Moving into a new space is stressful as it is. But now, on top of the normal stress and anxieties that exist, there’s a global pandemic we have to worry about too. No matter if you’re moving into a dorm, apartment or house, it’s important to make sure you are mentally prepared for your moving day.

I have moved three times in college and by the time you’re reading this, it’ll be four. Each time I’ve tried to make it less stressful and painless than the last. Quite honestly, I’m easily irritated, and if my plans aren’t directly followed I can get stressed. So, I’ve had to learn how to become flexible and also learned different tips and tricks to make the move easier.

My first tip is to organize all your things as best as you can. If you’re moving into an apartment or house, split up and organize your things by room such as kitchen, bedroom, living room and so on. When moving into a dorm, you may have fewer things, but organize things as best you can as to where they’ll go in your room. This may be an obvious tip, but knowing where everything belongs will ease a lot of stress on the day of your move.

The next thing I always try to do is get a full night’s sleep. For most of us, getting little sleep will make us more irritable and reluctant to flexibility. During your move, not everything is guaranteed to go smoothly. Things can break and maybe you forgot something at home; both are very frustrating. However, being fully rested can help you think more clearly and be more logical about how to fix any issues you may encounter.

I also recommend coming up with a plan for the move, as in what time you plan to get to your new place and how you plan to unpack. Even plan out lunch or dinner. However, it is best to make these plans as a guideline. For example, “around noon, we’ll eat lunch.” If it ends up being 12:30 p.m. or 1 p.m., make sure you can be OK with that. It’s important to have a flexible mindset because it is almost a guarantee that plans will not go exactly how you intend them.

One of my final tips is to make lists for just about everything the week leading up to your move-in. Physically writing things down on what you still need to buy or your plan for the day will be extremely useful as it takes the stress of remembering away from you, and you can worry about just the move.

There are obviously many things you can do to mentally prepare for your move, but these are just a few tips I’ve learned over the years and tend to use every time when moving into a new place and out at the end of the year. Preparing your mind is just as important as packing your things.

Samantha is a senior in Media. 

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