I'm in the process of getting ready for a cross country move and trying to make moving and packing the least stressful I can. What advice would you give?
Label your boxes with the room they should go in! Ideally all the boxes go straight to the correct room as soon as they arrive at the new place.
This makes things much easier for everyone involved in the labour. When I help my friends move, I don't know what "Nice Plates" vs "Mom's Plates" means, but this box says Kitchen, and that box says Dining Room and that's all I really care about lol.
And it really helps you get reestablished too, because everything is already pre-sorted for you. No need for you to find, sort, move everything all over again. All the kitchen stuff is already in the kitchen, all the bathroom stuff is already in the bathroom.
To add, to the labeling and sorting… definitely have one person managing where boxes are going. The help won’t know.
I’ve seen a handful of comercial moves. Everyone’s desk is usually their own crate/stack of crates. Generally labeled with post it’s or color coded tape.
Post it’s tend to come off when moving, but if you label everting (or tape the post it down,) you can then place color-coded post it’s up.(or slap them on as they come off the truck- as long as everything is labeled)
In addition to this, make sure to keep a "First Night" box/bag somewhere you can be sure to find it easily. Sheets, pillows, towels, toiletries, a change of clothes, tools to put furniture back together... Basically anything you'll need to settle in on your first night in the new place and get yourself ready the next morning before you really start getting the real unpacking done