What to Do When You Need to Move with Short Notice

We get it; sometimes you need to move in a hurry. Whether it’s for a sudden job change, a family emergency, the sale of a home that happened faster than you expected, or something else, you don’t always have months to plan your move.

At Two Small Men, we’ve helped a lot of clients move with short notice, so we’d like to give some advice on how to make moving in a hurry a little bit easier.

Here are Our Best Tips for Moving in a Hurry

1. Don’t Panic

When you realize that you have a very short time before you have to move, your immediate reaction might be to freak out. But our number one tip for moving in a hurry is: Don’t Panic. We know, easier said than done, but the more calm and organized you are, the better your move will go.

How to Stay Calm

• Book Your Moving Company: Once you’ve done this, you’ll feel more organized because you’ll know the date and time everything has to be ready for.

• Make a Checklist: Write down everything you need to do and prioritize tasks.

2. Remember Things That Need to be Booked or Scheduled

When we do short notice moves, we notice that some important things tend to get forgotten. These are often things that need to get booked or scheduled in advance of a move. They’re easy to neglect when you’re rushing to get all of your belongings packed and prepared, but they can impede the moving process and complicate your life post-move.

Important Tasks to Remember

• Switch Your Utilities: Ensure your electricity, water, and gas are transferred to your new address.

• Forward Your Mail: Contact your postal service to redirect your mail.

• Schedule Internet and/or Cable Installation: Make sure you have these services set up in your new home.

• Book Elevators if Needed: If you’re moving into or out of an apartment, reserve the elevators in advance.

3. Box Up Everything

You have more stuff than you think you do. Trust us. That’s why it’s so important to start packing as soon as you can. If you have enough time (and enough boxes), put everything you can into boxes. Things that cannot be boxed must, at the very least, be bagged.

Tips for Efficient Packing

• Use Sturdy Boxes: Ensure your boxes are strong enough to hold your belongings.

• Label Boxes Clearly: Mark each box with its contents and the room it belongs in.

• Pack Room by Room: Focus on one room at a time to stay organized.

4. Do a Walk-Through

When you’re rushing to pack things, it can be easy to forget about that one closet in the basement no one ever opens. But sometimes those closets can contain important items like photo albums or other keepsakes. Plus, if you’re leaving some things behind (for donation or trash), you might not remember to organize your piles as well as if you had more time to plan and, without direction from you, movers can miss things that they think are in the “leave behind” pile.

Steps for a Thorough Walk-Through

1. Check All Rooms: Make sure you’ve packed everything from each room, including closets and cabinets.

2. Review Left Behind Items: Double-check the items you’re leaving behind to ensure nothing important is there.

3. Verify with Movers: Confirm with your movers that everything you want to take has been packed.

5. Take Advantage of Packing Services

If you don’t think you’ll be able to handle all of the packing on your own, see if your moving company offers a packing service. At Two Small Men, we’re proud to offer packing services and supplies to all of our moving clients.

Get a Free Moving Estimate

If you need to move in a hurry, Two Small Men movers will do our best to accommodate your preferred dates and times. Just fill in the form for a free moving estimate and we can get started.

By using more headings and lists, this structure helps make the content more readable and user-friendly, while still providing detailed, helpful information for those needing to move in a hurry.