to work on the move every single day as much as possible. The sooner you start getting everything the done the less of a stressful rush there is at the end. So here are some great ways to find motivation to work on your move everyday.

1. Take small steps. Each day make a list of the projects that you want to get done. A daily to-do list shows you that the things you need to get done are achievable. There is also a special satisfaction from crossing things off that list. Perhaps even give yourself a small reward each time you cross something off the list.

2. Commit via social media, texting, chatting, etc. If you have a project that you need to tackle, commit to that goal on social media to hold yourself to it. Perhaps even tell a friend or family member that you know will bug you for an update on your progress. Important note: Asking someone who lives with you -especially a spouse- can be a bad idea, because it can be perceived as nagging with someone you are too close to.

3. Focus on the positive. If you think about all the negatives of the move you are going to drive yourself crazy. Instead, remind yourself of all the benefits you will achieve by moving. Maybe even print of a sheet to post on the fridge or somewhere else you look a lot to constantly remind you of all the benefits of moving.

4. Get excited. Once you start focusing on the benefits, try to actually amp yourself up for the move. It is easier to achieve our goals when we are actually excited for the end results.

5. Read about moving, decorating, etc. Sometimes reading a blog or a book about your goal can inspire you with new ideas and aspects of moving. Perhaps you can start planning on cool new ways you can re-organize and/or re-decorate your new home.

6. Recruit friends or family to help. When you invite some over to help, you'll definitely be committed to actually working on the project at hand. Pick a specific project that you can get done together, and perhaps finish it off with a bottle of wine and/or meal.

7. Sign yourself up for a new class and/or activity at the new home base. If you are moving a long-distance, signing up for an activity can give you something to look forward to once the move is finally over. It can also help you make new friends and connections in the area.

8. Don't be too hard on yourself. Even if you have a day that you slip-up by not getting anything done, don't beat up on yourself. When we are hard on ourselves it can create a cycle where we focus on being too critical instead of actually getting things done. Try to re-direct that energy into getting things done tomorrow instead of being hard on yourself.

Storing a Mattress in Self Storage

If you are considering putting a mattress in a self-storage, you will need to take special preparations for the mattress to avoid damage. A mattress is an intimate object that damage really is not ideal for, so luckily these precautionary steps are easy for anyone to take. 

A mattress bag

1. Get a mattress bag. These plastic bags usually only cost around 5 to 20 dollars from the store. It only take a couple of minutes to put the plastic bag over the mattress. These bags help you avoid dust gathering in the mattress. The problem with dust getting into the mattress is there is no real way to get all of it out. Dusty mattresses get a dirty odor. The dust is also terrible for people with allergies. 

2. Humidity control. This is an especially important note for people who live in humid climates. Humidity can cause mold and mildew spores to grow in your mattress. To prevent this, you should try to elevate your mattress off the ground. Also, storing it away from the other items in the unit helps if you have the space for it. If you have time, airing the mattress out by opening the bag and storage unit can be helpful. The only sure fire way to avoid this is to get a humid controlled storage-unit. 

3. Do not stack things on tops of your mattress. The worst thing you can do for a mattress is to stack things on top of it, because this will cause it be lumpy. A mattress with an uneven surface is nearly impossible to sleep on. 

4. Deal with bugs. Your mattress offers all sorts of yummy organic materials for bugs to munch on. Putting your mattress in a box and bag is the best way to avoid the bugs. Climate controlled storage units also tend to have less a bug problem, because it benefits the storage owners to not leave cracks and crevices for bugs to sneak into the storage unit. You can also consider some sort of bug spray to apply on the ground around you mattress, but be careful not to get any on your mattress. 

5. Clean After Storage. Once you take the mattress out of storage make sure to clean it thoroughly. First you will want to vacuum it to try to get some of the dust off. Next you can apply a thin dusting of baking soda through a kitchen sifter onto the surface the mattress. Let it sit for an hour. The baking soda will absorb moisture and odor from the mattress. Vacuum the mattress again to get the baking soda off. Repeat these steps if the mattress still seems to have a musty smell on it. 

Quit Social Media While You Move

There are lots of great ways to save time on your move. You can hire movers, junk removal teams, move out cleaners, recruit friends and family or even hire a moving assistant. Or you can just quit Facebook and give yourself more time to deal with more of the move yourself. 

The average internet user spend around 10 hours on social networking a month. Around 6.75 hours of those hours are spend on Facebook. To read more about how are time is used on the internet, check out this nifty infographic that was released by Morrison & Foerster. It seems more and more of our time is spent on our phones, computers and televisions, that leave us with little free time for things in reality- like moving for example.

It doesn't need to be necessarily Facebook that you quit. Quitting any habit that takes up a lot of time during

the move can give you the extra time need to plan, organize and actually preform the move. Perhaps you spend a lot of time on television, texting, reading, drinking or whatever. Honestly consider what is taking up a lot of your time that doesn't benefit you all that much.Vow to quit one of the time consuming habits just for the duration of the move, but try not to quit any healthy habits (like exercising for example). Quitting this habit  will give you a bunch of extra hours to deal with moving related nightmares! 

You can return to Facebook or whatever else as soon as the move is over. I just chose to pick on Facebook, because it something I spend entirely too much time on some days. If you are going to quit for just a while, I recommend disabling your account. You can start it back up as soon as you are ready to return to the world of social media after you deal with this whole real world moving thing.

Quit Before You Run Out of Time to Plan Your Move