I unpack everything within 48 hours of a move:) If I do not do it asap I am afraid I will never get it done. Start with your living room and since you have not needed the things still boxed up in 6weeks, if you can not find a place for things than maybe it is time to donate them. After the Lr move to the next and try not to stop til it is complete. Again now is the time to really weed thru what you need and what does not work in your new abode:).

I have moved many, many times. Try to do as much as you can IMMEDIATELY. Then, when you are at the place you are now, burnt out from unpacking, then force yourself to unpack and put away two boxes a day. Just two. Buy organizational items as needed. I like clear plastic boxes that you can see thorugh and write an inventory on, to store long term items. For bathroom closets and what not, I buy different sized short bins, like different sized pencil holder bins to sort all like items together. However, after the intial flurry, two boxes a day, everyday. Two boxes. Some days you will feel like it is agonizing, other days you will feel like you have time for FUN after unpacking. Yeah! Good luck. Balance in life.

Roarah, I am in awe of your determination, but I could never manage that level of decision making so quickly. A new house is a whole new life, and it can take some of us longer to understand how our things fit in.

Faux68, I think you are perfectly justified in bouncing off the rest of the unpacking for a little while. Clearly, you need a break.

When we moved into this house after leaving one with a library I designed myself, I had boxes of books stacked up the side of the front staircase for two months, until I decided where to put them all, and found the right bookcases. Nobody who mattered minded.

So I'd put all those boxes in one room that you can do without for a while, and then take out one or two at a time to work on. And celebrate the fact that you have storage closets!

I guess it depends on what is in the boxes that have yet to be unpacked. If those boxes contain items that you don't need, but don't want to discard, then put the packed boxes in your storage and move on with your life. I know all the clutter busters out there cringe at the thought of packed boxes, but I've moved a lot in my life and sometimes there's no need to unpack everything right away. It may take some time living in your house to figure out how you want to organize the rest of your belongings or even if you want to keep them.

Alternatively, you can hire a professional organizer to help you if that's in your budget.

This post was edited by Fun2BHere on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 10:57

I get it all done the first couple of days. I unpack the bathrooms first then the kitchen. Those are the most used rooms. If you need a can opener or twizers you need them right away not after hours of digging around in boxs trying to find them. I feel like a huge energy draining weight has been lifted off me when I get it all done and organized. I take one room at a time and I pack them up the same way.

"since you have not needed the things still boxed up in 6weeks, if you can not find a place for things than maybe it is time to donate them."

Well, it's evident that I should not try to give advice on this topic. ;)

I moved here several years ago, and I still have cartons in the attic, put there and never unpacked. Some of them contain beautiful china given to me by mother and that still needs a DR piece in which to store them; others contain books needing book shelves or other storage. There are other things as well. Whatever it all is, I have no intention of donating any of it anywhere.

"I keep saying I will work on it over the weekend and when the weekend comes I nix the plan for anything else. I am kind of embarrassed by it. "

I see no reason to be embarrassed. Moving and setting up a new house is considered a stressful experience, and while some stress is apparently good for one, it sure sounds like you're telling yourself you need a break from the process. IOW I agree 100% with Fun2BHere. Life's too short for rushing anyway. :)

I agree with many of the above suggestions. Moving is a major stressor, even if it was a desired move. If you have the space and aren't tripping over the boxes, take your time and don't be too hard on yourself. We don't all operate the same way. Sometimes we just need to take a break and think of something else and the energy and solutions come on their own.

Sorry if I sounded judgemental. I was only expressing what works for me. If something is left in place for too long it stops to bother me for my mind sees it as familiar and thus oddly comforting. That is why I need to unpack as quickly as possible. Not everyone is like this. And even with fear of being offensive, I will preface my advice with I am treated for OCD so it is in my compulsive nature to sort quickly.
I think you need to assess what works for you. I really like the two box idea, but it would not work for me for once I start I can not stop but it might be perfect for you! Good Luck!

You can cross post this on the organization forum. It's a slower forum, but there are older posts about organizational infrastructure that might help you find inspiration while you wait. Your boxes aren't going anywhere so there's no rush. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/organ/

Roarah, you didn't sound judgmental at all. You stated what works for you which is great. I would rather see fourteen different viewpoints expressed here than none. Faux68 can take heart that we all empathize with her situation no matter what our offered solution.

Try to do just one box over the weekend. And really do it - just not scatter the contents but put things in their place.

Getting started is often the hardest thing.

