Emotional impact of Relocation

January 23 2021

Emotional impacts of packing and moving

Packing and moving are not just about transferring your belongings from your old house or office to the new one. It's an experience in itself. Shifting is a big step in bringing a positive change in one's life. It connects one's past to one's future. It would be incorrect to call it merely a physical task. It is more of an emotional process.

It is a big step to fulfill one's aspirations of living in a dream city or town. Many people want to start a new business or their dream job in a multinational corporation. However, packing and moving is a complicated process demanding a lot of effort and patience. It's not a one day job. It requires a long planning and slight rescheduling of your daily tasks in order to commit your shifting.

It can slightly derail your lifestyle since you're making a shift from the place that holds your years-long of memories to a place you'll begin to create memories. The following are the emotional impacts that packing and shifting can have on you and your family:

Relocation stress: Packing and shifting is a chain of tasks. To ensure that each task is executed in time, you've to manage multiple things at a time. You've to pack all the essential belongings that you wish to take to your new house, mind your kids and pets, and monitor and assist the packer and mover hired by you throughout that process. Small mismanagement can become a cause for your stress or anxiety. Stress does only harm your health and the work you do. You must stay calm and sorted during the entire process. It will have a domino effect on the subsequent process and you'll show more positivity and commitment during packing and shifting.
Emotional breakdown: Your home is not just about the walls, ceilings, interiors, and garden, It's the accumulation of your memories. You might have spent your childhood in the house that you're about to leave. Many memorable events and parties might have taken place in your backyard. It's evident that your mind may undergo a state of bewilderment while transitioning from your well-known place to an entirely new one. Thus, it may cause you to emotionally break down.
The line between expectations and reality: Your expectations don't need to always go in line with reality. Sometimes, you get more than you had expected, and sometimes you have to get satisfied with something less than what you had expected. You might become too optimistic about the new place you are shifting to. After shifting, you want to make great friends, business contacts, or a new family. Some people after shifting may take more time than expected to come back to their normal routine. Traffic and high cost of living can also make or break one's expectations that one harbors before shifting.
Sense of Guilt: Packing and moving is not always a discretionary task. A vast majority of the working-class have to make shifts at least once a year. In that case, packing and moving is not always driven by the internal longing to move. Since it is not discretionary, it may create a sense of guilt in a person for his career choice or educational background.
New energy: Packing and shifting involve you shifting from your old framework to a new one. It gives a new chance to break through the self-created boundary regarding your potential under the pressure of social or cultural norms and opinions held by the people at the place you have been living for years. The change of environment fills you with new energy and commitment to fulfill your aspirations.
Mood of partying: Many people turn enthusiastic before shifting. They want to say goodbye to the neighbors they had been sharing the locality with. There can't be a better way to share happiness than partying. It also gives them a chance to share with their neighbors their dreams and ambitions that they want to pursue. They also exchange contacts to keep in touch even after they move to a new place.

Conclusion

Emotions make your identity. When it comes to packing and moving, there are positive and negative emotions that enter and leave your mind. You just need to cope with your negative emotions and enhance your positive emotions to turn your shifting into a life-changing phenomenon.

How to avoid or handle heat stroke while packing and moving?

Packing and shifting is a phenomenon independent of seasons. Throughout the world, it takes place almost at the same pace throughout the year. Tropical countries, being located near the equator, experience extreme summers with hot and dusty. People of those countries have to make arrangements to expel heat and stay rehydrated otherwise, the extreme temperature can cause heatstroke.

The following tips will help you avoid or handle heat stroke while packing and moving during the summers:

Plan your shifting: Planning leaves you with the minimum burden on your moving day. Working too much on a moving day puts a strain on your body, turning it too weak to handle extreme temperatures and makes you susceptible to heatstroke. So, plan your shift and try to cover as many tasks as possible before the moving day.
Avoid moving in the noon: During the summers, the average afternoon temperature peaks close to or beyond forty degrees on the Celsius scale. You should plan your move wisely. Beginning your journey in the evening can cause security concerns and night traveling. Thus, early morning is the most suitable for the move during the summers.
Stay at a cool place: When you hire a packer and mover, just monitor them and assist them. Try to stay under the shade. Using sunscreen reflects much of the heat and Ultraviolet radiation that fall on you. Using a hand fan if you're outside your room relieves you from heat.
Travel in light clothes: While planning your shifting, decide to wear light-colored clothes, preferably made of cotton. Cotton clothes effectively absorb sweat and give a sensation of cooling. Avoid black-colored dress on your moving day as black color absorbs too much heat.
Who is at risk: Usually, exposure to heat is the main criterion to suffer from heatstroke. however, a certain class of people is more susceptible to it. This includes elderlies who are above sixty years, infants, kids, people suffering from hypertension or any other chronic illness, and pregnant women. Keeping them under care is important no matter how much you keep yourself bust during the shifting process
Stay rehydrated: Water is one of the most crucial components for your health. Keep drinking a lot of fluids throughout the packing and moving day even if you are constantly in a state of rest. Regardless of the amount of work you do, sweating during the summers can quickly cause dehydration. Provide your body with sufficient minerals along with water to keep the ionic balance in your body. Avoid taking alcohol and too much salt on your moving day.
Don't inside a parked vehicle: During your moving process, a parked vehicle acts like a greenhouse. Within a few minutes of parking under the sun, a car can accumulate sufficient heat to cause suffocations and rising temperatures. When traveling, ensure that no one including your kids and pets stays inside a parked vehicle. Taking the shade of a tree and frequently wetting your help you cool down.
Know the symptoms: It's necessary to know the heatstroke symptoms of stroke to avoid or cure them at the initial stages. The most prominent symptoms include a high body temperature. It may manifest into a headache, nausea, or faintness. If you feel any of the symptoms, immediately stop working, and take a rest.
First-aid: The sooner you give the first-aid, the easier it becomes to contain the symptoms. It also elongates time to take action for the second line of treatment. Dehydration and ionic imbalance are the most common cause of heatstroke. If the person is awake, take him away from heat and sunshine. Provide him with the Oral Rehydration Solution to recover the water and ionic loss. If the person turns unconscious, immediately take him to the nearest hospital. If not treated, heat stroke can sometimes prove fatal.

Conclusion

Packing and moving is a stressful task. The situation becomes worse when you decide to move during summers. You must take precautions to get rid of the excessive heat during the summers. Following the above tips, you can make the move without compromising your health.