Moving is always a challenge. Whether your office is relocating, or even while shifting from one house to another, moving can pose many difficulties. While packing and moving, there are certain mistakes that people invariably make which if avoided could make the entire process much smoother. Awareness of these can make your next move hassle-free and you can focus your energies on other important tasks - settling into your new environment for example.

Here are a list of mistakes most commonly made while packing.

1. Not having a clear packing strategy

Packing things randomly as and when you wish will only result in wasted time and building tension. Don’t even attempt to make this deadly mistake. Instead, have a clear packing strategy.

Create a day-by-day calendar, listing things you need to pack each day until the moving day. Always begin packing with things you least need and eventually move to packing essentials such as toiletries and kitchen essentials. You might also consider packing things room-by-room starting from the guest room, living room and finally kitchen and bathroom. All your packing jobs should be highly customised and prioritised depending on your specific relocation needs. Once your packing calendar is ready, stick to it and you will be amazed to realise how the dreaded job of packing and moving turn into a joyride.

2. Thinking you can do it all at the last minute

One of the major mistakes people make is to believe they have more time to pack things than they actually do. If you have never moved before, you might not know how long it sometimes takes to pack your belongings. Unless you have a sudden or unplanned move, you must plan and organise your move to avoid last minute panic. A good idea is to work backwards.

First, determine your moving out date, whether it is the end of your rental period, joining date for your new job or possession of your new house. Once you have your moving out date finalised, count back to 6-8 weeks. You will need all this time to cancel connections, inform vendors, settle bills, sort out your belongings, hiring movers, and of course for packing. 

When you plan things way ahead, you won’t be panicking if a sudden unplanned task emerges.

3. Not having enough packing supplies

One of the most common errors people make when getting ready to move out is not obtaining enough packing supplies. Just think of all the anxiety and additional work you might need to go through to fit everything you have in the limited packing supplies. And if that is not possible you might have to run around last minute to get hold of extra packing materials needed to pack your possessions.

Therefore, it is always better to have some additional packing supplies that you will need to avoid last minute inconvenience. Besides purchasing boxes of different sizes, don’t forget to have enough bubble wrap, packing paper and packing tape.

4. Not labelling the boxes

So you believe you have an infallible visual memory and you know exactly which box contains what? You have already marked the boxes in your head and you don’t need to label them anymore. A big mistake! The situation in the new home will be vastly different from that of your current home. The enormous piles of non-labelled boxes added with all the stress of loading, unloading and moving can easily confuse even the most observant person.

Labelling the boxes correctly using a marker, will not only make it easy for you to identify your belongings but it will always help the moving company to identify fragile items or any other goods that need special care while loading on the moving truck.

5. Packing virtually everything in the same van

This is one of the most common mistakes that people make while relocating. They pack almost everything into the vehicle. Instead of stuffing everything in one large vehicle, you may consider carrying the smaller, fragile items via your own car. This not only helps increasing space for larger goods such as furniture but also ensures safety for your delicate/precious items.

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