More often than not unpacking can be overwhelming and stressful, all your focus has been on packing up and moving. Usually, little regard is given to the work you have to do after moving day.
Setting up all your furniture and unpacking can be as big of a task as moving. Being in an unfamiliar environment, not having all your amenities to hand and moving away from friends and family, all could add to the already stressful situation.
Looking at all the boxes can easily be overwhelming, the idea of having to unpack every box and find a new home for all your items. Having a method and avoiding having an unpacking marathon will make the process easier.
Our Tips
Spread out the jobs, plan on doing a few small tasks every day, or a room a day. Give yourself an achievable goal to complete in the free time you have. As long as you get out what you need to survive daily, spacing out the unpacking will make it more manageable.
Choose small wins, starting this task can be daunting and sometimes you aren't in the mood to do massive jobs at the end of a workday. You can easily put books away on the bookshelves or sort out the shoe cupboard. Choose these wins over forcing yourself to overdo it.
Tackling large, bulky items can make a big impact on the size of the unpacking pile, making the whole task seem a little bit smaller.
An extra pair of hands can be very helpful, friends and family helping unpack will speed up the process and take some weight off your shoulders. Make it fun and reward yourselves at the end of it. Use this opportunity to explore your local area and find a nice restaurant.
When packing up, it is the perfect time to declutter your home. This means that there will be less to unpack on the other side. Ask yourself if you need everything while packing.
No one will be able to remember what each box contains and where they should go, labelling the boxes to give yourself reminders about where they go, this can save time rather than searching through each box to find out what's inside.
Pack to make it easier. Keep boxes packed with similar items, don't mix bedroom and kitchen items. This will make it easier to unpack at the other end. Keep boxes under 20kg will make it safer and easier to move.
Motivating yourself to unpack can be hard. Give yourself a deadline for when you want to be all unpacked it can be a good way to get motivated. If you need extra motivation, plan to have a housewarming with friends so you have to unpack for this date.
Unpacking will be time-consuming and a laborious task, but if you spread it out and have a plan of how to tackle it. It will become more manageable than you originally believe. Alternatively, with our house moves, we will build all furniture and unpack at an extra cost.