How to Stay Organized When Moving

When you are getting ready to pack up your belongings and move into a new home having a method in place to help you stay organized throughout the process can make your life a lot easier. The first thing you’re going to want to do is chose a system that works for you and your family. While you can store all of the dates and checklists on your phone, it might be beneficial to actually have a binder or use an app that everyone in your family can access so the responsibility doesn’t rest solely on your shoulders. Then once you’ve decided on your system, it’s time to get organized.

Create Your To-Do List

Depending on when you create your to-do list, some of the items on it might be:

• researching different moving companies and requesting quotes
• decluttering your home
• contacting your utility providers to get the services transferred over to your new home
• creating a floor plan of your new home
• packing (you can break it down by rooms or item categories)
• updating your address

When you are writing out your to-do list don’t forget to put a deadline beside each item. This way you can stay on top of everything and feel confident that you won’t arrive at your moving date without anything ready.

Build A Packing Basket

One of the most annoying parts of packing is losing the tape when you are ready to seal off a box. If you create a basket for your packing supplies, you will always be able to find the tape, scissors, markers, or stickers when you need them—as long as you put them back and no one else wanders away with them.

Have a Plan When You Pack

You will also want a plan when you start to pack up your belongings. Having everything labeled efficiently will make unpacking that much easier.

Colour-Code Your Move

Before you start packing up your belongings head to the stationary store and pick up a bunch of circular stickers in different colours. These colours will correspond to the different rooms in your new home so you and the movers will know where the different boxes belong.

Don’t forget to create a legend so you can remember that blue is for the bathroom when you arrive in your new home. It might also be beneficial to buy coloured paper that corresponds with your stickers so you can hang them on the doors of the rooms.

Boxes 1, 2, 3

Another way to organize your packing is by numbering the different boxes that go in each room. If the items in the box are things you will need on the first day, like dishes or your shower curtain, write the number 1 on your box. Write the number 2 on items that are important but not crucial for your first day there, such as your child’s school supply list. Finally, label the boxes of items that you only use occasionally, like camping supplies with a 3.

While this isn’t necessary—you can label the box with the room it belongs in and write out everything that is in each one—colour-coding and numbering allows you to know where the boxes go and which ones you should open first at a glance.

Inventory As You Go

As you are packing, make sure you take time to create a running inventory of your belongings. One simple way to do this is by photographing the different items before you pack them up. Then, save the photos onto different file folders that are divided up by rooms.