Moving can be one of life's most exciting events, as well as one of the most stressful. We've all heard of (and perhaps have even starred in) horror stories of moves gone frustratingly awry, with mad dashes to finish packing with the movers at the door, boxes stuffed with anything and everything, lost or broken valuables, and schedules gone haywire.

While moving will always involve some degree of upheaval, it doesn't have to be a circus. Over the next few weeks, we'll look at ways of making the process of moving more organized and less stressful. (Note that many of these hints can also help with other projects and transitions, even if the roof over your head won't be changing anytime soon.) First up, the three P's of the pre-move phase: Prepare, Plan, and Purge.

Prepare
Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of moving is the number of changes and transitions it involves. Whether you're moving across town or across the country, there's a good chance you're facing a new job, new schools, new neighbors, new friends, new surroundings, and, of course, a new home. Taking the time early on to prepare for some of these transitions can help make them easier and less jarring.

As soon as you decide to move, call a meeting with anyone who will be impacted by the transition: your spouse or partner, your children, close family members, and perhaps even very close friends or neighbors. Talk about the purpose of the move, the general timeline, and what will happen between now and then. Let each person at the meeting have his or her say; getting the sadness, excitement, uncertainty, happiness, and worry about the move out on the table early on can help make the moving process easier later, and can help everyone process the idea of the transition more fully.

If you haven't done so already, this is also the time to take care of preparations such as putting your existing home on the market (or notifying your landlord, if you're a renter), visiting the area you're moving to, and starting to research the schools, services, and support you'll need after the move.

Plan
Moving, like any project, is much easier if it follows a detailed plan. Take the time to create a plan for your move before you start to pack a single box; you'll be grateful later for the effort you put in now.

Your moving plan should include a list of all of the tasks you need to take care of up to, during, and after the move as well as a schedule of when these tasks will take place. This can be a lot of information, so you may want to work from a standard moving checklist and customize it to your needs; see Related Links for one example from Century 21. You can find hundreds of others by searching online or asking moving companies in your area.

The most important thing your moving plan will do for you is serve as a roadmap of what lies ahead. Knowing the tasks you'll be working on week by week--and day by day, as the date of your move draws closer--will let you schedule other events and responsibilities accordingly. You'll also be able to determine when to call in help (such as friends to lend a hand with packing) if needed. With a detailed and customized plan in hand, you can face your move with confidence.

Purge
The final part of the pre-move phase involves starting to get rid of the stuff you don't want or need to take with you. It's not always easy to let things go, and it can be even harder to do so in the emotional lead-up to a transition as big as a move. But consider looking at weeding as a way of saving money and stress, as well as a way of preparing for what's ahead.

The bottom line for any move is that the more stuff you have, the more you'll pay. It makes sense, then, to get rid of anything you don't truly want, need, or use; otherwise, you'll be paying more than you should, and, moreover, will need to deal with packing and unpacking stuff that's little more than dead weight.

As part of your moving plan, build in time to sort through your home room by room, culling anything you don't intend to take with you. You can then plan a garage sale, donate the stuff to charity, sell it online, or give it away to friends and family. When it comes time to pack, you can rest assured that what you're taking is worth the effort and the expense.

Next week: hints on how to survive the chaos of Moving Week.