Moving can be a stressful time, and there can be mistakes along the way. It takes a lot to have a successful move with no hiccups. From making sure everything is broken down and packed up, to relocating it in a timely manner, there are a lot of areas where things could go wrong during a move. But lucky for you, we’ve been through thousands of moves before, and we’ve come up with this list of some pitfalls to avoid during your moving process.
Not Planning Enough
We always say that knowing is half the battle. Getting a full idea of your inventory can make the rest of the packing process that much easier. You’ll want to keep a detailed list of where everything is going and at least a rough idea of quantity. This way when it’s time to unpack everything you can easily know where everything is and everything can go much faster. This can also help with recovering missing items. Sometimes things can get shifted around during a move and it can take a minute to figure out what you’re missing.
Mistakes With Boxes
The art of packing various items into various types of boxes is the true majesty of the packing process. Here are some things to avoid:
Using too Many Plastic Bags: Using a few plastic bags for things like spare clothes can be a great alternative if you’re running out of boxes and need a quick fix, but this shouldn’t be the mainstream option. Boxes are much more space efficient and can hold much more than plastic bags. They can also be combined with cushioning to make sure your items are even more secure.
Not Labeling Properly: It can be tempting to skip this step and just assume you know where everything is, but as we mentioned earlier, things have a way of getting mixed up during a move. It’s much easier for you to label everything in the short term because the benefits will far outweigh the few minutes it’ll save.
You Save Everything Until Later
You want to make sure you give yourself ample time to prepare, pack and double-check during a move. It’s human nature to want to push everything off until as late as possible, but in this case, that can lead to a lot of disorganization, things getting lost, and last-second scrambling. It’s important to start making your checklist and gathering up your materials as quickly as possible when you know your moving date. Ideally, you should start the packing process 1-2 weeks prior to your move to make sure you have a long enough time to do everything right.
How Elite Can Help
At Elite Moving and Storage, we consider ourselves the moving experts (and so do thousands of happy customers!). For over a decade, we’ve helped families, businesses, and everyone in between fill their moving needs in the Chicagoland area. Whether you need help moving, packing, or unpacking, we’re there for you!