How to be Organized when Moving

You’re in your new kitchen, cooking your favorite dinner, about to enjoy your first meal together as a family in your new home. Time to set the table, when you realize you’re missing a few key essentials… where’s all the silverware? I only have 2 cups. Where’s the darn mashed potato masher? Where’s the salt and pepper? Where are my serving spoons? Ugh-- they must have gotten lost in the move.

If you’ve gone through a move, surely you have experienced a situation like this. As socks mysteriously get lost in the wash, it never fails to have something “lost in the move.” Instead of getting frustrated, get organized. Avoid the frustrations of moving, by being organized—here are a few tips:

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Make to-do lists. Write down things that need to be done before, during, and after the move. This will ensure you do not forget an essential step in the moving process.

2. Make an action plan. Which room are you going to tackle first? It’s smart to pack the least utilized rooms first, and then unpack those rooms last.

3. Don’t wait until the last minute! Start packing far in advance. As you’re packing, keep those boxes confined to the room that is being packed up. This will help you stay organized. Starting early will help you pack smart and avoid damage. Last minute packing results in mix-matched boxes with items from various locations and broken items.

4. Don’t mix and match rooms in different boxes. Pack smartly. Each room should have its own set of boxes. Mix and matching boxes will have you confused. How many times have you opened up an old box that you didn’t think you need only to find that thing you’ve been looking for forever!

5. Label your boxes with detail. “Kitchen” is not a good label. You want to avoid having to avoid opening every “Kitchen” box to find a fork. “Kitchen: Silverware, can openers, mixing bowls, cutting boards” is a good label. “Mike’s room” is not a good label but “Mikes room: winter sweaters, hats, socks” is. There’s no such thing as too much detail when packing.

6. Limit the amount of people doing the packing, if possible. If you have a house full of packers, things are going to get lost easily. You won’t remember where you put something because you were not the one to put it there. Try getting a small team of 1-3 people to help pack, and supervise. Make sure labeling rules are clearly defined.

7. Group like boxes together. When loading and unloading the truck, group the similarly labeled boxes together. All kitchen boxes (or bedroom, living room, etc.) loaded into the truck together and therefore unloaded together. This will make things a lot easier to find.