How to Prepare Efficiently for a Move: Tips and Tricks

Moving to a new house is often a fun and exciting experience. However, a lot of people who move don’t look forward to the packing and preparation of items. This is due to the amount of work and effort required to get everything ready before professional removalists arrive to collect your belongings. Whilst you can do the preparation at a slower pace if you’re moving on your own, it’s best to set a schedule to complete the preparations, especially if you are renting a moving vehicle or equipment for your move.

If you’re still deciding on where and when to move or you’re about to start making preparations for the move, there are various ways to lessen the stress and prepare your belongings more efficiently.

1. Decide on logistics

Before making any final plans, it’s best to determine the method of how you will move your belongings. Consider the number of items you will be moving with you, the distance between your current residence and your new home, as well as available resources that you can use for the move. Whilst it is more convenient to hire professionals who will do the work for you, there are instances when your moving budget is not enough to cover these expenses, especially when you’re moving to a city with a higher cost of living or you’re upgrading your home to cater to the needs of your family.

2. Prepare a moving checklist

Once you have made arrangements for your move, start creating a moving checklist of the tasks that you need to complete before your scheduled moving day. It may take some time to complete the list, but it can help you navigate through the moving process with ease. With your moving date in mind, you can create a checklist based on urgency, difficulty, or time required to complete tasks. If you prefer a more detailed guide, you can create a moving binder that includes a moving checklist and a detailed inventory of the items you will be taking with you.

3. Plan moving budget and packing supplies

Moving to a new home can get expensive. Aside from paying for your new residence and the logistics to move your belongings to your new home, you also need to buy packing supplies and pay for other moving-related services or requirements. There are some moving companies that have packing calculators on their websites that you can use to determine how much packing supplies you will need for your move. Before running to the store to get new supplies, check the materials you have at home to lessen your expenses.

4. Declutter and sort your belongings

Before you start packing your belongings, it’s highly recommended that you purge items that are too old, worn out, or haven’t been used for a long time. This way, you can reduce the number of items you will have to pack for the move. Prepare containers where you can sort items that you will bring with you, and separate containers for items that will be disposed of, recycled, donated, or rehomed.

Whilst you’re doing this, sort the items you will be taking with you based on which ones you will be using almost immediately after the move and which ones can be stored at the back of the closet until the next season. Doing so will allow you to pack more efficiently since you can already start packing seasonal and non-essential items. Remember to pack an essentials box or bag to make sure you will have enough supplies to last for a few days so you won’t have to rush to unpack your boxes

If you’re doing last-minute packing for your move, you can skip the detailed sorting and focus on getting every item in the room packed in boxes or containers. Whilst this method can save some time, you might end up using more packing materials and space in the moving vehicle. After sealing the boxes or containers, label them properly to make it easier to identify which boxes belong to a certain room.

5. Do not procrastinate

When you still have plenty of time before your scheduled moving day, it’s tempting to leave moving-related tasks for later. Maximise your time by doing simple tasks when you can, especially the moving-related paperwork and other requirements which may take a couple of days to process. Depending on how much time you have left, you can start with 1 or 2 tasks per day or spend an hour or two packing a room. This way, you can lighten the workload as your moving day approaches and you need to start working on physically-demanding tasks such as dismantling heavy or bulky furniture and appliances.

If you’re not hiring removalists to do the work for you, enlist the help of family and friends who can assist you in packing your belongings or handling heavy and bulky items. It also helps to prepare packing materials in advance and keep them close to you as you pack, so you won’t have to leave what you’re doing to gather the items you need. All of these can help you do moving-related tasks more efficiently and complete them before moving day.