Moving the Right Way

Recently, I have been packing, moving and unpacking a lot of my clients at their new homes. Sometimes, I am only called upon to pack a few of their belongings. When this occurs, I often find that things are packed in a disorganized fashion, and not only does it take longer to unpack, but sometimes the boxes are miss-marked. Luckily, we unpack them immediately so this is not a problem. However, it seems lots of people never get around to unpacking all of their boxes and end up storing them in storage facilities or their garages. Years later they contact me and we have the daunting task of going through the miss-labeled boxes and find out that things that were supposed to be in certain boxes are in fact not there. This can be very frustrating for everyone for the following reasons: It takes longer to go through things, it takes longer to decide what to keep and toss, and it takes longer to organize belongings.

You get the picture! What can you do to avoid this?

1) Have the person packing properly mark boxes as you go – You should try creating a packing list.

There are several way you can do this:

• Use the software program Paper Tiger: http://thepapertiger.com/ – this is great software
–it allows you to use a numerical organizing system. You can number your boxes and create an inventory of what is in each box to reference upon arriving in your new home.
For example, box 1 might have random objects that you packed at the last minute, like sticky notes, extra pens, appliance manuals, and toilet paper. You can list this all in the program under “box number one.”

• Number the boxes and create an inventory using an excel spreadsheet

• Create a hand written packing list and tape it to the outside of each box– be sure to have someone remind you to do this, it’s easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of moving!

2) Take the time to go through everything before you move, that way you won’t pack things you don’t need. This way you will have less to pack, and will be more likely to unpack it all when you get to your new destination.

3) Pack things in an organized fashion – pack items room by room, likes with likes. For example, start with your office. Put all of the computer software together, and the tech books in another box. That way when you go to unpack, it will be easier to organize the office.
If you take all of these steps, I guarantee unpacking will be less of a nightmare and you won’t be wondering what’s in the boxes you didn’t have time to unpack!