Most of us wish that there were some magic way to make moving house stress-free. While there isn’t a single button you can press, there are a few strategies that you can adopt that will make it all feel a lot more manageable.
Most of them are common sense, but when you’re in the stress of the moment, it’s easy to forget what you should be doing. From starting the planning process as early as possible to getting some moral support, here’s how you can minimise moving stress in 2026.
Start planning early
When it comes to planning, you almost can’t start too early. The more time you leave to at least figure out when you’re going to get all the main tasks done, the less likely it is that you’ll forget something or have to tackle a tricky schedule.
During the early stages of planning, you can start setting deadlines for essential tasks. As a result of that, you’ll likely uncover a whole host of things which need doing that you’d totally forgotten about, from redirecting your post to having a last dinner with your favourite neighbours.
Book services with plenty of time
One of the single most effective ways of reducing house move stress is to get as much help as possible. Reducing the physical and administrative burdens can make the whole thing a lot more manageable, but you need to make sure that you get it sorted in time.
Good removals services like Bright Movers can get booked up months in advance, and you want to get them locked in as early as reasonably possible. As soon as you know your moving date, get everything booked in, from removals lorries to end of tenancy cleaning.
Look after yourself
When we’re in the thick of a stressful life period, it’s easy to just end up fully immersed in that stress and ignore basic self-care. This is very rarely necessary as a strategy. In most cases, it won’t take much time or effort to dedicate a bit of time to looking after yourself properly, and you’ll also find that you have more energy and do things more efficiently as a result.
Make sure that you continue to eat well throughout the move, and adopt some basic but powerful habits that help you to destress. Whether that’s meditation or taking a walk every morning at sunrise, don’t let these little things slip, as they could keep you from drowning.
Moral support
Lastly, get some friends involved. They don’t need to even do that much – just having someone around can be a big help. Whether they sip tea in the corner while you pack, or share a relaxing dinner with you the night you move in, it can make a massive difference simply having people around you.
Moving will always be at least somewhat stressful, but it needn’t be overwhelmingly awful. By adopting some basic strategies early on, you can absolutely get through the whole thing with only minimal mental and physical fatigue.