The Importance of Making a Family Moving Checklist
Starting a moving checklist and learning the ins-and-outs of it will help your family get organized before the move
Think about the plethora of things that are going to happen. You need to get organized, choose companies and services, get packed, prepare your home for the next tenants, contact utilities to disconnect and connect services, contact debtors, alert people, prepare the kids and pets, and even transfer records. Depending on who you are and why you are moving, this list may go on and on. As you can see without preparation, a move can quickly spiral out of control.
This is why everyone who is moving needs to create a moving checklist before the bulk of the move is completed. There are so many different and small things to remember, and it is easy to forget half of them when you are thinking about the various other things that you need to do. As soon as you find out that you need to move, you should sit down with your family and build a moving checklist. Having a brainstorming session will get things all out on the table, and allow you to see just what needs to be accomplished in the coming day.
Rough Draft
The first write-up of your moving checklist should be a rough draft. This copy should be one that includes the brainstorming list that your family came up with. Simply write down as many ideas as possible on this copy. You can put these items into categories at a later time. It is vital to include all ideas here, as you do not want to forget any little thing along the way. To this end, having each family member present at the brainstorming session might be the best way to start the process.
Prioritize
The next step in the creation of a moving checklist is to prioritize. You need to take all of the ideas that your family has come up with and place them into some kind of order. Some people are content with placing these things into an order based on the date that something needs to be done. For this method, make a list that is separated into weeks and fill in the blanks with your tasks. It will be up to you to choose what needs to be done first, what is most important, and what can spill into the following week.
Other people may find it easier to list the tasks in order according to what needs to happen first, what needs to be accomplished next, and what comes after that. For those who want to follow a list and accomplish tasks in a certian order, this method is the way to go. This can help prevent your family from being confused.
Importance Despite Method
No matter why you are moving, how you are moving, or what your moving checklist looks like, the fact that you build a checklist at all is important. Having this paper handy will prevent disaster when you can remember everything that needs to be accomplished. You cannot expect yourself to remember everything at a stressful time like this, so a moving checklist is even more important. In the end, having one on hand can benefit your family as a whole and the move itself.
