Moving is a seriously daunting task. I’m going through it right now. Some people plan their moves for months…I gave myself and my husband a whole 3 days. But, with a quick search on google, I found this great advice. It helped me turn this…
…into this…
The key is organization. Moving is a great time to de-junk and assess what STUFF is really necessary. It’s about simplifying. Of course, you don’t have to clear out everything. I used a couple simple questions:
1. Have I used this in the last year?
2. If this got lost in the move, would I notice?
3. Do I like this?
If I answered YES to all three questions, the item was boxed up with like items (if not, they went into boxes for a huge summer yard sale!) I went room by room. Small, heavy items are best packed into wine boxes–you can pick them up for free in any liquor store. For bigger boxes check craigslist for free moving boxes. Whenever you can re-use someone else’s boxes, you’re not consuming your own. When you’ve finished, make sure you re-post them and pay it forward.
The key to my smooth move was the “system”. I began by printing out big, bold, black #’s. You could write them in marker, but the white printer paper makes a great contrast. I also printed out a stack of the box-content list posted below. When 3-hole punched and placed in a binder, this page becomes the key to organizing the boxes without scribbling on the sides of all of them. As I placed things in the box, I wrote them down and filled in the box #. The more specific, the better. Each box was packed to capacity-not under for risk of smashing, not over for risk of busting open. Then, as I taped them up, I taped the box # to the side. This way, I have the “Master List” and can easily flip through to know what’s inside.
In a couple weeks (when I return from a month sabbatical) I will add color coded stickers to each box so that when they are moved OUT of the truck they can go directly to the room in which they belong. I firmly believe in the “touch it once” method of moving!
So, once everything is de-junked, packed up and organized, you can RELAX. Moving is a big job, but it doesn’t have to be horrible…
It can be the beginning of a new and wonderful chapter of life!
