Do you ever wonder what you’re going to do with your accumulation of stuff when you eventually move to a new home? Does that thought give you hives?
I’ve never met anyone who enjoys packing, moving and then unpacking. One thing we can do to make our lives a little easier is to do a pre-move edit. Make some decisions about what you want to bring into the new house and what simply isn’t worth the time and space.
PRE-MOVE EDIT VERSUS DECLUTTERING
It’s not that editing isn’t decluttering, it’s that an edit has a direct purpose, like, “Holy heck, I don’t want to move this clutter to a new location”, and decluttering is about daily functionality.
In and edit you have new questions to ask yourself that differ from the usual decluttering questions:
Have I been using this item in this house, and if not, do I really think I’m going to suddenly begin using it?
Do I have an idea where this will go in the new house?
If I think about this item being in my new house how does that feel? Is it exciting? Is it exhausting?
Or you may simply ask Yes? or No?
ODDS AND ENDS
You know how the last few boxes you pack have the most random accumulation of weird stuff in them? I really don’t like those boxes. It makes me feel icky thinking about them right now and I’m not even moving.
Those boxes of odds and ends are born out of our disorganization and cluttered living.
When you do a pre-move edit you eliminate the need for those ridiculous boxes of who knows what. In an edit you are ensuring that you know where everything goes and why, so putting it all in purposeful boxes is a snap.
HOW TO GO ABOUT AN EDIT WITH INTENTION
The first thing you have to commit to if you want to do an edit instead of a scramble before moving, is to start ASAP.
We’re really good at leaving the packing to a week before we move, lying to ourselves about how it won’t be that bad, or avoiding what we know is going to be a horror show.
Let’s say you have six weeks from the time you sign a contract to the closing on your new home.
For the sake of simplicity, I’m ignoring the fact that you may be living in a home that needs to be sold and therefore will need to be staged, as in, decluttered with militant efficiency.
So, you know you have six weeks to do what you need to do. Get out your calendar and start working your way backwards.
How much time do you want to allow yourself for actual packing?
What life events are happening in that time that may interrupt your plans?
Allow for days of rest.
Now all of the time between now and when you want to start packing is available to edit. Cool.
This is going to be systematic.
You may find yourself wanting to pack while editing. That’s okay, not necessary, but totally okay as long as you are doing it because you want to, not because you think you should or will be judged if you don’t.
Divide the house up into realistic chunks. Room by room is often a good place to start. Don’t bother with the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer, you’ll figure out what food is worth moving to a new house and what isn’t when the move day comes.
RAPID-FIRE ROUNDS, NOT DECLUTTERING
This is a rapid-fire process. It is not decluttering during which you think about every item and things like whether it sparks joy or not.
Editing is all about instinct.
Let’s say you’ve started with the living room. Scan the room and ask yourself: What do I see that I know I am not taking to the new house? (Keep those questions from earlier in mind, too.)
That stack of CD’s that are useless because you don’t have anything that plays CD’s anymore? The ottoman that the dog tore the corner off of two years ago? Those decorative pillows that you can’t stand looking at but haven’t replaced because you were going to be moving at some point?
Start grabbing these things. Don’t think about it. Do it.
Take them to the curb, to the car, wherever, and get them and their stuck energy out of your way.
Perhaps you move to the kitchen now. Open cabinets one by one and scan for the obvious, like those recipe books you haven’t used in a decade because you get all of your recipes online. You know you don’t want to find a place for them in the new house, so send them on their way.
Paw through each drawer with a box next to you and ask yourself Yes? or No? leave the yeses where they are, toss the no’s in the box.
If you get stuck thinking too much let it go and move on.
Now let’s say you’ve made it to your bedroom and your closet. We all know this is a disaster waiting to happen. Remember, rapid-fire. There’s got to be some stuff in there that you can grab and toss in a to-go pile. Yes? or No? Keep moving. You can do it.
Don’t start thinking this process isn’t exhausting just because I’m not telling you to take everything out and go through it all item by item. It’s draining so do not try to do this all in one day.
PACKING
The editing is intended to make the packing easier. That being said, packing is when you do the next round of editing.
I’m still not asking you to sit with everything and ask if it sparks joy.
This is round two of rapid-fire decision-making.
You’re back in the kitchen about to pack those cabinets and drawers you already did one round on. Have two boxes with you at all times. One is for the stuff that is getting packed, the other is for the stuff that you’ve come to realize, in the time between the first and second rounds of editing, you don’t actually, want, like, or need.
This is one of the reasons it’s so very important to start the editing as soon as you know when your move date is. You want to be able to:
Do one full round of editing
Have some time to marinate in your awareness of the stuff you said Yes to in that round.
As you pack, ask yourself, “Wait, why did I say yes to this? New answer is No.”
And into the donate, sell, toss, whatever box.
WHAT IF I’M DOWNSIZING?
I’ll talk about the difference between pre-move editing and editing to downsize in another post. There’s simply too much to attend to and I want to be able to give it all the attention it deserves.
The reality is that downsizing actually does require decluttering. But, again, it’s a different kind of decluttering with a very specific goal in mind.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET TO THE NEW HOUSE?
When you begin unpacking at the new house stage three of your edit begins. And, once again, I’ll talk about that in another post on moving in with intention.
You’ll have marinated some more by that point and will be wondering why that ugly, dusty fake plant made it through the first two editing stages.
You’ll also want to move in to the new house with intention instead of throwing things wherever you can just to get the boxes emptied.
Look for the upcoming posts in this series and sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss out on anything.
TRUST YOUR INTUITION
The great thing about editing is getting in touch with your intuition. Trust your instinct. Trust the voice inside of you.
Do not question your intuition. This is practice for the rest of life.
This is fabulous practice for all of those who tell me they don’t trust their intuition, and are pretty sure any idea they have is wrong. This is your home, your stuff. You are not wrong.
The worst thing that may happen is realizing something you would have liked to have in the new house is gone. Please, please, try to remember this is only stuff. It isn’t alive, it doesn’t’ have feelings, and even one-of-a-kind things can be replaced in some manner. Or you learn to live without it, which is far easier than you might think in the moment.
I love to support my clients through this process. It can be tough to do without a coach helping to keep you on track and remind you of your goals.
If you’re looking at a move in the near future let me know when you’re gearing up to begin your editing and I’ll help walk you through the process and remind you to listen to that quiet voice of intuition inside of you.