Ok, so you don’t have much time. Things have happened, plans were made, and you’ve found yourself in a situation where you need to move urgently. So, what do you do? Do you sit down in a corner and start sobbing? Do you pray to ancient Greek deity Chronos to turn back time? Or should Cher have a go at it? None of those things! What you need to do is get your nerves together, make a cup of coffee and learn how to pack for an urgent local move.

Preparing to pack for an urgent local move

When it comes to last-minute packing, most people make the common moving mistake of going at it straight off the bat. They jump into it without any prior thought, fearing that they will not have enough time to do it. This is a mistake, and if you make it, it can end up costing you your entire relocation. What you need to do instead is to first consider your relocation and plan your packing properly. Only by doing so will you have the proper tools and skills to tackle it. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to cut a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax”.

A person that needs to pack for an urgent local move looking at a watch.
Ok, so you don’t have much time to pack for an urgent local move. What are you to do?

Should you contact movers?

The first thing to consider is whether or not you should even pack yourself. Not every situation is manageable by a sole amateur who doesn’t have a clue about proper packing. In some situations, hiring movers to help out can be a great idea. Our advice is to only look for local movers. So, if you live in North Hampton, pick movers from North Hampton, NH to assist you. They will be able to come to your aid in record time and help you with your packing. If you are not sure that you will be able to tackle this task, then please, don’t risk it. Know that improper packing is the main cause of moving accidents.

Sorting the items

If you are still adamant about packing yourself, you’ll first need to sort your items. First, try to filter out the items you don’t need. Remember, you don’t have much time to do that, so try to be efficient. If you haven’t used an item in the past six months, then you don’t need it. Be ruthless. The fewer items you have, the faster you will pack. Furthermore, your relocation will cost less if you have a small number of items to move.

Making an inventory list

Once you’ve decided which items you are going to pack for an urgent local move, it’s time to list them. Now you might think that this is redundant, as you have little time. But, trust us. It is quite important. You can read why having an inventory list for your relocation is important on sites like preferred-movers.com. But, in a nutshell, an inventory list will help you keep track of your items. This will prove to be quite valuable once you go shopping for moving boxes and once you start unpacking. Therefore, you’ll be doing yourself a huge disservice by not making one, even for a last-minute move.

Pen and paper
Making an inventory list is key in keeping your relocation organized.

Get packing supplies

Now that you have your inventory list you can go about getting packing supplies. Your inventory list will help you get the right ones, which will save you from going on multiple shopping trips if you get too few on your first go. And it will save you from getting rid of useless packing supplies if you get too much. So, the inventory shopping list is like your pocket Goldilocks. It will help you pick just right.

Where to shop

The best places for shopping are your local DIY store or your local movers. They will have all the packing supplies you need, and of good quality too. If you’ve already found movers to help you, it is pretty much the same whether you will go to a DIY store or some other local mover. But, when you need help with a local relocation project, you best head to the moving company that you’ve hired. They will be able to give you helpful pointers and even help you pack, if necessary.

Packing procedure

Once you’ve gotten together everything you need for a quick move, the time has come to start packing. Now, as you might guess, you are not going to have a lot of time to pack. So, our advice is to be as focused and attentive as possible. DO NOT RUSH. Rushing will only cause you to make mistakes which you will have to fix later on. This will take much more time then if you have simply done everything properly.

How to pack items properly

Start off by carefully wrapping your items. Even when you pack for an urgent local move, you need to make sure that your items are safe. Once you’ve secured the wrapping materials, proceed to place padding. Padding materials are usually necessary for extra fragile items that you feel will break upon impact. Once you have taken care of padding, you simply need to place your item in a box. Now, the box you use for your item needs to be big enough to fit both the item and the wrapping and padding. But, it needs to be small enough so that the items don’t move around. This is why it is essential that you make an inventory list before shopping.

Packing materials.
It’s up to you to ensure that your possessions are well-protected.

Taping up and labeling

There is no such thing as using too much tape. Well, there is, but only if you go to comical lengths. Tape up your boxes so that there is no chance of them ripping open during transportation. After that, you simply need to label your boxes so that anyone handing them knows what is inside. Remember to mention if the content of the box is heavy and/or fragile.