Tips on Organizing Your College Move

Moving out of your home for the first time can be a time-exhausting and quite a stressful affair. This is the first step towards adulthood and it is certainly one of the major turning points in your life. However, it is not as daunting as it sounds – thousands have successfully moved to a dorm or a rented apartment and so will you. In order to make your life a bit easier, here are some tips on organizing your college move.

Pick the things you need – organizing your college move means organizing yourself

There are things that may have personal value for you, some knick-knacks that have special meaning. While that may come in handy if they are the source of your luck, try to limit their number. Unless you are moving into a large apartment with no roommate in sight, you should bear in mind that dorm rooms are not particularly spacious. While there are some tricks that can help you fit many things, not even the best organizer in the world can fit everything you have accumulated during your time on this Earth.

Leave behind things such as your childhood books. Yes, it may hold high personal value, but they are not particularly useful to you in college. Well, that is, unless you will be studying them in your literary classes. You can also leave behind things you do not need right away. Anyway, you will come home for a visit during the holidays, or perhaps even sooner. You can always take some more things or return some others while you visit home.

You can always take a few things with you when you visit home

Visit your future “home” in advance

Visiting your dorm room/rented apartment before moving will help you calculate many things. First, you can get a rough estimate of the time you will need to move everything there. Also, you will know how much and what to pack. Taking a look at the empty space can help you figure you out where to put your belongings. It can also help you plan how to maximize your use of space.

This step is also useful if you are more comfortable with knowing things in advance. While not the most important, it can actually be good for reducing the stress of the move.

Try to find a balance between saving money and saving time

While many decide to move on their own, thus saving quite a few dollars, there are also those who are simply more comfortable with letting others deal with the actual move. Organizing your college move can simply mean you calling the moving company and setting the date. Still, there is more to think about in this regard.

If you move on your own, ask a friend or family member for help. After all, two heads are better than one. There is no reason why your road to independence should start with you panicking because you realized you actually can’t do it alone. However, take note that, while this is the “cheaper” version, it is also more stressful and more time-consuming.

Try asking friends and family for help during the move

If you decide to hire a moving company, you will first and foremost need to explore your options. Aside from doing an online search, try asking around, connecting with people who have already moved to your dorm and asking them for their opinion. There are many companies that offer quite favorable deals for students and this will take the pressure of your back. Organizing your college move sometimes means knowing when to let someone else organize it.

Make a moving schedule

This may sound like a pretty straightforward task, but it can be tricky. Many things can go wrong, and you’ll need to adapt. However, it is always important to have a basis on which you can rely if things go awry.

Making a moving schedule is perhaps one of the vital steps in organizing your college move also because it lessens the stress of the move. Since college life is known to be quite stressful at times, you may want to reduce it in the beginning. Don’t overthink it, just a rough draft will do in the beginning. You will certainly add something later on, as you will remember some more things.

First make a rough draft of your schedule

Place the schedule somewhere in your line of view and refer to it every now and then. And remember, don’t panic if something changes. Like this move, change is an essential part of life. There will be plenty of changes even throughout your college life. You might as well get used to it immediately.

Try to contact your future roommate while creating your schedule. One of the best secrets of organizing your college move is actually – organizing it in agreement with your roommate. There is no point in you both doing the same thing at the same time, as this can result in unnecessary friction. Stick to your end of the deal and you’ll do fine.

Pack efficiently and effortlessly

This is perhaps the most agonizing part of the move – packing and unpacking. However, if you do the former right, the latter should be much easier. Of course, no packing process can be truly effortless, but you can minimize it by following some basic rules.

• Make a checklist of things you need. The rule of thumb here is – more things, more worries. While making the checklist, double-check the necessity of the items on it. This step will especially come in handy when it comes to unpacking. Your future self will definitely be grateful to you for reducing the number of things you initially planned.
• Separate your belongings into appropriate boxes. Your life will be so much easier if you simply separate your things into several categories. This is actually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about organizing your college move. And it is definitely something that you should do in order to help the unpacking process later on.
• Protect your most valuable possessions. This does not only mean putting “fragile” on the box (although this is highly recommended). Wrap them up in packing paper, or, if you did not have the time to buy it, any old newspaper will suffice. Some movers even suggest placing blankets around your valuables. Definitely place those in separate boxes.