Downsizing is rarely just a logistical exercise. Most people doing it are leaving a house they raised a family in, and the hardest part is not the furniture. Giving yourself a longer runway and a clear method makes the whole thing more manageable, and considerably less exhausting.

Start with the new floor plan, not the old house

The most useful thing you can do before sorting a single cupboard is get the dimensions of the new place. A retirement village apartment or a two-bedroom townhouse will not take a full dining suite, three wardrobes and a garage of tools. Measure the rooms, sketch where the big pieces will go, and let that plan decide what comes with you. Working from the new house backwards is far less emotionally draining than working through the old house room by room and deciding item by item.

Give yourself three months

Sorting forty years of possessions in a fortnight is not realistic, and trying to do it turns every decision into a rushed one. Three months lets you work in short sessions, which is easier physically and mentally. Do one cupboard or one drawer at a time, and stop before you are tired.

Deal with the sentimental items separately

Photographs, letters, children's artwork and family papers slow everything down, because each one invites a story. Put them all in one box as you find them and deal with that box on its own, ideally with family involved. Consider digitising photographs and slides so the memory survives without the volume.

Offer things to family properly

"Does anyone want the dining table?" tends to produce vague answers and items that sit in your hallway for months. Be specific: name the item, set a date it needs to be collected by, and confirm who is taking it. Anything unclaimed by that date goes to sale or donation. In Christchurch there are plenty of options, including hospice and other charity shops, community groups and online marketplaces.

Be realistic about what you will use

Some categories are almost always over-kept: crockery for twelve, spare bedding for a full house, garden tools for a section you no longer have, and appliances that duplicate each other. Keep what suits the life you are moving into rather than the one you are leaving.

Getting help with the move itself

There is no reason to be lifting boxes or dismantling beds yourself. Look for a company that does retirement and village moves regularly, because the requirements differ from a standard house move. Villages often have set moving windows, lift bookings, loading dock rules and restrictions on which day of the week you can move in. A crew that knows this will handle it as routine.

Ask whether packing and unpacking is available at the same hourly rate as the move, because being unpacked on the first evening rather than the third day makes an enormous difference when you are tired. Reputable movers christchurch families turn to for downsizing will also usually set beds up, place furniture where you want it, and take the empty boxes away.

Plan the first night

Set up the bedroom and the bathroom first, and have the kettle, tea, medication and phone charger in a bag that travels with you rather than in the truck. Ask the crew to make the bed area accessible before they finish, so you are not shifting boxes at nine at night.

If storage helps, use it

Downsizing often means not everything is resolved by moving day. Rather than forcing rushed decisions, put the undecided items into storage for a few months. Revisit them once you are settled. Most people find that after three months in the new place, the decisions they could not make are obvious.

One last thing

Take photographs of the old house before it empties. Not the bare rooms afterwards, but the house as you knew it. Almost everyone who does this is glad they did, and almost everyone who does not wishes they had.