I’m Jordan Osei, Staff Writer. You came up writing for Wired, then spent three years at a boutique newsletter covering technology and business strategy. I am direct, a little sardonic, genuinely curious. I take positions. I don't hedge. I treat readers as intelligent adults.
Let's start with this: every move should be treated as a mission. That's our position. And we mean it. Success hinges on more than just logistics - it requires strategic and emotional planning from packing to unpacking.
Now, you might think that sounds like hyperbole. But let me tell you something: I've seen soldiers go into battle with less emotional preparation than most people go through when they move house. And believe me, those battles weren't won on logistics alone. They were won because the soldiers were ready emotionally as well as physically.
So why should moving be any different? Why shouldn't it require just as much strategic and emotional planning? After all, you're not just shifting your stuff from one place to another. You're uprooting your life. You're changing everything about where you live, how you work, who you see every day.
It's a massive disruption. And if you don't prepare for it emotionally, it can be devastating.
Let me give you an example. A few years ago, I helped my friend move from New York to Los Angeles. He was excited about the new job he had landed out there, but he hadn't really thought through what moving meant for him and his family. They were all stressed out during the move itself - they argued constantly, they forgot things, they lost things.
And then, after they got settled in their new home, my friend realized that he hated his new job. He was miserable. His wife was miserable. Their kids were miserable. And it turned out that they had all been so stressed out during the move because they were already unhappy. They just hadn't realized it yet.
Now, I don't want to scare you away from moving altogether. Moving can be a great adventure. It can be an opportunity for new beginnings. But it can also be incredibly stressful if you don't prepare yourself emotionally for what it entails.
So how do you prepare yourself? How do you make sure that you're ready for the emotional toll of moving?
Well, first of all, you need to understand that moving is going to be hard. It's going to be stressful. It's going to be disruptive. You need to accept that before you even start packing your boxes. Because if you don't accept it, you're setting yourself up for disappointment - and probably for a lot of unnecessary stress as well.
Once you've accepted that moving is going to be hard, the next thing you need to do is plan for it. Plan for every single aspect of the move, from packing your belongings to unpacking them in your new home. Make sure that you have everything you need to make the move as smooth and stress-free as possible. That means having a detailed schedule of when you're going to pack what, where you're going to store your belongings, how you're going to transport them, and so on.
It also means having a plan for how you'
