Moving can be a very stressful process. There are dozens of tasks to accomplish in a short period of time, as well as many important decisions to make. This leads to a high potential for making mistakes.
Most moving mistakes turn out to be minor, but there are a few that can have long-term implications. This article can help you overcome the 7 worst moving mistakes.
The 7 worst moving mistakes
1. Moving without a moving plan or checklist.
2. Allow very little time to pack.
3. Hire the wrong moving companies.
4. Not recruiting the right kind of help.
5. Do not label and break down the boxes and their contents.
6. Not packing items securely.
7. Securing incorrectly.
The details
Major Moving Mistake 1: Moving without a moving plan or checklist.
Bug Description: Many people who are faced with a move simply jump right into the process without fully planning ahead. Similarly, they try to manage tasks without having a detailed move-in checklist.
Why it’s wrong: There have been countless productivity studies showing that having a written plan increases productivity, and similar logic implies that a moving checklist helps you manage the details of a move.
Error impacts: The biggest impacts are lost time, added stress, and the possibility of forgetting critical tasks.
How To Avoid The Mistake: Use One Of The Many Great Free Downloadable Checklists As Your Preliminary Moving Plan
Major moving mistake 2: Leaving too little time to pack.
Bug Description: People tend to drastically underestimate the amount of time it takes to pack a house, which means they have very little time to complete their packing.
Why it’s a mistake: This causes a mad dash right before moving day to get everything done in time for the truck.
Error impacts: This is a recipe for stress and careless packaging, which can result in damaged products at their final destination.
How to avoid the mistake: allow at least 5 hours per room and pack the 3 messiest rooms first. If they are completed faster than that, you can reduce your schedule. If not, you will have enough time to complete all your packing.
Biggest moving mistake 3: Hiring the wrong moving companies.
Error description: Many first-time movers hire the wrong moving company, often looking for the cheapest quote they can find.
Why It’s Wrong: Moving scams are very common, and many times moving companies that offer an abnormally low quote will hold your property hostage in their moving truck until you get much more money than your original stated quote.
Impacts of errors: In these circumstances, you can find yourself in a mess of fees and legal issues, and often the moving company will be dissolved before you get to court, leaving you with no recourse.
How to avoid the error: Check the federal government website titled “Protect Your Move” along with the MovingScam, Better Business Bureau, and Epinions websites. Only ask for quotes from moving companies that get positive reviews for each resource. That way, you’ll weed out disreputable moving companies early on.
Major Moving Mistake 4: Not recruiting the right kind of help.
Bug Description: You decide to move in with friends and family, but you recruit the wrong kind of help or assign them to the wrong kinds of tasks.
Why it’s a mistake: The wrong kind of help can actually slow down the move instead of making it easier.
Bug Impacts: You can end up extremely frustrated and end up doing much of the work yourself.
How to avoid the mistake: Recruit only people who meet the profile of a good volunteer. This profile has three characteristics:
They have a talent or skill (packing, caring for children or pets, lifting heavy furniture) Their talent or skill matches a need you have for your move They are willing to apply that talent or skill to your need in a way that helps you.
Major moving mistake 5: Not labeling and detailing the boxes and their contents.
Bug Description: In an effort to save time or work, people tend to skip the process of properly labeling and cataloging their boxes and contents.
Why it’s a mistake: The time saved by not labeling boxes and cataloging their contents is almost always wiped out by the amount of time spent looking for things in their new place.
Error Impacts: There are few things that waste more time or cause more frustration than the inability to find a needed item in a sea of moving boxes. That causes you enormous discomfort when you try to settle in.
How to avoid the error: Mark at least 2 sides and the top of each box with a room abbreviation, a box number (start a new set of numbers for each room you pack), and the general content (eg. , “John’s shoes”). It doesn’t have to be incredibly detailed, but it should be enough to narrow any search down to, at most, two frames.
Major Moving Mistake 6. Not packing items securely.
Bug Description: In a rush to get everything done, some people end up in a mad dash to pack everything and don’t protect fragile items enough.
Why it’s a mistake: Moving involves a lot of stacking and clutter, even when done by caring professionals. Properly packing takes more time but drastically reduces the number of items that will go bad.
Error Impacts: Failure to pack things carefully can result in damaged or destroyed items.
How to Avoid the Mistake: Here are some guidelines on how to pack safely:
· Use heavy-duty moving boxes for breakable items.
Limit boxes to no more than 50 pounds each.
· Try to fill each box exactly to the top to prevent the box from being crushed or damaged.
· Fragile items should be wrapped with at least 1″ of bubble wrap.
Double box (ie, placing the item in one box and then placing that first box in a second box, both with cushioning materials) sensitive equipment such as computers and other electronic devices.
· Use peanuts, towels, rags or other old biodegradable rags to fill in the gaps around items in boxes.
· Mark “FRAGILE” on boxes with sensitive contents.
Major moving mistake 7. Insuring incorrectly.
Mistake Description: Many people who are faced with a move over- or over-insure their furniture and other items.
Why it’s wrong: Standard moving coverage provides only $0.60 per pound of declared value, and more expensive insurance may not provide replacement value. Also, most moving insurances EXCLUDE items in boxes that you packed yourself.
Mistake Impacts: Insuring incorrectly can result in serious disappointment and financial problems.
How to avoid the error:
Check with your current insurance company to see if their homeowners policy will cover your move or if they have another full replacement value coverage policy or rider. This is usually the least expensive coverage option. Check in detail exactly what is covered and what is not.
· Look up “full replacement value” for any item you need to replace if it’s damaged or destroyed.
Document the contents of each box as you pack, including details such as manufacturer names and serial items where applicable.
And there you have the 5 biggest myths and realities in motion. For more free moving tips and advice, visit Movers-Edge.com.
