Staying Organized While Moving

Moving is rarely an occasion that one would describe as fun. In fact, moving can be a huge challenge. Nonetheless, one in five American families will move this year. If your family is among them, you can make the move less frustrating by organizing your belongings before the move. Yes, organization is the key to taking the scary, confusing aspect out of tossing everything that you own into a moving van and hitting the road. Moving is a daunting prospect, but being organized before the move can take the stress of moving down a few notches. The mover-tested tips that follow can help.

A Moving Notebook

Chances are good that you already use a family notebook or family planner in your home to keep your family and household organized. This same concept can apply to your move. A moving notebook complete with business card holders, receipt envelopes and zippered pouches is a must-have to staying organized during your move. Your moving notebook can be used to track phone calls, store phone numbers for realtors and mortgage folks and moving guys and contractors and so on. You can also use it for storing snippets of wallpaper samples, receipts, and more. Further, you can use a moving notebook or planner to schedule appointments for having your cable turned on, or to make note of the pediatrician that your new neighbor mentions to you. Keep the moving notebook in your purse at all times, and you will have all of the information about your move in one handy place – which makes for a smooth move that avoids pulling your hair out in frustration!

Labeling

Another key to keeping organized during a move is to label, label, and then label some more! You cannot have too many labels when moving. If you’re computer savvy, you can use computer generated moving labels to mark your boxes. You can also buy labels and write the content of the box on the label by hand. Make labels that spell out the room that each box will end up in. For example, create labels that say kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, storage, and so on. Whoever packs up each room is responsible for labeling the boxes in that room. Apply the labels in the same position on each box to make reading the labels easier. It doesn’t matter where you apply the label on the box, as long as it is in a specific corner. For example, the upper right hand corner. Label all four sides of the box so that it doesn’t matter which way the box is unloaded from the moving van – you will still be able to see which box goes where (without effort).

Creating an Essentials Box

Creating a box that is filled with the items that you need to survive the first few days in your home without being totally unpacked is important. Each family member should create an essentials box, and these boxes should be the last to go on the moving van so that they can be the first to come off when you unload. In addition to a personal essentials box for each person that contains a few outfits of clothing, bed sheets, blankets, pillows, medication, and toiletries, there should be a household box that contains things like toilet paper, coffee maker, and other must-haves for your first few days. This box will be different for each family. Having these essentials at your fingertips during your first few days in your new home will make things seem more “homey” and help you to get settled easily without the pressure to unpack everything.