After 4 years of annoying homework problems, exhausting all-nighters, and constant visits to the career center to improve our resume, graduation forces us to leave that comfort zone that we've been dwelling in for more exciting opportunities. While my "exciting opportunity" only brought me about twenty minutes away from campus, it still feels great to have a fresh start in a new apartment with only one roommate. (There were four of us in my last apartment!) But, new apartments also mean having to move...which is the devil. Since this is the fourth time I've had to move over the past five years, I'd like to think that I'd have some insight on how to make the process easier.
1. De-Clutter Before You Start Packing
Seriously. It's so much easier to pack up your room after throwing away all of that junk. Do you really think you're gonna need a binder full of papers from your sophomore year sociology class? Probz not.

2. Excessively Label
Okay this one might seem like a no-brainer but bear with me: whenever I move, I give each one of the rooms that I need to pack up a number in the hundreds. (For example: Kitchen = 100, Bedroom = 200, Bathroom = 300, etc.) Then, each box that you pack up from your kitchen gets it's own specific number. Box of appliances? Label it "Kitchen 101 - coffee maker, toaster, Magic Bullet." Canned goods? "Kitchen 102 - veggies, spaghetti sauce."

As you make your boxes, write down these three things:
         a. the room that the box is going to
         b. the number of that box
         c. the contents of the box
For example, the box currently sitting in my bathroom says "Bathroom 202" on the outside and on my clipboard, it says "Bathroom 202 - shower caddy, flexirods, under-sink cabinet contents." I know that it seems super repetitive, but trust me: it works.

3. Pack Strategically
No, I'm not talking about repacking those boxes that I already told you to label about fifty times. I'm talking about your car! Do you know how many people don't utilize their car to the full potential when they're moving? Learning how to pack your car correctly can save you tons of time. If you're moving furniture, try moving the passenger seat up so that you can sit your nightstand on the ground. Then, you've still got plenty of room to stack other furniture or slide a suitcase on top of it. Moving a chair? Flip it upside down so that the seat cushion is laying on top of the cushion on the back seat (the back of the chair should be up against the back of the passenger seat).

4. Don't You Dare Start Folding
I'm assuming that you're transferring everything from your current closet to your new one, right? If so, don't make moving any harder than it has to be. Use trash bags to alleviate the stress of taking all of your clothes down, just to put them back up.

5. Use Whatcha Got
Now you actually have use for all of those carry-on bags, totes, and suitcases that you've accumulated over the years! Why purchase boxes when you have perfectly good bags right in front of you! Then, when you're done moving, you just throw them in the washing machine or wipe them down and put em in your closet. No need to throw out boxes or try to store them for the next move.