Try These Simple Packing Tips For Your Upcoming Move to Senior Living

The thought of packing may feel burdensome. But when you have a clear plan for your move to senior living and stick to it daily, you can make the packing process more enjoyable. First, we’ll cover the importance of downsizing. Then, we’ll cover packing tips that can make the moving process smoother. Let’s get started.

Why Downsizing is Liberating

Downsizing can help make your move easier by reducing the amount of items you have to pack. It also creates more space for you to get organized before beginning the packing process. Research shows that the more clutter we see, the easier it is to become distracted.

You can think of it like this: removing clutter from your home is like removing clutter from your mind. It helps make it easier to focus on the big move.

In fact, author and life coach Laurie Buchanan, Ph.D., once wrote the following: “Clearing clutter—be it physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual—brings about ease and inspires a sense of peace, calm, and tranquility.”

Effective Downsizing Tips

Now that’s we’ve covered some of the benefits of downsizing, let’s discuss effective downsizing tips.

Start the downsizing process as soon as possible

By starting early, you give yourself more time to decide which items you want to keep, along with which items you wish to give away or sell.

Pace yourself

Dr. John Medina, author of the book Brain Rules, once said, “The brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a time.” To help pace yourself, focus on one specific task, complete it, then move on to the next.

One way you can pace yourself and prevent burnout is by focusing on each room, one by one.

Create a timeline you can follow

Doing so allows you to set clear goals each day so that you can track your progress to prevent running out of time. It’s like having a detailed road map directing you towards your destination.

Get the dimensions for your new space

This information can help you determine which belongings will fit in your new home.

For instance, let’s say the dimensions for your new home are 10% less than your current home. That would mean you may need to downsize by at least 10% to live comfortably in your new space.

But please keep in mind that this is just an example and an estimate.

In short, by knowing the dimensions of your new space, you can avoid surprises.

Sort through your belongings and get rid of what you don’t need

By doing so, you will find those forgotten items—items you may no longer want or simply won’t need in your new home. Also, you’ll find the cherished items you wish to keep.

Once you know which belongings will not be moving with you, you can decide which items you would like to donate or try to sell. If you still have a bunch of items you want to keep, you may need to rent a self storage unit. For the things you decide to throw away, you may have them collected by a commercial junk removal company.

You can sign up for our free Downsizing Guide here to learn exactly how to donate or sell those items you no longer want.

Simple Packing Tips

Now, let’s discuss ways you can make the packing process easier.

Leave your clothes in your dresser drawers

That way, you won’t have to spend time withdrawing your clothes from the drawers, and then spend more time putting them back in after your move.

Wrap plates, glasses, and saucers separately

By placing these wrapped items in separate boxes, you lower the chances of breaking them. It’s always a good idea to place cushioning inside the box first.

For wrapping, you can use either packing paper or bubble wrap. You may want to stay away from newspapers, which can leave permanent smears on your white plates.

Anytime you pack breakable items, consider writing the word “fragile” on the box. This helps ensure you and anyone else who is helping move boxes will remember to handle these items delicately.

Try not to overstuff your packing boxes

If you do, your movers may struggle with carrying them, increasing the chances that boxes slip and damage belongings. One easy way to tell if a box is overstuffed is if you have to tussle with the box to close the lids.

Always label your boxes

Labeling comes in handy if you need to find an item before you’ve finished unpacking or you are trying to decide which boxes to unpack first. This way, you can avoid having to dig through boxes and disrupt the progress you’ve made packing.

Why Hire a Senior Move Manager

Hiring a senior move manager can cost money, but doing so can save you hours, possibly days.

For one, you’ll have someone who can help you coordinate your move to senior living, along with showing you ways you can save money in the process—like how to hire an affordable, reputable company to clean your home or find professional movers to transport your belongings to your new place.

A senior move manager can also help you complete many of the downsizing and packing tips we discussed. For example, they can get the dimensions for your new place and determine the amount of downsizing required, if needed.

Plus, a senior move manager can be someone who helps provide emotional support, relieving the concerns you may have about your move.

One Step at a Time; One Day at a Time

The more time you give yourself to pack, the less pressure you place on yourself. And the more you rely on your detailed checklist, the more organized you’ll be in preparation for senior living.

Think of the packing process the same as reading a book: take it one page at a time.

For more information on how you can downsize and pack efficiently, please sign up for our Downsizing Guide below.

Within it, you’ll learn:

• How to get your donations picked up straight from your home, and how long it can take to schedule a pickup
• How to find the right mover to help you with your belongings
• How to check the background of your movers before hiring them

You’ll also find:

• List of private, potentially valuable items you may want to personally move to your new home
• List of who you may want to contact to ensure they have your new address
• List of services you may want to cancel before moving into your new home (So you can avoid being billed twice)
• Checklists you can use to mark down who you notified about your address change (So you can make sure almost all your incoming mail gets delivered to your new address)
• Checklists you can use for each room of your current home (So you can mark down and track the items you plan to keep)
• And much more

Once again, you can sign up for this free Downsizing Guide below. Happy moving!