In a city that never sleeps, every night can be your date night, right? Well, if you’re like many couples here, you’re probably busy working across different time zones. You like to feel good and rush to the gym after work, maybe even squeezing in a meeting with your friend before heading home. Exhausted and ready for a chilled evening on the couch. How are you supposed to make time for date night?
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” Will Rogers
How often do you try something new? My mother is normally our jam supplier. She makes all kinds from regular strawberry jam, mixed fruits of the forest to some with a little bit extra. There are some many different sized jars in our home. It’s incredible! Now was my time to make jam and boy, it taught me a lot!
“Don’t wait any longer. Dive into the ocean, leave and the sea be you.” Rumi
Have fun with your DIY projects
Last week was the final episode of The Block. 6 couples transformed a home, garden and garage over 6 weeks. The journey and the results were incredible. My friend’s husband decided to start his own DIY renovation. A day before the in-laws arrived, he decided their living room needed painting. You can see what’s coming. A large part of the house in DIY chaos and additional stress for my friend. We’re taking her experience as an inspiration for organised and stress-free DIY.
“In the process of letting go, you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.” Deepak Chopra
Over the last 2-3 weeks, we’ve been supporting a few client move. While they’ve stayed in the same city, they decided against doing it all alone. They’ve valued their time more and outsourced the stressful parts – to us (more to come in the next few weeks). We understand not everyone can afford this. Here are our top tips to keeping you sane when moving.
Often, we get stressed when we are facing tight deadlines. Give yourself ample time to prepare for your moving day. Will you make it a DIY move or will you have professional movers pack, load and unpack the boxes for you? Or will you a combination of the two, where you let professional movers carry the heavy items like furniture?
Take some time to also declutter all those pieces you no longer want, need or use. If possible, sell or donate them so someone else can enjoy them. Don’t just throw them away, like we’ve seen when college kids are vacating their dorms.
Decluttering reduces the number of boxes you’ll need and can lead to quite a bit of saving in the moving quote. For our clients, it’s also the relief of not having to take all these postponed decisions to their new home. They can start fresh without the items that have been weighing them down for months and years.
It always seems like 100 thousands items need to be arranged. Some are dependent on others. For example, you can’t move out of an apartment until you’ve disconnect the electricity and have received the final bill.
Have a note book handy or write a list where you write down all activities with the due dates. It lets you keep track of what you need to complete without missing one. Include phone numbers, contract numbers and the name of the person you’ve spoken to. In case you’ll need to reach them again, you may be transferred to that very same person.
There are some items you don’t want have packed up. Your passport, degree certificate, marriage licence and your jewellery are just a few. Medicine which you take on a daily basis needs to be carried in your luggage. One trick is to put everything you want to keep or move yourself in one room and lock it. The movers won’t mistakenly pack any of these items and you know where they are.
Knowing what is where will help you handle the mess that you’ll see when the boxes piling up. As you pack, use a box only for items from one room. This way, you’re not going to mix items from your bedroom with items. We recommend that you write on the side and on the top of the box what’s in it, e.g. “Kitchen – Pots”. It’ll make it easier should you need to open up a box and when you’re unpacking in the new home.
Cooking causes stress on most days. Add the additional chaos in your kitchen and it may end up in complete chaos. That’s not what you need! You need simplicity for your food and drinks.
Taking your family to a restaurant for breakfast or dinner gives you some physical space to all the moving action in your home. You can treat yourself to some delicious and healthy food, giving you the feeling of being on holidays. You can also take this time to go through your project plan and create an “attack plan” for the next few hours without hearing another plate being wrapped in thin china paper.
If you haven’t budgeted for eating out during your move, consider ordering in. While you may not get away from the moving action, at least you’re removing one more stressor.
Especially when moving across countries, moving can be extremely complex. It’s normal to be a bit anxious about an upcoming move. This stress can impact your sleep quality. You may wake up numerous times during the night or not feel rested in the morning. A night in a hotel room can help you chill and may be just what the doctor ordered.
Check out offers and discount prior to your move date. The Entertainer has options for multiple nights in hotels and during the summer, many hotels are offering special rates for UAE residences.
This one is for you. This may be running or working out in the gym, reading a book in a quiet space or getting a massage to relax. This time for you will allow you to switch and focus on what you need to recharge your batteries.
If you have family, find something all of you enjoy. During this heat, it may be going to a swimming pool, jumping on a trampoline at Bounce or listening to a book reading in the library. Whatever you choose, let it be a fun activity that won’t create more stress and anxiety for you.
Over to you, what tip did we miss? What was your biggest stress relief when you moved homes? Looking forward to reading your comments below
Until next time,
Agni
“We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Walt Disney
Summer is over? Not so much. It’s pretty hot here and most of us are thinking of a trip to cooler temperatures: Northern Europe, South Africa or Australia offer that break from the heat. You’ve been away already and can’t afford another trip? Think again and let us show you some of the best travel hacks for another holiday.
“Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values.” Dalai Lama