Organize Your Move By Creating A Moving Journal

‘Moving mayhem’ are two words that are often used when talking about relocation. It is always the best idea to get professional help to handle your relocation but before you do that, it is even better to organize yourself. This is where a moving journal comes handy.

Moving is one big task that is composed of several smaller tasks. When we look at the big task we might feel overwhelmed but when we break it down and take one task at a time, moving is no longer mayhem. We then can bring order from chaos.

When you want to create a moving journal, the first step is to decide the date of the move. Say for example it is February 6. Begin a reverse countdown of days, dedicating one page to each day. If today is January 6th for example, assign 28 pages to 28 days. After you are done with that, go to the last page of your journal and make a list of tasks. Note down every small task – even if it says, ‘Use Google to find the best movers and packers’. Tasks like finding the right crate to move your pet, or to make a list of restaurants near your new home or organizing a get together of friends and family to say goodbye are important. On an average, every move involves 50-100 smaller tasks.

The next step is to go through the list of tasks again and mark the ones that are extremely important. Once you have done that, assign the tasks to the pages in the front. Don’t write down more than two tasks a day. This way, you have planned your move. Leave out some days blank for some unprecedented plans. For the tasks that are not so important, write them down at the last page of some of the days when will be less burdened. Or do them as and when you get the time.

Now, from the master list of 50-100 tasks you have created on the last few pages of the journal, segregate them into different categories like ‘shopping list’, ‘apartment basics list’, ‘pet list’, ‘getting mentally prepared list’, ‘kitchen list’ – it could be anything. By grouping the tasks together you know better, how to go about them. You can also use different colours for each list to make it more attractive and not make it look like some dry to-do list. Once you are done with a task, cross it out. It will give you the satisfaction of a job well done.

After you are done with this section, create a part for expenses and budget. Keep track of where you spent the money already and predict some future expenses. This will give you an idea of how much the move will cost you. Place some amount under different heads like furniture for the new home, deposits for the apartment, shopping for new clothes, grocery expenditure etc. Most importantly, add some emergency costs. You can divide the journal into pre-move and post-move sections.

This journal will go a long way in making the move smooth. Let us know if the moving journal helped you! For every other kind of help related to moving, we are there.