Guest Post

A Guide to Starting Over: How to Get a Fresh Start

For many of us, moving into a new home can seem like an overwhelming challenge. Finding a place, packing boxes, getting settled into a new home — it can all seem like too much.

Regardless of your feelings about the actual moving process or how many times you have moved throughout your life, there are several tantalizing benefits. For instance, moving offers a profound and unique opportunity to start fresh with everything organized to enhance your life. Furthermore, given the right attitude, moving to a new place can be the adventure of a lifetime.

Making a Moving Gameplan

Arguably, one of the best ways to take the stress out of moving is to create a pre-move gameplan. For example, if you are selling a home before moving, , scanning documents and doing all of the paperwork online can help keep everything organized and moving efficiently. This can help simplify things by keeping all of the necessary documentation in one place and give you alerts as your attention is needed.

Another thing to do before moving day that will make everything run more smoothly is to have everything lined up to move into your new place.  Check your credit score before even looking for an apartment so you can look at options that are available to you regardless of your score, including utilizing a cosigner or seeking out other means of repairing your score. Furthermore, work with your rental company or real estate agent to do a full walkthrough looking for potential issues before moving any boxes in that direction.

As you begin packing, try to do so in a somewhat organized fashion. Keep the things that will be stored together mostly packed with each other. For example, put bedroom things with other bedroom things and freezer items that need unpacking quickly within easy reach. Finally, pack a “moving essentials” box full of the things you will need immediately like a toothbrush, snacks, and a cell phone charger.

Getting a Fresh Start

Moving provides an excellent opportunity to downsize and get rid of things that are cluttering your life and ultimately stressing you out. As you are packing your things, try to think about the actual utility of certain items. If you haven’t used or enjoyed it in over a year and don’t know when you will in the near future, is it really worth having anymore?

If you are making a significant downsize, say from a house to an apartment, this process may take a lot longer and require a more in-depth commitment. But on the other end of it, you will feel lighter and more stress-free. You may even have more free time than you previously did as fewer things mean less to tidy up and organize.

As you’re already cleaning and preparing for a fresh start, it may be an excellent time to consider doing some doing some deep cleaning of your online presence as well, especially if you are in search of a new job to go with your new location! Remove unprofessional photos from college, replace them with more professional — or at least not embarrassing — ones, and update your privacy settings. Moving is an opportunity to start new and fresh in every aspect — even if those aspects can’t be packed away into a box!

Moving to a new home can be a stressful thought, but with the right plan, it can feel more like setting out on a new adventure and getting a fresh start. Go into the moving process with a plan and try to stick to it. Don’t be afraid to declutter your life, it will help your fresh start be a real success!