Here is the system I devised for moving, after doing it 10 times in 25 years. Obviously this isn’t gonna work for every situation, it’s just things that helped me. [THREAD]

Total number of move days: one day for every closet, two days for every room, 3 to 4 days for the kitchen depending on the size. Add one Half-day for every time you have to make a trip to Storage (estimate, obviously).

Make a list of all the closets, the rooms, and the kitchen (if you have a garage or an attic that counts as 2 to 4 rooms). Keep this list handy as you start packing.

Concentrate on one room at a time. If you spread your energy out over the entire house you quickly get frustrated and sad. If you are packing up, say, the living room, don’t go into the other rooms except to find things that belong in the living room, etc.

As you pack an individual room, make sure to label every box on two adjacent sides, redundantly. That way when the boxes are stacked up you don’t have to unpile a stack of boxes to figure out what’s in a box. Also label important stuff that happens to be in a box.

Never put something in a box that doesn’t actually belong in it, even if you’re starting to get frustrated or time is running out. You will regret it.

Every room that you are clearing, make sure to have a dedicated box on hand for “random stuff” and don’t seal it. Put every “random stuff” box in a dedicated area where you live. 1/2

Right before you’re ready to move, go through “random stuff“ boxes and correctly sort them & distribute items to the correct rooms. Or deal with them after the move. Stuff you need but can’t find will then be in a “random stuff” box. You won’t have to figure out where it is.

Sometimes I subdivide room boxes by type of item, putting all pots in a box, all glasses, sheets, pillowcases, etc. But the important thing is to keep things sorted/labeled by room.

I’ve saved a lot of money on packing material by using pillows/sheets, blankets, couch cushions, etc., as packing material for fragile items.

You would be surprised how easy it is to get supermarkets, stores, friends, to part with boxes they were otherwise going to throw away, or that they had been holding onto for reasons they can’t even remember. This also saves money.

Try not to put yourself in a position where you are spending an entire day packing. You can adjust total moving time by setting limits – no more than 4 hours a day spent packing, etc. But it means that you have to start the packing process farther out from the actual move.

Every move gets to a point where it’s move day and the moving truck is arriving/you’re picking it up yourself and you realize you still haven’t actually finished packing. Don’t beat yourself up over this. It’s inevitable.

Every move I’ve ever done climaxes with everyone involved panicking and throwing shit in boxes at random (creating more “random stuff“ boxes. The goal is to make this panic pile as small as possible. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Deliberately inflate the time you think you need for the total move & try to stick to the packing schedule. You will find that you clear a room or rooms faster than the allotted time estimate, and this will make you feel good about yourself—make you feel productive & in control.

When you get to the new location, do a mirror version of the process. Try to move through things room by room. Start with the important bedroom/kitchen/bathroom boxes, the ones that contain the essentials. Don’t get too meticulous unpacking every room. You’ll get frustrated.

The most important thing I try to remember is that this Is a complicated logistical process and no one can completely mastered unless they’ve hired a team of professionals, and even then mistakes are going to get made. So forgive yourself for not being perfect.

Almost forgot about this, this is really important. https://twitter.com/nanaslugdiva/status/1293687625031667714?s=21 https://twitter.com/nanaslugdiva/status/1293687625031667714

A couple of people commented that the estimated times in this thread seem big. I don’t know what to tell you. I intentionally inflate the time I think I need because I’m factoring in having to work, deal with kids, etc. Like I said in the OT, it’s not THE system, it’s just mine.