subject: Packing And Unpacking During A Move [print this page] Moving can seem like an overwhelming and difficult task. There can be so much to do, especially when your husband has to work all day and you have several small children than need attention.
The first thing you should definitely do when you know what date you are planning to move is to start packing earlier than you think you need to. When everything is put away nicely it is easily to think you have less stuff than you actually have.
This can severely throw off how much time you need to pack. As you begin to pull things out, you will realize that the time you need to pack will expand exponentially.
When you begin packing, the first thing you should do is make a list of the rooms you must go through. You will need a list of the rooms in your current living area and of your future living area.
Designate which things will go to which rooms in the future house and pack those things together. This will make unpacking a much easier task in the future.
It will also help you know which things should be thrown out. By the end of everything, most people admit that it takes an average of a month to pack.
A simple dorm room takes only four or five hours to pack. Multiply this by the number of rooms in your home, consider their size in comparison to a dorm room and factor in the needs of your children and you will have a time estimate.
Try to set deadlines for how soon things should be packed. For example, decide to have the living room packed before the end of the first week, the kitchen the third and the kids' rooms by the end of the month.
If you have older children, designate specific areas to them, but realize that you may have to make up the difference in the end if they are not able to complete the task. Assign your older children the task of packing their own rooms and your husband the task of cleaning out the workshop.
Delegation can greatly remove the stress on your shoulders and the job can get done much faster. Talk to them and help them set deadlines to have it done by.
Be sure to check up on the various tasks and make sure that they are getting done on time. You do not want to hit the big deadline at the end and realize that everything still needs to be done.
However, you can adjust your schedule as necessary. Once you are packed, you may want to hire professional movers to help you move your boxes.
You want to protect your privacy and things, so it is a good idea to only hire professional movers. Ask around and get referrals for various companies on which ones offer the best services and which ones you can trust.
Then, go online and find out more about the companies. Be careful in your decision because hiring bad movers can be worse than not hiring any movers.
Make sure that the company you are considering is licensed, bonded and insured before you hire them. If you every feel uneasy when talking to them, find a different company immediately and hire them.
Before you pack everything up, make sure you pack a suitcase for each family member. Each suitcase should have the things they need for several weeks.
This will make it much easier to travel when the time comes as you will not have to dig through boxes to find the things that you need. It may be easier to simply buy a new item instead of digging through all of the boxes to find it.
Be sure to organize how the boxes go into the truck so that the most important ones are closest to the door and on top. There should be several boxes per room that are the most important to open.
Mark these boxes so you know which ones should be opened first. When you arrive at your destination, remember that you took an entire month to pack.
Do not overburden yourself by trying to unpack everything in a day or every a week. It is going to take some time to get organized.
Unpack one room at a time and take a moment to feel a sense of accomplishment when you have finished. Stay focused and the home will slowly come together and you will make your new house a home.
