Purge Regularly
One of the hardest things about moving is getting rid of the old clutter. If you know in advance that you will likely be moving in the next year or two, then you can stay on top of the process by decluttering on a regular basis.
Monthly or bi-monthly, go through your personal papers, filing cabinets, bills, and knickknacks. Throw away anything that you do not need as soon as you are sure that you no longer need it. If you have growing children, go through their clothes regularly to find those clothes they have outgrown. Give anything that you have not touched in the last two years to charity.
Save Your Boxes
Boxes are a hot commodity during a relocation. If you keep your boxes between relocations, you will save money and time when you need to start packing up once again. Throw away any boxes that are no longer in good shape, then break down and keep the rest. This is especially important if you have boxes of unusual size or shape for miscellaneous items like mirrors, artwork, and expensive electronics.
Take Pictures to Help You Reassemble
Do you find hooking up your computer or television after taking it down difficult? Do you have a hard time remembering how to reassemble furniture? If so, then take pictures of the deconstruction process. Keep these pictures on your cell phone, and then organize the pictures into an electronic album so you can find them easily when the time comes to unpack.
Make a Reusable Moving Checklist
No matter where you move or why, you will have to go through many of the same steps with every relocation. Packing, changing subscriptions, switching utilities and arranging for movers are all examples. That said, keeping straight of all of the things that you need to do to make a move successful can be hard.
Make a reusable moving checklist that you can use for every relocation. Add to the checklist as you think of more things that would be appropriate to place on the sheet.
Divide Up Duties
Assign specific moving duties to everyone in your house, and then keep those duties the same from one relocation to the next. This way, each person will become extra fast at his or her specific assigned duties, which will make the moving process more efficient. Spreading the work around also helps make moving more enjoyable for everyone in your household.
Sort Boxes by Color
Writing the same labels repeatedly on each box is impractical. Why take time to write the word bedroom on each box meant for your bedroom when you can achieve the same effect by wrapping all of the bedroom boxes in a specific color of tape?
As an alternative to using colored tape, you can also save time writing by applying stickers of different colors to each box. For example, place red stickers on all boxes meant for the kitchen, green stickers on all boxes meant for the living room, black stickers on bedroom boxes, and of course, a giant fragile sticker on any boxes that contain fragile items.
Keep a Moving File
By now, you probably know that you have a lot of paperwork with moving. From moving contracts to apartment leases to mortgage papers and job applications, most people accrue many different kinds of papers on the path between one house and another.
Keeping all of these papers together in one multi-section expandable file can help you stay organized, which can help make the moving process smoother overall. Mark each section with labels that can help you identify the type of papers that you keep in each section. Keep this expandable file between moves, so when the times comes to start packing again, you will be ready to start your file.
Use the Same Movers
Find a moving company that you trust, and use that company for all moves that you can. If you typically move between states, then find a good long distance mover. If you usually move internationally, develop a relationship with a mover that provides long distance service. Working with the same mover for each relocation makes each move a little more predictable and familiar.
If you are someone who moves frequently and you need more information about how you can make the relocation process a better experience, contact Wheaton World Wide Moving. We will be happy to answer your questions. We can also handle most types of moves for your convenience. Business, international, or household moves — we help with them all.
