75: Moving with an ADHD Brain – Part 1 – Packing Up

Moving with ADHD, Part 1: Packing Up

Moving is genuinely difficult even for the most organized people on earth, and it presents a whole extra layer of challenges for ADHD brains. This is part one, focused on packing up, with unpacking to follow.

Let the monkeys help you here

Moving is one of the rare situations where naturally linear, type A thinking genuinely shines. Search out moving checklists from experts online, plenty of people have built detailed, free resources for exactly this kind of multi-layered task, and use their knowledge to your advantage. Just don’t expect yourself to follow any checklist to the letter. Print it out, tape it to a wall in a common area everyone passes, and let it become a visible source of accountability, whether that’s a spouse, a friend, or anyone willing to check in on your progress.

Accept help without guilt

This is not the moment to be shy about accepting help, especially if you’re moving any real distance. Dear friends will want to spend time with you before you go, and helping you pack can be exactly that time together. If you’re anxious about people seeing the state of your house or picking apart how your brain organizes things, remind yourself this is about people, not about things. Just don’t let anyone bully you into decisions about what to keep, what to toss, or how to pack a box, use their energy and company, not their opinions on your belongings.

Question everything before you pack it away

There’s a natural instinct, once a move is announced, to start packing up rooms you rarely use. That’s a reasonable place to begin, but pause before boxing anything up and ask honestly whether you actually need it. It’s tempting to convince yourself that something you never used in this house will finally get used in the next one. Be cautious of that trap. Moving is one of the best possible times to start fresh, since there’s no established muscle memory yet in the new space. Ask yourself how you’d ideally want to live in the new house, and let that vision guide what’s worth carrying forward versus what’s just old baggage. Be ruthless here, giving yourself less to carry forward is a genuine gift to your future self.

Color-code by destination, not origin

Before you start packing, make a list of every room in the new house and assign each one a name and a color, using colored tape, washi tape, or post-it notes sealed under packing tape. As you pack a box, label it for where it’s going in the new house, not where it came from. A multipurpose room in your current house might split into a dedicated office and a dedicated family room in the new one, so label accordingly.

Preparing for the realistic version, not the ideal one

Full inventory lists and meticulous labeling of every single box, the kind detailed checklists recommend, are wonderful in theory. In reality, packing tends to start with careful, well-labeled boxes and devolve into last-minute panic-stashing as moving day approaches, especially once other helpers get involved. That’s completely normal, not a personal failure. If that happens, at minimum label those last-minute boxes “packed last,” since the things thrown in during the final scramble are usually the everyday items you’ll need first in the new place.

Letting go of the exhaustion afterward

Once you’re out, the house is empty and cleaned, and closing is done, that was a successful move. There’s no room for beating yourself up over how messy the process felt. Let yourself rest before diving into moving in, eat somewhere you love, take a real shower, sleep somewhere comfortable, and treat the unpacking as its own separate day rather than an extension of the frenzied move-out day.

One small kindness to your future self

Pack one open box last, labeled “essentials” on every visible side, filled with whatever you know you’ll need immediately. It’s a small gift that makes the first hours in the new place far less stressful.

Your practical, actionable step

Before you pack a single box, walk through your current home room by room and pull out anything you already know you don’t want to carry into your new life. Then assign every room in your new home a name and color, and label boxes by destination as you go.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.