Tetris Part 1
When we moved to Brazil, I knew that we would be in the middle of a VUCA storm for a while. I always thought I was resilient but had no idea how resilient I was until my husband and I attempted an international move of a four-bedroom house on our own.
In earlier blog entries, I shared some of our challenges with getting our things packed and shipped to Brazil and shipping our cats and dogs. It wasn’t a picnic on the other side either.
We were fortunate to have some loaner furniture, dishes, linens, etc. so we were not dealing with an empty, non-functional house. I also brought some things back each time I traveled between the US and Brazil. It is a good thing we had all of this because it took over 6 months to get our things. We had to wait for both of our shipments to clear customs and for the warehouse to release them. Customs wasn’t an issue but it took quite a while to get the goods released from storage so they could be examined by customs and loaded on a moving truck after inspection. My husband, Roberto, had to spend a week in the city where everything was being stored so he could negotiate the release, the final bill, and arrange for everything to be loaded into a moving truck to deliver to Salvador.
We were dealing with plenty of VUCA as we dealt with the uncertainty of when and if our things would be released and the complexity of all of the moving parts required to make this happen. We were also genuinely concerned about the state of our goods after they took such a long ocean voyage and sat for months in a warehouse. The good news is that our truck finally arrived on Saturday.
The truck's arrival created the game that we are still playing – Tetris. Our unpacking adventure reminds me of Tetris because we have to strategically place items in temporary spaces while clearing room for other belongings. Our house in Brazil is about half the size of our previous house with a different layout and much smaller rooms. Plus, the loaner furniture is still in place. We have a lot to navigate, and it is a challenging Tetris board!
The moving truck delivered furniture (some of it unassembled) and what feels like a maze of a million boxes. The first thing that was clear is that everything wouldn’t fit into the house in box form, not if we wanted a way to maneuver on Saturday. We ended up having the movers unload half the stuff in the house and half in the garage so we would have room to unpack.
Let’s explore this interesting parallel between unpacking and playing Tetris, and how the process can be more effective and efficient (and a lot less frustrating) by embracing a Tetris mindset.
1) Prioritization: Like in Tetris, unpacking requires careful planning and strategic thinking. Ideally, it is best to prioritize items and unpack the most important ones first such as bedding, toiletries, and kitchen essentials, which are important for immediate comfort. These items are akin to the straight line and L-shaped Tetris pieces. By organizing high priority items, we could create temporary space while leaving room for larger and odd-shaped items.
2) Temporary Spaces: When unpacking, it is normal to encounter items that don’t have a designated spot yet. Going back to the Tetris analogy, we utilized temporary spaces or holding spots for items until we could find a permanent location. We used spare tables, corners, windowsills and even stacked boxes. By creatively placing and stacking belongings, we could clear more space to move around and tackle other areas, much like clearing lines in Tetris to make room for more blocks.
3) Odd-Shaped Items: In unpacking and in Tetris, it is common to encounter odd-shaped items that don’t easily fit into the traditional structure. In the game, these odd pieces often require strategic rotation and placement to form complete lines. Similarly, when unpacking, odd-shaped items like vases, lamps or decorative objects might require creative thinking. We are experimenting with different orientations and repurposing items to fit our unique situation. Like in Tetris, finding the right spot can be immensely satisfying.
4) Revisiting & Finetuning: Unpacking is an iterative process. We are finding that we are revisiting unpacked areas to finetune and reorganize. In Tetris, it is sometimes necessary to clear lines to fix a prior miscalculation or to optimize space. Similarly, we are discovering that we need to rearrange items in our new home to suit our current needs and space limitations. This means we revisit earlier decisions and make further adjustments. It is all part of the process of creating a functional and comfortable living space.
5) Embracing Adaptability: Both unpacking and Tetris require adaptability and flexibility. Like how a Tetris strategy needs to be adjusted based on the pieces that fall, one often runs into unexpected challenges while unpacking. In our case, we’ve discovered that things don’t fit as we expected and that we received things that were supposed to remain in storage back in Texas and vice versa. For example, we have the legs for a desktop that is still in Texas. We decided to embrace adaptability and go with the situation.
Unpacking from a household move is a daunting task, but by embracing the Tetris-like nature of the process, you can approach it with a sense of fun and strategy. Remember to be patient, take breaks, when needed, and celebrate small victories along the way. Before you know it, you will be fully unpacked and organized and ready to relax and enjoy the fresh start in a new home.