7
Steps for Staying Organized During a Move
A professional organizer who manages moves for
clients shares tips for minimizing stress and easing the moving process.
Moving can be physically and mentally overwhelming in the best
of times, and the ongoing new challenges. The
recommendations on social distancing mean you’ll need more coordination to
manage your move to ensure that you and those working for you stay safe.
As professional home organizers, one of our services is managing the moving
process for our clients. Here are seven strategies we use to help our clients
stay organized — and that we recommend you adopt if facing a move, yourself.
Before diving into any part of the moving process, it’s important to understand the big picture of all the tasks that need to be completed and all the people who will be involved in each part. I recommend creating a spreadsheet or a calendar of events so you have a visual of the overall timeline as well as your current progress.
A defined plan can prevent you from getting buried in or overlooking any of the details. Having a plan also makes it easier to delegate tasks and manage the different crews that will be in your home. I recommend that you add to your schedule the contact information for key people involved, including your real estate agents, packers, movers, inspectors, architect and designers.
Tasks to include on your spreadsheet or calendar might be real estate agent meetings, packing deadlines, moving dates, inspector visits, donation pickups, trash removals, and utility cancellations and setups, among others. I also suggest you create corresponding to-do lists for each of these tasks
2.
Declutter Before You Move
Packing can be hard work. Most people must make decisions about which items to
move and which to let go. This can be mentally exhausting, especially if you’re
downsizing to a smaller space and have accumulated many items over the years.
Your first instinct may be to pack everything and review belongings once you’ve
moved. But I recommend putting in the hard work of decluttering before the
move.
Decluttering before your move will make unpacking at your new home more
efficient and less chaotic. Also, the fact is that many people find that they
feel no urgency to declutter immediately after a move. Instead, they end up
storing unopened boxes for long periods, eating up valuable real estate that
could be used for other purposes. Plus, most moving companies charge by weight.
If you need to declutter but don’t know where to start, it might be helpful to
ask yourself if you like an item enough to spend money moving it.
Try to start your decluttering process as early as possible. It may take longer
than you expect and you can minimize exhaustion by spreading out the work.
Inevitably, you might not be able to decide on every item ahead of time, but do
what you can to filter out unwanted belongings before your move.
3. Remove
Unwanted Items from Your Home
When I declutter, I don’t feel relief until the items are actually out of my
home. This feeling may be magnified during a move. Once unwanted items are
gone, you’ll have more space to focus on what you’re keeping. In addition,
you’ll eliminate the possibility of accidentally moving unwanted belongings to
your new home. The pandemic does make removing unwanted items more challenging,
but there are still many options:
Return
items that belong to others. Many people have items at home that aren’t their own, such
as kitchen containers, tools, books and clothes. I recommend you gather all
these items and return them to their owners. This also applies to items your
grown children have left behind. Have them pick up their items or give you the
OK to dispose of them.
Charitable
organizations. Before
COVID-19, you really didn’t have to plan your drop-off to charitable
organizations ahead of time. Now it may be more challenging to find an open
location, so check ahead with your local organization on their hours and pandemic-related
policies.
Junk-removal
services. Many
fee-based junk-removal companies are offering no-contact pickups. These
services accept and coordinate appropriate distribution of almost everything —
trash, donations, recycling, yard waste, large appliances, furniture and more.
However, if you have hazardous waste, you may want to check with the company,
as some may not accept it.
4. Keep
Track of Your Packed Boxes
When you’re ready to start packing, invest the time to track what you’ve packed.
This will make it easier to direct movers when they unload at your new home or,
if you’re the one moving your boxes, to know where to place items yourself.
I recommend recording the following information in a spreadsheet as you pack
each box:
Box number
and contents. Number
each box and record the number on your spreadsheet. This will help you keep
track of the total number of boxes to be moved and easily identify any that get
lost. List the contents of each box on both the spreadsheet and the box itself.
This doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it should be specific. For instance,
instead of writing “Kitchen Things” or listing every item in the box (which
takes a long time), use short, descriptive labels such as “Baking Supplies” or
“Summer Shorts and T-shirts.” Packing in categories will make labeling,
locating items and unpacking easier.
If you’re
short on time, you can skip listing the items on the box and just list them on
the spreadsheet. But always number your boxes.
Room
destination. Label
each box with the room you want the movers to place it in. I recommend putting
the room destination in large letters on the same spot of each box (such as the
top) where the movers can easily see it. To make it stand out even more, I like
to print the room destination on a white label, using a different font color
for each room, such as green for the kitchen, red for the master bedroom, blue
for the living room and so forth. The movers will be working quickly, so the
clearer the label is, the less chance a box will be placed in the wrong room.
High-value
and fragile items. Add
to your spreadsheet an inventory of high-value items. Most moving companies
consider anything worth more than $100 per pound to be high-value. Quality
jewelry, valuable comic book collections, art collections, sterling flatware
and currency are in this category. Be sure to complete the high-value inventory
form provided by your mover so that if anything happens, you have the best
chance of being covered for the full value of your loss.
Also label
fragile boxes. Preprinted stickers are widely available and will save you much
time by not having to handwrite “Fragile” on each box. Stickers may also be
easier for the movers to see.
Box
size. This
isn’t too important to record, but we do record it for our clients. It’s just
an extra step for identifying a box. It takes very little extra time to record
the box size, and since the movers count this information, we like to keep
track of it as well.
5. Pack
Essentials for the First Few Days
You may want to pack some essentials to get you through the first few days in
your new home without having to open a bunch of boxes. Label these boxes “Pack
Last” and the movers will load these on the truck last, meaning they’ll come
off the truck first. Of course, if your move won’t be completed in a
single day, some of these items will need to travel with you and not be loaded
onto the truck.
Include items needed to care for yourself and family members, including pets. I
typically advise my clients to pack as if they were going on a short trip,
including such items as:
Towels
Clothing and
shoes
Toiletries
Pet food and
supplies
I also
recommend that clients include essentials to help them settle into the new home
smoothly, such as:
Scissors and
box cutters
Basic tools
for furniture assembly
Tape measure
Pen and
paper
Flashlight
Scotch tape
Paper towels
Toilet paper
Dish soap
and sponge
Hand soap
Household
cleaners
Disposable
gloves
Trash bags
Paper plates
and disposable or compostable cups and utensils
Shower liners
and rings
Pillows and
bedding
6. Keep
Valuable Items with You
Some items should always stay with you and not be out of your possession, even
during a move. These would include things like:
Important
documents such as passports, deeds and trusts, birth certificates and Social
Security cards
Medications
Mobile phone
and charger
Electronic
devices and chargers, such as work laptops
Cash
Checkbook
Credit and
ATM cards
Keys
Valuable,
sentimental and irreplaceable items. For instance, while a large jewelry
collection may be too much to keep on your person during a move, you should
definitely keep irreplaceable pieces like wedding rings and heirlooms on your
person.
7. Delegate as Many Tasks as
You Can
Moving is an enormous job that involves both big-picture management and
attention to small details. No one should have to do it alone!
Graciously accept help from friends and family who kindly offer, even if it’s
something as small as asking them to drop off a meal on moving day. If your
budget allows, entrusting certain parts of your move to professionals such as
home organizers, expert packers and move managers can ease your burden and keep
you sane amid the process.
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