Going through the seven stages of packing
Monday, October 10th, 2011 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsaiko1) The first stage of packing is denial. You don't actually pack during this stage. You just sit around feeling slightly guilty and finding excuses not to pack. You know you should start packing, but you have plenty of time and not that much stuff. Really. Besides first you have to get boxes from somewhere, buy some tape, and oh hey, Facebook needs updating...
2) Next is the miscellaneous stage. This is where you start packing misc. crap (some of which you haven't really unpacked since the last move) that you don't think you'll need until you unpack it. The only noticeable difference in your apartment/house is that the shelves and closets begin to look a bit cleaner. Which takes us to the next stage...
3) ...Worry. You now have several boxes filled with stuff, and your house/apartment doesn't look that packed up. In fact, it looks no where near complete. You begin to worry about just what you have left and start packing in earnest. Thinking about how much you have left, where you are going to get more supplies, and if you'll get it done in time. You make a renewed effort to get things done, but lack of sleep causes you to be exhausted most of the time. Soon you move on to the next stage.
4) Despair is the low point in the process. You keep packing and packing, and nothing seems to be complete. Just when you think you've finished a room, you move a piece of furniture only to find more stuff. Where did it come from? Who cares, just put it in a box. Boxes pile up in the corners of the house and you discover things you don't remember buying or haven't seen in years.You have more rolls of tape at this point than you have night outs, because honestly, you're too busy packing to go out.
5) Just like a runner getting his or her second wind, you gradually swing into the determination stage. At this point you are a lean, mean, packing machine. boxes with the labels "Stuff", "More stuff", and "Shit from the closet." You don't care. If it stays still long enough, it's getting PACKED. You put things in boxes you would normally never think to put in boxes such as spices, dirty dishes, small animals (you take those back out, hopefully before you tape shut the box. Hopefully.), and all your underwear. You know you have hit this stage when you find yourself unpacking boxes in order to eat dinner or go to work the next day.
6) Dumping. At this stage it is too late to pack anything more because the movers are at your door, you have run out of boxes, the car/u-haul is overflowing, or you are just plain tired of putting crap in boxes. You start going through whatever is left and determining if you really need to take it. Several trips to the dumpster or nearest Goodwill/Salvation Army are made. It is possible to go through stages 4-6 again and again until the process if over.
7) Completion. Pat yourself on the back. You'd celebrate, but you're too tired and strung out on Sharpie fumes to do so. But you are finally done. What an accomplishment. What pride in your work. What a sense of closure.
That is until you realize you have to unpack everything you just packed.
;_;
(BTW, I am somewhere around stage 3 and quickly heading towards stage 4).
2) Next is the miscellaneous stage. This is where you start packing misc. crap (some of which you haven't really unpacked since the last move) that you don't think you'll need until you unpack it. The only noticeable difference in your apartment/house is that the shelves and closets begin to look a bit cleaner. Which takes us to the next stage...
3) ...Worry. You now have several boxes filled with stuff, and your house/apartment doesn't look that packed up. In fact, it looks no where near complete. You begin to worry about just what you have left and start packing in earnest. Thinking about how much you have left, where you are going to get more supplies, and if you'll get it done in time. You make a renewed effort to get things done, but lack of sleep causes you to be exhausted most of the time. Soon you move on to the next stage.
4) Despair is the low point in the process. You keep packing and packing, and nothing seems to be complete. Just when you think you've finished a room, you move a piece of furniture only to find more stuff. Where did it come from? Who cares, just put it in a box. Boxes pile up in the corners of the house and you discover things you don't remember buying or haven't seen in years.You have more rolls of tape at this point than you have night outs, because honestly, you're too busy packing to go out.
5) Just like a runner getting his or her second wind, you gradually swing into the determination stage. At this point you are a lean, mean, packing machine. boxes with the labels "Stuff", "More stuff", and "Shit from the closet." You don't care. If it stays still long enough, it's getting PACKED. You put things in boxes you would normally never think to put in boxes such as spices, dirty dishes, small animals (you take those back out, hopefully before you tape shut the box. Hopefully.), and all your underwear. You know you have hit this stage when you find yourself unpacking boxes in order to eat dinner or go to work the next day.
6) Dumping. At this stage it is too late to pack anything more because the movers are at your door, you have run out of boxes, the car/u-haul is overflowing, or you are just plain tired of putting crap in boxes. You start going through whatever is left and determining if you really need to take it. Several trips to the dumpster or nearest Goodwill/Salvation Army are made. It is possible to go through stages 4-6 again and again until the process if over.
7) Completion. Pat yourself on the back. You'd celebrate, but you're too tired and strung out on Sharpie fumes to do so. But you are finally done. What an accomplishment. What pride in your work. What a sense of closure.
That is until you realize you have to unpack everything you just packed.
;_;
(BTW, I am somewhere around stage 3 and quickly heading towards stage 4).
