Quick Summary

1. Start early- you have more stuff than you think, and it takes longer to pack than you expect.

2. Have a plan for your move, and stick to it.

3. Use a complete moving checklist- there's a great one here to get you started.

4. Create a moving kit organizer, or get a professionally-created moving kit here.

5. Create one or two Priority Boxes for each room.

The Details

The right kind of organizing can save you a great deal of three key assets: time, money, and peace of mind. Following a few simple steps can eliminate a lot of stress later on.

1. Start Early

The biggest problem with organizing a move is not allowing enough time. On average, it takes a college student approximately 5 hours to pack up a dorm room when moving out. That's a single room where often only half the items belong to the student moving. If you multiple that by the number of rooms you have in your current place, you'll quickly realize that the amount of time you'll need just for packing is substantial.

Starting early gives you a huge advantage. While most people wait until just a few days prior to the move date for the majority of their packing hours, you can eliminate much of your moving stress by getting a jump on your moving tasks. People who follow this advice often have much smoother moves and lower stress levels for the entire process.

2. Have a Plan For Your Move

There's a huge temptation to just start the packing process with little or no planning. Unfortunately, it's also a huge mistake. You wouldn't start building a house without blueprints, and you shouldn't start your move without a basic plan. The plan doesn't need to be complicated, but it should include the following:

" Number of days between now and your move date

" Tasks required for your move, including getting moving supplies, changing your address, and packing

" Number of rooms that need to be packed

" Amount of help you'll have available from friends, family, and professional movers

" Quantity of items you have in each room

" Amount of time you have available each day between now and the move

If you assign tasks by day and closely monitor your progress as you go, you're much less likely to be surprised by running out of time.

3. Use a Moving Checklist

One of the reasons moving is so stressful is the fact that there are so many details to track. All of your possessions (and much of your sense of security) are suddenly out of their usual places and "in flux." Most of the usual landmarks are about to change, from where to get groceries to what your new address and phone number are going to be.

This is where the moving checklist comes in. One of the great things about moving is that you're not alone- between 12 of American households move in any given year. That's more than 30 million people! Many of those people have contributed to several moving checklists in books and on websites. Use these checklists both as a source for your plan and a set of reminders for what needs to be done. Some of the items may not apply to your situation, but they should give you an excellent starting point. One place to start is with our free, printable moving checklist with categories and priorities already assigned.

4. Create a Moving Kit Organizer

Moving involves a great deal of paper. Leases and mortgages, moving estimates, new addresses and perhaps employers, checklists- it all adds up to a lot to track. It's a good idea to have a central place for all that information. We recommend using a binder with pockets for the papers to be kept, with dividers to keep key information separate.

5. Create "Open Me First" Boxes

It's not unusual for a move to involve over a hundred boxes. And for each room in your home, there are some items that just seem more important on your first morning than others (for me, the coffee maker comes to mind). If you reserve one or two boxes for each room as Priority Boxes (also known as "Open Me First" boxes), you'll have a much easier time on the other end of your move. Label these boxes with a "PB" in red on the side or with special labels that they'll be easy to find after the move.

One word of caution- don't fall victim to the temptation of having more than two Priority Boxes per room. If more than 2 boxes are Priority Boxes, the whole concept starts to lose its meaning, and it will end up causing more confusion instead of reducing stress.

These few steps can lead to a much more organized moving experience, and should do wonders to lower your stress level on the big day and after.