Is It Possible To Feel Organized While Moving? 6 Tips to Help!

It looks like a big chaotic zoo in my house right now with boxes piled everywhere.  To help me I called in an expert to share some professional moving tips with us today.  Please welcome Kirstie Berzanski, President and Founder of Moving Box Delivery.

When moving you are truly in a state of mayhem and chaos.

The reason being is every item you own is placed inside of moving boxes and no longer resides where it used to be. Therefore, it is a common and natural feeling while planning a move, to feel as though you are totally disorganized while moving.

But the reality is….all of your belongings are just in a temporary state of transition from one home to the next, which is why moving feels like such an unorganized event.

‘By realizing this alone, you will feel better. You can stop putting pressure on yourself to be perfectly organized while moving.”

The good news are, there are some simple tips that can help take stress away and help make you feel more organized while moving.

#1:  Buy a bunch of brand new, high quality moving boxes…for several reasons.

a) New boxes are easier to pack and seal, and they don’t smell like Bologna or some other item from the grocery store.

b) New boxes are easier to stack and they won’t topple over, which cuts down the chances of breakage and of injury.

c) New boxes can be completely sealed and labeled, and maybe when you get to the new home, they will be stored away for a long period of time. You don’t want to store clothing or books in a box that might have the lingering fragrance of soap or food smells.

d) If you hire movers, they can work faster by stacking and carrying boxes that are uniform in shape and size.

#2: Label every single box, so that when you get to the new home, you don’t have to “guess” what’s inside each one! This helps decrease the time you need to unpack your home and makes packing easier too.

#3: Seal the boxes well, with good tape to make sure that they don’t pop open in the moving truck, or worse…when someone is carrying the box. You wouldn’t want a man from the moving company to have a moving box pop open, and some of your nice clothing falls on the sidewalk.

#4: Make an inventory list of what you are moving, not just because you may need it for insurance purposes, but also because it can be a “checklist” to make sure that you leave nothing behind.

#5: Also make a “checklist” of things that need to be done, such as disconnecting phone and electric at one home, and reconnecting at the new home. Also a list of companies and people who need your new address, as well as many magazine subscriptions. By the way, the mail order catalogs that you receive always say: John Doe OR Current Resident, because they are NOT first class mail, and they do not forward automatically, so your L.L Bean and other catalogs will start going to the new occupant at your old address. When you know you will be moving, start saving those catalogs, then you can notify each company, either by mail, phone, fax, or e-mail, about your new address!

#6: Don’t get stressed, be calm, and take your time, both planning as well as packing. Try to listen to nice, uplifting, instrumental music while packing and making preparations for the move! To have the local or national news blaring on the television while you are packing can be a distraction, it is more enjoyable to listen to Mozart or even Movie Themes and Show Tunes!

So, it is completely possible to plan and carefully make a move without being stressed and disorganized. Think of it as an adventure, and don’t let anything get you upset…you are moving into a new chapter in the book of your life.

Even though it may not feel like you are not being organized while moving, you can feel better knowing that this state of flux is a natural part of moving and does not mean that you are disorganized. Relax, follow these tips, and everything will turn out great.

Kirstie Berzanski is President and Founder of Moving Box Delivery, a company dedicated to providing the same high quality moving boxes and moving supplies that professional movers use. Kirstie is also co-owner of Discount Movers; a moving company in Southern California that is proud to have experienced San Diego movers, top ratings in the BBB, lowest rates and an esteemed reputation of excellence for over 14 years.

Getting through a move in one piece + giveaway!

Today’s post is brought to you by guest blogger and friend, Laurieann from Organize It Mom! Organize It Mom! is a great site that sells awesome products to help moms keep their sanity.  I had the pleasure of doing a review on some of those products awhile ago here.

Laurieann just went through a big move recently and has kindly agreed to share some of her awesome moving tips with my readers.

Moving?

Agh. Sorry. I have an Aunt who seriously loves to move. She loves the de-cluttering, the boxing, the truck-renting, the upacking. She loves it all. She lives in one place for about three years and then starts to feel the moving itch. And she has five kids. She is insane.

I just moved and ugh. I just moved after 12 great years in a great place into my dream home. Hope I’m painting the 12-years-worth of non-moved junk picture for you.

So, here’s what I did and I know it was completely anal retentive of me but I am Organize It Mom! for a reason.

First, I started packing early. I’m pretty sure I was done with 75% of the packing when all of our books were in boxes. I heart books. Know what else I heart? Uniform sized boxes. Wait… picture me saying that the way Homer Simpson says, “Mmmm Doughnuts.” Uniform sized boxes. Oh yeah. I have a lot of books and even though I know some pretty strong fellas (husband included), I did not want to have anyone’s chiropractor bill on my conscience so books only went in the small boxes. It was so much better that way. The fellas who wanted to be tough could lift three while I could still bring in one at a time.

By the way, what is it with fellas wanting to be tough? The collective testosterone of my husband’s friends evoked a “Hey, no problem, we can move your piano. No need to pay movers.”

Anyway, then came the color-coding. You read that right. I color-coded every box. Laura’s all about containers. I’m all about colors. In the new house I had three floors to move into so we used stop-light color-coding: red for the top floor, yellow for the main floor, green for the basement. Then, each room was assigned a number (1 for the first room you encountered on your way in the main entrance, 2 for the second. You get the idea). So, each box had a color-coded, numbered label on it. Everything that wasn’t in a box got a label too: furniture, appliances, etc.

Every box made it into the right room un-opened. How great is that? I was unpacked and totally organized in record time – approximately three working days.

Maybe, just maybe it was overkill. Nah, it was organizing Nirvana.

If you are moving, I’ll totally loan you the color-coded labels idea. Husband thinks I should sell them. Uh, no. Who would buy such a thing? Well, okay… people just like me I guess. Couple of other tips I picked up in this whole process… get moving boxes from Craig’s List under free stuff. So cool! (Caution, you may not get uniform sized boxes that way.) Make friends with people with big muscles and bigger trucks and do favors for them just prior to moving – then supply pizza. Lots of pizza.

GOOD LUCK!

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Thanks Laurieann!  In conjunction with today’s post about moving I’m discussing the book, The Essential Guide to Organizing and Moving, over on my review site AND I’m giving away a copy as well.  To enter just visit Org Junkie’s Product Reviews.

See you over there!

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Organizing a move