Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 05:15 am
Moving home is as we know, one of the most stressful life experiences. In fact, research claims that moving house can be more stressful than a new job, a break-up or even divorce. Aside from the initial stress of viewing houses, there are the high costs involved and a seemingly never-ending list of chores that need to be taken care of before moving day.
With all the chores that come attached to moving home, as moving day approaches, it will certainly eat in to your hard-earned time off work.
According to a recent survey carried by outsourcing platform Airtasker, Brits take an average of 1.4 weeks out of their annual leave just for the actual house move, considering the average employee is entitled to 22 days of annual leave in a year, that’s a terrifyingly high 45% of the time you’d otherwise be using on a holiday away.
As much as most of us hate to admit it, the reality is that our personal tasks often do have an effect on our work productivity – at some point in the day we often need to nip to the post office, book that house viewing or talk to persistent estate agents. Considering how many days we need just for the house move, it makes sense that 49% of employees admit to gaining some of that lost time back by looking at houses and making phone calls during working hours.
Aside from the stress associated with moving to a new house, the research shows that a majority of people take 3-4 weeks to completely unpack, whilst 12% claim to take over 12 months. The remaining most time-consuming aspects include travel time between houses, assembling furniture and looking for a new home.
When asked about the most time-consuming part of moving home, packing came top of the list with an overwhelming 42% of Brits complaining about the mundane and longwinded chore. This is how other moving chores ranked:
- Packing
- Unpacking / Not Finding Things
- Travel between houses
- Clean-up & minor repairs
- Assembling furniture
- Finding someone to help with the move
- Sending out change of address
- Getting new broadband connected
- Arranging deliveries
Finding the right help for moving can also prove to be a big headache. Given as a multiple choice question, 55% of people surveyed were lucky enough to approach their friends and family for help on moving day, 54% would rather hire a removal company, and only 6% would tap their neighbours on the shoulder for some assistance. 3% would ask their former partners for
help.
If after all this, you’re thinking, I’d rather have someone do most of the leg work for me when I move, you’re not the only one. Airtasker’s research goes on to reveal that 24% of people would outsource every moving task given the choice. Dubbed the most stressful and time-consuming of all tasks, unsurprisingly 29% said that packing would be the task they would most like to outsource. This shows a trend of more people choosing to spend a little extra for a double the rewards – a stress-free and enjoyable moving experience.
