On Wednesday, my family moved to a new home. We didn't move far less than 10 miles away. We moved some of our stuff -- clothes, toys, shoes -- ourselves, which probably wasn't the easiest way to do it. Still, I completely struggled with work/life balance for weeks as you can tell from my blog posts which were less frequent. I missed several columns in a row, which is unheard of for me. I did managed to write a Father's Day story. Yet, I wish I could have been more productive at work and home.
This is one of only a handful of times in my life that I moved, and the ONLY time since I have had children. So my question to those of you more experienced is this: If you have moved and held a job at the same time, how did you manage it? What tips can you share?
I'm moving in a little over a month and on top of having a day job, I have a freelance business and a relationship with my boyfriend to maintain. My past moves had prepared me for this next move and here are the key things I'm doing to keep my sanity (and the previously mentioned relationship/jobs).
1. Hire movers. Gone are the days where I can bribe my friends with a 6-pack. They've got day jobs too and quite frankly, I own a lot more than I used to (for instance, a piano and 1,200 vinyl records). Hiring movers is my #1 piece of advice -- save your back and friendships.
2. Start packing early. My move is in August and I've already started putting stuff into boxes. I've started with lesser used items (books, seasonal clothing, etc.) and will continue to do a little each week until the move.
3. Don't pack arbitrarily. This is the time to purge the stuff you don't need, don't use or is broken. Donate books to the library, donate clothing and household items to goodwill and get rid of all the excess that adds up over the years.
4. Yes it sucks, but use some vacation/personal time to get settled. I'm taking a full week to allow myself to get adjusted to my new surroundings, unpack and generally go about the move in a more leisurely way that working through the move would have allowed.
Posted by: Jessica | June 19, 2009 at 04:30 PM
Cindy, as a frequent mover/traveler (and yes, I have a child) I think the best bits of wisdom I can contribute are:
1. Moving is a goal, a project...and it's TEMPORARY!! Somehow our nervous system seems to think we're going to be in a permanent state of disarray, but we're not. A perspective shift is all we need here.
2. Absolutely nothing is soooo important that you can't "disappear" from the radar for a bit. That includes email, lunches, blog posts, etc.
3. A confession: Sometimes we have an inflated sense of our own importance (Cindy, please don't take this personally)...the world will not fall apart in our absence.
4. Tell people you'll be WAY out of touch for a bit. Let yourself off the hook.
A wink and a smile...
Posted by: Lisa Gates | June 21, 2009 at 04:50 PM
Thanks Lisa,
These are the exact words of wisdom I need to hear.
Posted by: Cindy Goodman | June 22, 2009 at 02:46 PM