Planning a move: six weeks, small blocks, a relaxed moving day

A move feels like a huge project – and yet it is really just a long series of small tasks with fixed points in time. If you spread them out in good time, moving day is not chaos, but the day everything comes together. Here is the plan backwards from moving day: from six weeks before to one week after.

Why planning backwards helps

With a move, the most important date is fixed: the day the furniture rolls. Everything else depends on it. The van has to be booked, the boxes packed, the electricity transferred. That is why it is worth not “starting sometime”, but counting backwards from moving day.

Each task gets a distance: “6 weeks before”, “2 weeks before”, “on the day itself”, “3 days after”. As soon as you know your moving day, each distance becomes a concrete date. That way you do not see the whole mountain at once, only ever the next block.

Six to three weeks before: the basics

• 6 weeks before: take time off and ask helpers (20 minutes). If you ask early, you get yeses. One or two days off around moving day take an enormous amount of pressure off.
• 4 weeks before: sort out – basement and cupboards (90 minutes). Whatever does not come along, you neither have to pack nor carry. Three piles: keep, give away or sell, out.
• 3 weeks before: book a removal van (20 minutes). Especially at month ends and weekends, vans are gone fast. Ask a removal company correspondingly earlier.

These three blocks are small, but they decide whether the rest will be relaxed. Being late here means paying with stress later.

Two weeks to a few days before: organising and packing

• 2 weeks before: get boxes (30 minutes). Better a few more than too few. Keep book boxes small, otherwise they get too heavy.
• 2 weeks before: set up mail forwarding (15 minutes). So letters do not land at the old address while you change your address everywhere.
• 10 days before: transfer electricity and internet (30 minutes). Internet connections often need lead time. Have the meter numbers of the new flat ready if you already have them.
• 1 week before: pack books and rarely used things (90 minutes). Everything you will not need in the last week can go into boxes now.
• 2 days before: pack the kitchen (90 minutes). One plate, one glass, one set of cutlery per person stay out – the rest goes into boxes.

Label every box with room and contents. “Kitchen – pots” is worth its weight in gold on moving day, “Miscellaneous” not so much.

The box for the first evening

On the evening before the move you pack a special box that goes into the car last and comes out first. It holds everything you need for the first night – because nobody wants to search for their toothbrush between 60 boxes at 11 pm.

• bedding and towels,
• charging cables and a power strip,
• toothbrush and bathroom essentials,
• a few snacks and drinks,
• toilet paper and bin bags,
• tools to assemble the bed,
• medication you need regularly.

On moving day

Moving day itself has only one item on the list that people like to forget: note the meter readings, both in the old and in the new flat. A photo of the meter with your phone is enough. That saves discussions about bills later.

Everything else is routine: welcome the helpers, load the van, boxes into the right rooms. If you labelled well beforehand, there is little to decide here. Plan breaks and think of food for everyone who helps – that is the best payment.

After the move: the things people forget

• 3 days after: register your new address with the authorities (60 minutes). In Germany, for example, you have to register at the citizens’ office within a certain period. Many cities offer appointments online – ideally book one before the move.
• 1 week after: new address at your bank and insurance (30 minutes). Plus your employer, health insurance, subscriptions and everyone who sends you post.

After that you may take your time. The last boxes do not have to be empty in the first week. One box a day is enough.

What saves the most stress

Three things make the biggest difference when moving:

1. Ask early. Helpers, time off and the van are the bottlenecks.
2. Take less. Every item sorted out is one item less to pack, carry and unpack.
3. Small blocks instead of a packing weekend. Ninety minutes in an evening are doable. A whole weekend of packing boxes rarely is.

The “Moving” group in DayBlock

In DayBlock this plan is a group to join. You enter your moving day, and DayBlock converts all items into real days: “Get boxes” lands two weeks before, “Note meter readings” on moving day. In the preview you see every item with its date and can deselect what you do not need.

If the move is postponed, you only change the deadline – all items you have not moved yourself move along. On the day before you calmly see what is due tomorrow. And you see how many others are moving right now. More about the idea behind it in the article Doing it together.

Summary

A move is not a mountain, but a staircase. If you start with the first small block six weeks before, on moving day you have labelled boxes, a booked van and a box for the first evening. And you can actually enjoy the first night in your new home.