Whether it be to college or to a new home, moving is something not many people can avoid.  Movies and television make moving to a new place seem so easy, but in most cases, trying to fit your life into 16x15 inch boxes and transporting them to a completely new land can be quite strenuous.  Moving is something that takes patience, strategy, and organization.  Here are some of the best moving tips out there that will make your next move 10 times more pleasant.

Pack Early

Pack early. We are not talking about a couple hours early.  We are talking days.  There is nothing more time consuming and stressful than trying to organize, pack, and move in the same day.  You will seriously dislike yourself for procrastinating.  You can procrastinate on a paper in school and get by, but moving is a totally different story.  If you leave packing till the last minute, you will be mentally and physically exhausted even before taking your stuff down to the car.  Take a couple days before and start slowly packing up your stuff.  When you have everything already packed on your moving day, all you have to do is pack the car.  This will give you more time in the day to move and will preserve your energy.

Get Organized

It can be tempting to just want to throw a bunch of your things into any box that you can find, but this may be your downfall later.  Try keeping your boxes organized to the specific area of the house that it belongs in.  This will make things so much easier when you try to unpack.  When you organize things while you are packing, you will be less likely to be rummaging through every single moving box later.  Some places even have labeled tape with titles like “bathroom”, “kitchen”, and “living room”!

Ask for Help

There is an expression that goes, “Many hands make light work”.  This means that the more people that are on one task, the easier and faster the task will get done.  Moving is not the time to let your pride get in the way.  The truth is that people make tasks harder than they need to be because they try to do it on their own.  Moving on your own is pretty miserable.  It will take a tole on you mentally and physically.  When you have people helping you, it will make moving not only bearable, but fun.  Ask your friends, family, and close co-workers if they can lend you a hand.  You will be surprised at how willing people are to help.  Having many people help you move can also cut your moving time in half.  Ask for help.  You will not regret it.

Rent Quality Equipment

Moving is also not a time to be macho.  If you try to move a refrigerator without equipment, you will get hurt.  Save yourself the time and pain by renting moving equipment.  Dollies with straps will be your best friends when moving up and down stairs.  Instead of filling your car till it looks like a Tetris game, rent a truck or trailer.  It is not only safer, but will make your drive more pleasant.  Lastly, get boxes!  Moving will make you realize how much stuff you have.  Looks can be deceiving in everyday life when everything is in drawers and cabinets.  Get more boxes than you think you need.  U-haul is a great company that has almost everything that you can possibly think of when it comes to moving.