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Moving: Getting Organized to Move
Save time, energy
and stress on your
next move. Here are some basic tips on getting
organized.
Related terms:
organizing, organization,
planning
Quick Summary
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Start
early- you have more stuff than you think, and it takes
longer to pack than you
expect.
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Have a plan for your move, and stick to
it.
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Use a complete moving
checklist- there's a great one
here to get you started.
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Create
a moving kit organizer.
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Create one or
two
Priority
Boxes for each
room.
The Details
The right kind of
organizing can save you a great deal of three key assets:
time, money, and peace of mind. Following these few
simple steps can eliminate a lot of stress later
on.
Start Early
The biggest problem with organizing a move
is not allowing enough time. On average, it takes a
college student approximately 5 hours to pack up a dorm room
when moving out. That's a single room where often only
half the items belong to the student moving. If you
multiple that by the number of rooms you have in your current
place, you'll quickly realize that the amount of time you'll
need just for packing is substantial.
Starting early gives you a huge
advantage. While most people wait until just a few days
prior to the move date for the majority of their packing
hours, you can eliminate much of your moving stress by getting
a jump on your moving tasks. People who follow this
advice often have much smoother moves and lower stress levels
for the entire process.
Plan Your Move
There'a a huge temptation to just start the
packing process with little or no planning.
Unfortunately, it's also a huge mistake. You wouldn't
start building a house without blueprints, and you shouldn't
start your move without a basic plan. The plan doesn't
need to be complicated, but it should include the
following:
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Number of days between now and your
move date
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Tasks required for your move,
including getting moving supplies, changing your
address, and packing
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Number of rooms that need to be
packed
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Amount of help you'll have available
from friends, family, and professional movers
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Quantity of items you have in each
room
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Amount of time you have available each
day between now and the move
If you assign tasks by day and closely
monitor your progress as you go, you're much less likely to be
surprised by running out of time.
Moving Checklist
One of the the reasons moving is so
stressful is the fact that there are so many details to
track. All of your possessions (and much of your sense
of security) are suddenly out of their usual places and "in
flux." Most of the usual landmarks are about to change,
from where to get groceries to what your new address and phone
number are going to be.
This is where the moving
checklist comes in. One of the great things about moving
is that you're not alone- between 12% and 16% of American
households move in any given year. That's more than 30 million
people! Ultimate
Moving Checklist for you to follow. Use
the checklist both as a source for your plan and a set of
reminders for what needs to be done. Some of the
items may not apply to your situation, but it should give
you an excellent starting point. Many of those
people have contributed to several moving checklists in
books and on websites. Movers-Edge.com has compiled
all of these sources to create the
Create a Moving Kit Organizer
Moving involves a great deal of paper.
Leases and mortgages, moving estimates, new addresses and
perhaps employers, checklists- it all adds up to a lot to
track. It's a good idea to have a central place for all
that information. We recommend using a binder with
pockets for the papers to be kept, with dividers to keep key
information separate.
Movers-Edge.com offers a Moving Kit
Organizer of its own, just in case you don't want to make one
yourself. Not only does it provide a binder tht closes,
but it includes a variety of forms to track changes of
address, articles to be packed, and tons of useful
advice.
Priority Boxes
It's not unusual for a move to involve over
a hundred boxes. And for each room in your home, there
are some items that just seem more important on your first
morning than others (for me, the coffee maker comes to
mind). If you reserve one or two boxes for each room as
Priority Boxes (also known as "Open Me First" boxes), you'll
have a much easier time on the other end of your move.
Label these boxes with a "PB" in red on the side or with
special labels that they'll be easy to find after the
move.
One word of caution- don't fall victim to
the temptation of having more than two Priority Boxes per
room. If more than 2 boxes are Priority Boxes, the whole
concept starts to lose its meaning, and it will end up causing
more confusion instead of reducing stress.
These few steps can lead to a much more
organized moving experience, and should do wonders to lower
your stress level on the big day and after.
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