It’s often said that moving house is among the most stressful things you will go through in your life, and yet it’s also a process that you’ve got a lot of control over.

For that reason, it’s sensible to take steps to reduce the strain and make even a complex move feel like smooth sailing. So how can you do that, exactly?

Start planning as soon as possible

Much of the stress of moving comes from having to handle lots of tricky procedures and administrative tasks at the last moment. Avoiding this is as simple as getting down to the nitty-gritty of planning your move sooner rather than later.

As soon as you’ve got an offer from a buyer that you’ve accepted, or you’ve secured a lease on a new home if you’re renting, break out a notebook or your preferred spreadsheet software and create a list of all the things you need to do, then start ticking them off.

Hire a high-end moving service for the ultimate stress-free experience

The joy of working with high-end moving services is that they are designed to streamline all of the most daunting parts of packing up and shifting your belongings to a new location.

We’re not just talking about putting everything you own into boxes for you and keeping them safe throughout the journey; the best operators in the business are able to entirely recreate the layout of rooms down to the last detail.

This includes creating custom cabinets and bookshelves to display your trinkets, and even hanging art on walls. If you’ve got the budget for this type of service, it’s worth every penny.

Pack in a logical way

If you can’t justify splashing out on a moving service that does all the hard work for you, then a great stress-busting step is to take a logical approach to pack.

Group items together according to the rooms they’re destined for and also remember to label boxes with a detailed inventory of their contents so that you don’t have to go searching through every container looking for that one item you need.

Do away with items that are no longer necessary

Moving to a new home is the ideal time to go through what you own and trim the fat, rather than taking objects you never use with you.

With the help of online marketplaces, it has never been easier to sell or even to give away items. That way you’ll have less to pack, and less to unpack at the other end.

Set a schedule for the day of the move

Managing stress is possible if you’ve got a timetable in place for your moving day that you’ve thought about carefully in advance.

You should know what time your moving company will arrive, how long it will take them to load your boxes, transfer them to your new property and unload them at the other end. If in doubt, just ask them.

You can then base your own schedule around this, knowing what time you need to be up and about, if there are chores you’ll need to do such as collecting keys, signing documents, and where these responsibilities will fit in.

Ask for help

The stress of moving is always going to rear its head at some point, but you don’t have to face this alone. Get in touch with friends and family members who’d be willing to lend a hand, and you’ll find that the burden of moving becomes much lighter, leaving you happy to be making a change!