Although it's not specifically about unpacking, I really liked Peter Walsh's organizing tips in his book It's All Too Much and he had some useful info about organizing closets etc. I find some of the stress of unpacking is deciding WHERE things should go. So he has some good plans for deciding what zones of storage should go where.

But it is really focused on decluttering, which is more of a pre-move activity (unless you get to the point like I did where even the junk drawer just gets swept into a box!).

I definitely didn't unpack every box in my basement for over a year after my latest move. There are still some assorted knick knacks down there that haven't found a home. I've just mentally labelled the box "sentimental" and left it down there. (Other box labels "party" "costumes" "wedding - get rid of" "yard sale" - I like labelling)

I feel much better and have a huge sense of accomplishment after I've had the chance to go through a closet/box stack top to bottom but it takes me some time. Moving is so stressful and tiring it's no wonder it takes months to recover.

My big personal rules (not anything too earth shaking, just experience after moving 12 times in 12 years)

1. Like goes with like.
2. Convenience - put it near where it will be used.
3. Have a plan for getting rid of - when you're unpacking something and shake your head that you ever packed that, what on earth were you thinking? make sure to have a box (for donation) and a garbage bag handy and toss it right in without thinking twice. Also have a plan/deadline for getting the stuff to the donation bin.

I now have the luxury of a basement where I can stockpile for yard sales but you have to be a certain kind of person to enjoy a yard sale. It's not much bang for the buck usually, just a fun or excruciating way to spend a weekend morning depending on how much you like yardsaling.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 15:50

I found it useful to place the boxes in rows in the living room ... in a single layer with room to walk between each row.

The "rule" was that I could rummage if needed to find something, but the box where I found what was missing had to be dealt with immediately. I also labeled each box I opened, even if I didn't find what I needed.

And one box an evening is enough.

=======
3. Have a plan for getting rid of - when you're unpacking something and shake your head that you ever packed that, what on earth were you thinking? make sure to have a box (for donation) and a garbage bag handy and toss it right in without thinking twice.

OH YES! My first move, the DH didn't want to declutter first, the movers were packing while I was out of town, and we had boxes and boxes of things that should never have been moved.

Thank you so much! Just having you understand has lifted a heavy cloud off of me!

Robotopolis, Will that book help me? Is it the type of book that will give me motivation and confidence? There isn't one emotion for procrastinating. There are a few. Among them are moving stress, enjoying a few moments without having to make a decision about something, enjoying closets with only the things we really use, the memorabilia makes me emotional, i want the closets to look good and make sense and that will take a big commitment that i don't feel ready to make, and our house seems so fresh without clutter. But, I don't want to get rid of everything either. So, knowing all of that will Peters book help me?

I think I will take your advice--kind of a hybrid of your advice. I will go through two boxes a day (I agree **really** doing them is important). But, I will also label the boxes that are a little too emotional right now and leave them in the box. I will also try to organize it in a way that I can have easy access to the most important things.

Again, thank you. But guess what, I can't start until Monday because we will be out of town this weekend. And, so it goes. Really, this is why still have boxes--so many excuses!

The Walsh book is more therapy for cluttered people -- so a lot of the stuff won't apply to you except it goes into the reasons behind keeping a lot of stuff around and helps you decide what function you REALLY want each room in your house to serve. Which I appreciated.

Then it goes through a decluttering and organizing plan room by room.

What I mean to say is it sort of presumes you already have a full (unpacked, disorganized) house and are overwhelmed with it. So the organizing part would be good but the rest of it is like therapy for pre-hoarders. Not that I know anyone like that *cough cough.*

You can read a little of the book at the link below if you like (I have no affiliation with this person).

Here is a link that might be useful: It's all too much preview

I haven't moved in a long time.

But, I found then, that sending out invitations for a social event to friends who haven't seen the new place is a great motivator.

So, since Easter is too soon, I recommend planning a spring baseball watching party, or a BBQ on Memorial weekend.

You mentioned there are emotional items in boxes and can't go through them right now. If this was a difficult move for you I would store the boxes for now where they are not in front of you everyday. Especially if you don't need items in them at the moment and have what is wanted. Settle in and work on them if you find there is something missing that fills a space planned.

Finding a friend to help would also eliminate the burden. They might make it a fun experience helping go through things that are difficult for you.

Don't be too hard on yourself. I have those memory boxes too and still can't put items out, it has been years. My daughter and I were just talking about these and am now telling stories I have related to so many. She is at an age that they do mean something to her. We are planning a day for a memory walk and eliminate the confusion of contents should something happen to me.

Faux68, I have another book to recommend, which might be helpful to you in particular.

