New year, new living situation––which means moving is needed. Whenever anyone moves, your life can turn into a MAJOR disorganized mess. Boxes are everywhere, things are all over the place, and you really don’t know where everything is going to go or when you are going to find time to do it or where to begin.
Here are a few tips to help you settle in, and take the pressure off of you trying to decide where to start.
Bring all of your boxes to the room with the most counter space/surface area. Start unpacking in this room and this room only.
What is this going to do? Well, when you find things that go in this room, you can put them away/put them on a surface to put away once everything is unpacked. I would suggest putting everything away immediately, however, that way you are keeping the room as clean as possible (to stop that overwhelming feeling that you are never going to be able to unpack and put everything away). When you find things that do not go in this room, walk them to the room that they do belong in (or make a pile and bring every few things that you find so you don’t have to make as many trips). You can choose to put these items away immediately, or just leave them in the room so you can put them all away at once.
Focus on one box at a time.
Once the box you are unpacking is empty, move it by the door (or break it down and put it in the trash) and begin on the next one. Trying to unpack multiple boxes can get overwhelming, so focusing on one at a time can help bring down that stress level, and make you more productive.
Pick a room and start putting things away.
Once everything is unpacked, and all of the boxes have been removed, you should have only items going in the room, in the room that you are in. Each room should be the same, where all of the items were either put away while you were unpacking, or they are all collected in the room for you to put away now. Select a room, and begin putting things away. Once everything has been put away in that room, you can move onto the next.
In the cases that you are living in a studio apartment or a dorm room where you only have one room, pick an area to focus on organizing (ex. Putting away clothes first, bathroom supplies second, decorations third, etc.) and begin there, working your way around the room.
Hopefully this takes some of the stress out of moving, and helps you organize your living space quickly and efficiently, allowing you to start focusing on the semester, rather than what to unpack first.