BRYCE ON MOVING
– It can either be a painful or enjoyable experience. It’s what you make of it.
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I have been involved with several moves over the years. We moved our household seven times, primarily because my father was a pioneer in computing. As kids, we had to learn the nuances of different schools and had to make new friends with every stop. Some people may object to being bounced around so much, but in hindsight, I enjoyed meeting many people and experiencing local customs. I am still in touch with friends from these different places.
Professionally, we moved our office four times. First, we needed to expand our facilities, then we had to downsize. Whereas our software ran on mainframes, and we had printing presses to print voluminous manuals and forms, this all disappeared with the Personal Computer, hence the need to downsize.
Making a move can be a very traumatic experience. Some people dread the thought of moving, others look forward to it as it represents a change in their lives. Fortunately, I’ve been through it enough times that it doesn’t bother me too much. It’s not that a relish moving, I do not, but I simply resign myself to the necessity of it and put my best foot forward.
Perhaps the hardest part of moving is the preparation, something we are intimate with due to our many moves. In our latest move, we had to dispose of a lot of clutter we had been saving. Decades of old reports and manuals finally found their way to the public dump. In cleaning out the flotsam and jetsam, you find yourself saying, “Why in the heck were we keeping this?” (or perhaps something a little stronger).
After the initial purge, you try to sell furniture and items you no longer need or use, usually through a garage sale or, as in our case, an open house. The problem with selling such items is you have become emotionally attached to them as they invoke specific memories. Consequently, you hesitate to part with them. True, I develop such attachments myself, but I am also cognizant of the fact that everything eventually ends up in the public dump.
Following this, you have one more purge of leftover materials before packing the rest up for storage or the dumpster. Herein is perhaps the hardest part of the move, where you have to finally address the fate of the last few items you have developed attachments to. I am still leery of storing something I know I will never use again, so I am careful of what I keep.
The closing of the sale is nothing compared to the physical move. If you’ve got the patience for moving, it’s not too bad. If not, you better adjust your attitude before things get worse. I also suggest you pace yourself. When the decision to move has been made, put the plan in motion and keep pushing ahead. Do not wait until the last moment as you do not want to go into a panic mode.
After the dust has settled and you have moved into your new facilities, you can slow down and relax. This is also when the flotsam and jetsam starts to grow again.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at [email protected]
For Tim’s columns, see:
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Copyright © 2013 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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