My Secret Weapon

As you may have gathered from some of my previous posts (especially this one and this one), we are moving house.

In fact, we moved house yesterday, and now exist amid a confused welter of furniture and boxes. Everything takes twice as long as usual, because each thing you need is in a different box, and the box’s label is probably not closely related to its contents.

Needless to say, with all the insanity of the past month (of which moving was but a part), I have fallen prey once more to the ravening beast that is procrastination.

Bunyip-Approaching-Simon-Breese

I am madly behind on my Cunning Plan (all right, experience has proved it less cunning than a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University, but it wasn’t bad) to finish the first draft of my WIP by the end of the year.

However!

I have a secret weapon.
Well, it would be secret if I hadn’t told everyone who would listen, and I am now telling you:
Mondays.

The trick is to not work them.
Not paid work, that is.

As of now, I work Tuesdays to Fridays at the DDJ. Saturdays are for housework, Sundays for rest and Mondays for writing.

I am hoping that I can still make it to the end of the first draft by the end of the year. I’ll have to do the calculations (and find which boxes my writing stuff is in) but I am hopeful.

Four months to go. Four months of Mondays.

Moving House

Moving house New Zealand style

Or to be more accurate, moving household – the respective houses are staying put. Inasmuch as anything stays put when we keep having earthquakes over 6.0 on the Richter scale.

Yes, the Caped Gooseberry and I are moving house(hold), in just a couple of weeks. It had been a possibility for a while, but it wasn’t settled until a week ago. So now we have two weeks to get everything sorted and ready to go.

Sorted van!

I’ve got leave from the DDJ for the day before we move (I’m not completely insane), but other than that I’m working full time until the day itself (like I said, not completely).

It’s not as though I’ve never done it before, I moved house frequently through most of my life. We once moved three times in three days, and I was fourteen before I spent twelve consecutive months in the same house.

But things have changed since then. I grew up, I got married, and I got furniture. Time was I had a bag of clothes, a box of toys and my school stuff. That time is gone.

Let's Do 52 :: 24/52 :: Pastel

On the other hand, I am (for the first time) going to have movers pack for me. I have no idea how you move house without doing your own packing – just as I have no idea how you do a thorough spring-clean without moving out (doesn’t all the stuff get in the way?).

So, what are your tips for keeping sane while moving house(hold)? And what’s a low-stress way to sort out your stuff and prune the dead wood away?

All comments welcome!