Moving Efficiently: Tips for Organizing a Move
Welcome to Part II of Moving Efficiently. A little bit of pre-planning will help you organize your move. Whether family, friends, or hired moving professionals, no one wants to waste his or her time. It may sound a little self-serving to say “get the most from your helpers.” The truth is that people who help you will be happier when your pre-planning saves them time and frustration.
People want to feel needed. They want to know that their time spent has made a difference. So do yourself and your helpers a favor by planning ahead for moving.
Last time we recommended assigning people to manage the specific tasks, including team leads who are responsible for supplies and food. This time we focus on how to stage work so that when help arrives, they can carry out their focused tasks quickly and efficiently.
1. What you must do first.
By now you’ve already decided whether you will have (or have had) a garage sale. There should be no trash in any closet or drawer. If there are items not moving with you, get them out of the way. The goal is to have your helpers focus on packing anything they see. It’s a time waster if something gets packed when it shouldn’t. And vice versa.
2. Have supplies at the ready.
By this point, you’ve assigned the task of purchasing moving supplies. On move day, their job is to make sure that every room is equipped with enough boxes, paper, tape and markers. That way an entire room can be packed quickly and efficiently. It’s frustrating for your moving helpers to have to rummage and search for scissors, a misplaced Sharpie marker, or run out of moving boxes.
3. Stage the work.
Direct your assistants where to focus. We recommend packing the least needed items first, and the most needed items last. This serves two purposes:
- You will have access to your more needed items for the longest time, and
- Your most needed items will be packed onto the moving truck last and will be unloaded first.
Label drawers or closet shelves so that people will know where to focus on packing first. When everyone knows their assignments, you’ll find the work gets done faster and you’ll save energy. You’ll need it… for when you unpack!
Call All Reasons Moving at (408) 351-9515 for a no-cost, no-obligation estimate for all your moving needs.