Although moving to a new home can mean all kinds of great things, it’s not exactly the easiest process in the world! If you’ve ever had to organize moving before, you’ll know just how frantic and stressful the whole task can be. Yes, there will be a time when you can finally sit back in your new place, put your feet up and know that everything’s done and dusted. However, you’ll have to take care of a range of details before all that. Here are some of my best tips for getting through the moving process quickly and easily.

Start Planning Now!

That old saying “failing to plan is planning to fail” has become a cliché for a reason: it’s true! Aside from the relatively simple tasks of packing all your things and moving them, there are going to be a range of other things you’ll need to take care of. To make packing, loading and unpacking easier, you’ll need to find buyers or charities for all the things you want to get rid of, and a good rubbish removal solution for all the things you can’t shift. You’ll have to inform your bank and other important institutions about your change of address, cancel your membership at local gyms and fitness classes, look for a new football coach for your kid, and so on. As soon as moving becomes a certainty, you should set some time aside to figure out all the things you need to take care of, list them, and set a schedule you can keep to for getting them done. Keeping things organized like this will not only simplify the process on a practical level, but will also help you prepare mentally, and emotionally adjust to the big change around the corner.

Be Ruthless While Decluttering

With all the work it takes to be a good parent, and the sheer consumerism of modern day culture, it can be easy to let a lot of junk accumulate in our homes. Now that you’re moving house again, you have a great opportunity to declutter, and shed some of the stuff you really don’t need anymore. Whether you do it through second-hand sale sites like Gumtree, or donate things to a charity, it’s important to be ruthless, and to avoid clinging onto anything that will just slow or over complicate the moving process. Start with anything that you know no one has used in at least a year. Remember to check with your kids and partner before getting rid of it! Then, move onto kitchen items like pots, pans and cutlery. Most people have more of this stuff than they need, and purging some of it may finally rid you of that frying pan with the wobbly handle! Finally, think about furniture, taking the available space at your new place into account. Even parting with a single armchair can make the whole process of moving to your new place significantly faster.

Send in the Pros

Like me, you might look for any opportunity possible to save money on the various costs that life throws at us. Following this logic, you might be planning to just rent a large van, and move all your stuff over in a few trips. While I get the reasoning here, if you really want to speed up the moving process, I highly recommend sourcing a professional moving service. Despite what many people think, getting everything in and out of a van as efficiently as possible requires a lot of knowledge and experience, which professional movers have in buckets! Send in the pros, and they’ll immediately be able to tell how to conserve space, ensure the safety of all your valuables, and generally get the whole thing over and done with in a quick, hassle-free way. Just shop around, and watch out for common scams!

Pack an Essentials Bag

The aptly named “essentials bag” is essential, and yet a lot of people totally neglect it when they move to a new place. After all the stress of packing up the whole house (more or less) and getting it over the threshold, I’m sure you don’t want to spend hours rooting through boxes just to find a charger or a tube of toothpaste! Pack everything you’ll need for the first night in a separate bag; nightwear, hygiene products, a change of clothes, and that soft toy your toddler simply can’t sleep without. This won’t really speed up the process of moving so much, but will save you a lot of time and stress when you arrive!