You have just gotten a once in a lifetime job offer, your dream job, but the job begins right away and it’s in the other side of the country. Conversely, you moved your very large dog into your apartment strictly against the rules and your landlord has just evicted you – hardly a dream scenario.
Regardless of the situation, moving on a tight deadline just conjures up images of quickly running from room to room while frantically throwing your belongings into moving boxes, suitcases, and trash bags, if nothing else is available. However, slow down and take a breather for a second. Moving out on a tight deadline can be accomplished and in an orderly fashion.
Let’s take a closer look at the ins and outs of moving to another location on short notice and how you can pull it off – just in the nick of time.
Delegate Responsibility
When you have more friends than time, enlist some help. The more people you have to help you pack and move the less time you’ll spend trying to do everything yourself. For those friends who need some encouragement, present helping you move as more of a social event. Moving parties can be one way to enlist the help of people who love you and will miss you when you move to another location.
The night before or better yet, a couple of days before the actual move, hold a get-together and assign your guests to specific parts of the house. To reward your friends for helping you pack, prepare something for them to enjoy after all their hard work, like a cheese board and/or snacks with drinks, or even a nice meal if time allows it. You could even take them to dinner as a way to say thanks. This can be an opportunity for you to say one last goodbye to your friends before moving and an opportunity for you to reminisce about all the good times.
Moving Logistics
The best way to move quickly is to hire a professional mover to simply load your belongings up, move them and unload them at the new location. If you can’t afford a professional mover, consider using a rental truck large enough to move everything in your house yourself. While the cost of doing it this way might be significantly higher, the convenience of making one trip as opposed to numerous trips back and forth from your old place to your new place, it is worth the extra cost for the time saved.
Make sure that the truck carries all of the necessary supplies for moving, including moving boxes, packing tape, furniture covers, mattress bags, and any other materials needed. Having these materials on hand prevents you from having to make unnecessary trips to the store on the day of the move. Finally, get up very early to avoid traffic and any other road issues that might slow down your move.
If moving without the help of either a professional moving company or a truck, set up a schedule for moving your stuff to the new location. If this involves moving quickly over a couple of days, make a plan to clean and move each room, so that when your deadline arrives you are not scrambling. Worse yet, you do not want to be forced to leave anything behind.
Settle Any Lease Issues
Make sure that you settle issues related to closing out the lease on your place, or if you’re selling a home, keep your realtor updated on your progress. Whether it means dropping off your keys, settling any deposit issues, or cleaning the place, make sure these tasks are taken care of before moving on because you don’t want to end up having to return to the leasing or realtor office, especially if you’re moving to another city.
Moving Out And Moving On
Having to move quickly is not the ideal situation. Especially if you have a limited budget to work with, moving in a hurry can be a stressful ordeal. However, the good news is that most of this stress can be alleviated by enlisting the help of others and drafting a plan for getting out of town in a jiffy.
