Tetris! (long post)

I have played a lot of Tetris in the last few weeks. But not the fun kind. This is the fun kind:

Source. This person is not great at Tetris.

If you want to play the fun kind, feel free to download an app or go to www.freetetris.org. Those are great ideas. No, the Tetris I have been playing looks like this:

New Drawer Tetris- Contact Paper Level Reached.

Unpacking Tetris- Knick-Knack Level! 

Closet Tetris: Mastery Achieved; 

Unpacking Tetris- Mess Level Accomplished

Moving is my least favorite thing...ever. Packing, sorting, getting rid of stuff, renting a moving truck, finding people to help out, and cleaning out the old place is enough work- but then you have to unpack! As much as I enjoy organizing things (it just makes life easier), I do not enjoy organizing a whole house/apartment. In as few days as possible. While living among boxes and chaos. Ugh!! I have gotten in the habit of calling it "Tetris" this go around because that's what it has felt like!

A small bit of backstory:  We recently moved to a new apartment. We moved for a number of reasons, but I would be lying if I didn't tell you the biggest reason was saving some money on rent. Our old place was lovely and wonderful but rent had been going up steadily over the time we were there, and was going to go up again this fall, and we decided to look for a cheaper option. Due to all the timing of start/end dates on both leases, we had to move out of our last apartment and into our new apartment on the same day! I do not recommend that as it is the most exhausting process ever.

That being said, our move went fairly smoothly, as far as moving is concerned. I have a few tips to share that helped make it "rather efficient," to quote a family member.

Tip #1       Start thinking about it early. Knowing it would be a time sensitive matter, we began mentally preparing for it all weeks before the day arrived. 4 weeks out, I was starting to make lists of things we'd need to get done and brainstorm ways to make the process go smoothly. I used a note app on my phone for my lists, so that I could add to them whenever an idea came to me or I remembered something I wanted to add. What made the list? Some items I can recall were "email new place about getting key access," "ask landlord about cleaning requirements," and "clean out craft supplies before packing." This also helped me get an early jump on reserving our U-Haul. Our move in date was the most popular moving day in our area, and it is well known that even with a reservation, we could still have ended up without a truck on the day of. I also browsed Pinterest (search "moving tips") for some good ideas.

Tip #2        Follow up on reservations/requirements. The week before we moved, I called U-Haul place to make sure our reservation was still in place. I dropped a friendly "I know it will be a busy day for you all, but I will definitely be glad to know that the truck we've rented will be ready to go when we get there" and the 2 minute call reassured me that we'd be good to go. Aside from moving truck rental, we also followed up with our new landlords regarding documents needed before we could pick up our key, and our old landlords to know what needed to be done before moving out. All the paperwork was done 2 weeks before moving day, so we didn't have to continue worrying about the fine print.

Tip #3        Packing 

• Go room to room. Start with lesser used rooms (i.e. guest room) as early as you can. For example, I was done crafting and with school stuff until after moving, so it was easy to start packing that a week ahead of time. 

• Have a "done packing by this date" goal. Stick to it! Choose a room or part of a room (i.e. bookshelves, closet) to pack each day. Breaking it down makes it seem more "doable."

• Pack everything so you can easily carry it out. Don't just make piles! Use boxes, but also use things you already have: bags, purses, baskets, organizing crates, etc. You can get free boxes from many sources, so search that in your area before you buy boxes. On moving day, all we had to do was pick up and move our stuff, instead of gathering last minute items, odds and ends, etc. This was amazing because from start of loading the truck to emptying the last of our belongings, we were done in 4 hours!

• Label your boxes! It makes unpacking a lot less messy and chaotic. It's a pain to remember when you're "in the zone" packing but it really is extremely helpful.

Source

• For fragile objects, use what you have to pack it securely. No need to buy bubble wrap when you can collect these for free-  4 weeks supply of plastic bags from grocery trips, 2 weeks worth of the Sunday newspaper, blankets, pillows, towels, etc. For every box of dishes, I put a blanket in the bottom of the box, wrapped dishes in newspaper or plastic bags, and then packed in the empty space with more blankets or towels. Nothing was broken during the move or the week of sitting in the boxes. Victory! 

• For closet items, my favorite moving tip is this one  -->
  Cover your clothes in garbage bags and easily move them without having to pack them all. It makes unpacking pretty easy too! 
• Try to enjoy the packing- put on some good music, have a glass of wine, reward yourself with ice cream or a walk out in nice weather (which is great after being stuck inside)- whatever makes you feel better about having to pack. 

Tip #4        Moving Day Arrives! Start early! We picked up our moving truck as early as we could- 7am. This assured the truck was still there (hadn't been taken by someone else) and also helped with our "out and in in one day" timeline. We started moving stuff into the truck by 7:30. If you're not using a moving truck, ignore all the truck related stuff. 

• If you're moving into an apartment, check to see if you can pick up the key the afternoon before moving day. So you don't have to wait for the rental office to open, and can go in the night before and make sure it is good to go to move in (clean, do a walk through, etc).
• If you have help/friends, make sure to have water/sports drink/coffee aplenty. Also have enough for yourself. Hydration is important!
• Make sure you eat breakfast before you start. Have some snacks handy (make sure they are not packed!).
• Load the big items first, then pack around them in the truck. Tetris 101. 
• When you unload the truck, move things into the room they'll most likely go when you unpack. This is why labeling is important! It prevents you having to move stuff around or search to find things once you're moved in.
• Take a few minutes to eat lunch. It will avoid "hangriness" later on. Well worth it.
• Keep the coffee/water flowing! Energy abounds! 

     As far as the rest of the moving process, well. It doesn't really need a lot of explaining. Cleaning the old place was cleaning, just when we were super tired. And unpacking has been playing Tetris, trying to get everything to fit just right! The only tip I have here is to get everything you want to put in a particular space together, and then start filling the space. You'll be able to easily see what you have left, and what space you have left, and you can adjust as you go, instead of after you've already hoped you were done. 

     That's what I've been busy doing instead of blogging! But overall, everything really did go smoothly. Except the washer and dryer, but that's a story for another day. They're hooked up and working fine now, so that is what matters.

     Any tips to add? This was by far the largest move I've ever made, "stuff"-wise. We have a 2 bedroom place and it took two 17-foot truckloads. We didn't load the truck very full the first time, hoping to avoid breaking all the dishes we had packed, but because everything was ready to go and we were only moving a mile down the road, making a 2nd trip wasn't all that bad!