It's "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern. She is smart, experienced, and humane. Her underlying premise is, you aren't stupid or lazy or in any way deficient - you just haven't found the approach that's right for you.

She spends the first chapters describing how our individual natures influence our reasons for keeping things, and then shows us what strategies are most likely to work and not to work, based on those things.

Case in point - I am a serial career changer. I never wanted to live only one life, so I've made big shifts every ten years or so. I always had trouble putting things away, instead of leaving them in (usually) tidy piles all over my desk and other surfaces.

It was because my file and storage space was already full of my previous lives. I kept those things because I thought, incorrectly, that weeding and pitching them meant I was throwing away a part of myself. Lightbulb! And there are many in this book.

Update: I have gone through about 8 boxes. I haven't met my goal but it is better than the weeks before when I didn't do any. We had the boxes sitting in 2 places. One area is the garage. I am working on them right now. i sorted them a little before putting them in the room where they belong. Then one by one I am organizing them. After I have finished those boxes I will place the basement boxes in the rooms they belong in and go through them one by one.

I don't have time to read a book right now. I think I really want the Peter Welsh book. Will I regret not reading it before I sort everything? My plan right now is to start and do the best I can. Then later I can refine it after I get ideas from the book when I have more time. The only issue with that is do things ever get less crazy for any of us? What do you suggest?

Thank you so much your encouragement.

I could benefit from those books and I haven't moved in 18 years! I used to follow fly-lady, is that blog still around?

Way to go Faux68! You have a great start! I think it is ok to start now and reorganize at a later date. Try and logically sort now. The five S system used in LEAN works well for me. the first 4 are the easiest, the last is where it is most important to keep order and productivity. The five S methology is:
1 Sort( Unpack but filter thru necessities now)
2 Straigten and set in order (Neatly place needed items in appropriate rooms or closets)
3 Sweep and shine ( try and straigten up after each area is complete)
4 Standardize ( put kitchen items close to where they will be used, toys in rooms where you wish them to remain, etc.)
5 Sustain ( Try and have everyone leave a room as nice or neater than they found it when they first entered:) Now this I find most difficult!)

Good luck with the rest of your unpacking, you are almost home so to speak:).

You are right about the 5th step. That is the hardest. I have organized my spaces before and without regular re-organizing and straightening it is pretty easy to find myself back at square one. I have been trying to really think about where to store items so that it is easiest to get to and put away.

Flylady is still around. I like her tips for keeping the house clean but I don't find her organizing tips as good. She is linked to an app that I love for keeping the house clean and working on home "zones" to stay on top of the house chores. It is a checklist. It is called home routines. It helps me so much. Somehow even when I am exhausted and want to go to bed I just have to do my routines because I can't go to bed with something unchecked. I also have my weekly and semiweekly chores on there.

This post was edited by Faux68 on Sat, Mar 30, 13 at 19:35

I've found that when I decide to put things in the places they were in the previous home, with the intention of reorganizing later, I never do reorganize -- cuz that's more of an effort than the original unpacking.

With a box a day strategy, I'd take a few minutes here and there to really think about where the coffee maker and cups will really be useful, instead of perhaps where they were before, as you've mentioned.

You could also post a new thread here asking for people to share their "A-HA!" reorganizing tips. For me, one was really small: I'd kept the rolling dog-kibble bin in the hallway closet, only about 6 steps away from the kitchen, but I always had to pull it out of the closet to open it. One day I moved it into the kitchen -- only need to lift the lid. Just makes preparing the pup's meals faster! And I have a little more closet space to use for other items.

I bargain with myself a lot. I give myself permission to take the dogs for a half length walk, ride the exercise bike slowly, empty one single box. I can't get started if I make the planned task too large, but most of the time, once I get started on the small task, I can keep going. The other thing I do is make the task as pleasant as possible so I surf the internet while I ride the exercise bike, listen to audiobooks while I pull weeds, play a movie while I unpack boxes. Then I just keep adjusting my goals.

We just moved the last pile of stuff from the old garage yesterday. I've unpacked my clothes, "our" stuff in the bathroom, kitchen, and LR and DH has unpacked some of his stuff (I packed it since I was already retired, but if he wants it out of the boxes, it's his problem). Today I'm assembling the book shelves and tomorrow I'm hoping to unpack my books -- a few at a time!

I did throw away a few packed boxes left from our 2005 move, but as I emptied one into the dumpster out tumbled my grandmother's Joy of Cooking. Whoops! I rescued that but refused to look at the rest.

I also motivate myself by trying to empty the boxes so that I can get them listed on Craigslist. People are really, really grateful for a big pile of free moving boxes.