Studies and surveys frequently rank moving as one of the most stressful experiences in life, and
everyone who has experienced a dramatic move understands why. You’re losing comfort and
familiarity and, depending on how far you move, you’re changing everything — grocery stores,
favorite restaurants, doctors, schools, and even friends. And to top it all off, you have to deal
with the stress of the actual move?
The logistics of moving don’t have to be a significant part of this change in your life — not if you
know how to play it smart. Consider this to be your go-to guide for making your move smoother.
Factors to Plan For in Your Move
One of the challenges with moving is that there are so many moving parts and challenges to
consider. Let’s look at some of the top factors you’ll need to plan for in your move.
Getting Rid of Items
This isn’t an absolute “must,” but it’s a smart practice that can make a world of difference in your
move. The best way to make any move easier and more economical is to move fewer things,
and you can do that by doing a house-wide purge.
Go through as many of your items as you can and pick out anything you no longer want or
need. From there, you can sell, donate, or toss items depending on their condition. Of course,
this takes time and effort, but it’ll be worth it when you’re not paying to move items you don’t
want or handling the hassle of finding a place for them in your new home.
Packing
Packing is so often underestimated. It takes a lot of time and effort to pack items and pack them
properly, including labeling boxes so you can find what you need when you need it. Packing
also takes longer than you might expect because you’re handling all your items and enjoying the
nostalgia of them, so it’s easy to get side-tracked by memories.
Item Safety
Property damage is a common concern during any move, and it’s understandable – it’s easy for
items to be broken or dented in the fray of cramming them into boxes, stacking them into trucks,
hauling them out of and into your home, and so on.
Keeping your items safe requires proper packing, certain equipment like furniture blankets and
shrink wrap, and skillful techniques. Unless you’re a professional mover who already has a
stash of supplies and knows how to handle items properly, it will cost you time to learn what you
need to know and stock up on the items you need.
Pets
Coordinating pet care during a move is tricky, especially if it’s a long-distance move. Where can
you secure your pets during the move so they aren’t weaving through your feet and risking their
safety and your own? What do they need to have with them at every point in the move, like a
litter box, food, water, leash, and so on? What is the safest and most comfortable way to
transport them from your old home to your new home? All of these are considerations to plan
for.
Transportation for Your Items
Transporting your items from your old home to your new home is a core part of your move, but
it’s a logistical challenge. You need to figure out how much space your items and furniture will
take and you need to weigh your options for getting them from point A to point B: a moving
truck, moving pods, air freight, and so on.
Transportation for Your Vehicles
Transporting vehicles is another aspect of moving that is over underestimated or overlooked. Do
you have enough drivers in your family to have one person drive each vehicle to your new
home? Are you comfortable in all your drivers’ abilities to drive the vehicles to your new home?
Are you confident that your vehicles are reliable enough to make it to your new home without
complications?
Depending on the number of vehicles and drivers you have and other circumstances, you might
need to plan ahead to make repairs before the trip. You might also need to arrange for a tow to
your new home for unreliable vehicles.
Transportation for Your Family
The logistics of getting your family to your new home can be tricky too, especially if you have
young kids. It takes planning to figure out the best place for them to be at each stage of the
moving process and have someone available to care for them throughout the move too,
particularly if you need to work around their naps and other needs.
Storage
Many families find that they need temporary storage while they move. You might have a gap
between when you need to be out of your old home and when you can move into your new
home. You might not know how much of your furniture and items will fit in your new home.
Maybe you just want an out-of-the-way place to stash less essential items so you can unpack
the main items first and then slowly unpack the lower-priority items. Regardless, you’ll need to
figure out a plan for a storage unit or storage pod.
Available Essentials
When you’re packing and moving, it’s easy to get into the “everything needs to go” mindset and
end up packing things you’ll need in the course of your moving day. Plan ahead to list and set
aside anything you need to have easy access to at all times. That could include medications,
toiletries, a change of clothes, toilet paper, snacks, and so on. A simple “day-of” bag will make
your move far more comfortable.
Utilities and Critical Services
When you move, you’ll need to sign up for utilities and services at your new home and turn them
off at your old home, but that can take some planning. Don’t set up your electricity and water to
turn off at your old home on your moving day, as you may need to come back to clean or to get
a few last items you couldn’t fit in the first trip.
Meanwhile, make sure your utilities and essentials are set up at your new home before move-in
day. The last thing you want to do is arrive at your new home after a long trip without working
toilets.
Cleaning
In most cases, you’ll need to clean your old home after you move out and you probably want to
clean your new home before you move in too so it feels fresh when you move in. This can
require some planning and scheduling based on when you get access to your new home and
when you have to be out of your old home. You also need to keep this in mind as you’re packing
so you don’t bury the cleaning supplies you’ll need.
Planning Your Move in 5 Minutes
At this point, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed because the list above is extensive. There’s
one reliable way to simplify your move, though: hire a moving team you can trust.
A reliable, professional moving company can handle many of the challenges in your move. We
can pack your home from top to bottom, coordinate transportation for your items and vehicles,
strategically handle all your items safely with our specialized experience and equipment,
manage any storage you need before and after the move, and load up all your items into your
new home.
Another advantage to our professional moving services is the impact your move has on your
life. If you’re handling all the packing and moving yourself, you could spend weeks packing.
During this time, much of your life feels uprooted because you don’t have easy access to the
items you’ve already packed. Our moving team has the equipment and staff to handle your
packing efficiently so you spend less time with your home being “in transition.”
While there are aspects of your move that a professional moving team doesn’t handle, you can
hire professionals to simplify these tasks too. A professional cleaner can clean your new home
before you move in and your old home after you move in, taking that cleaning time off your
calendar and allowing you to skip the struggle of keeping track of your cleaning supplies during
the move.
Similarly, you can hire child care and pet care professionals to care for your kids and pets in a
safe way during your move. Essentially, all that’s left for you to do is to book your services, set
up your utilities, and go about your daily life.
Plan Your Easiest Move Ever Today
Your next move can be your easiest move ever if you have the right team of professionals to
help, and that team is Truck and I. Contact our Atlanta moving company today to learn more
about our moving services including our packing, storage, and delivery services.
