Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I Need Packing Advice

I need some advice, and I am serious this time. Not like those other times when I ask for advice and then start daydreaming about cheese.

No. I need packing advice. See, Monica and I are moving out of our lovely apartment by the end of this month. She is moving back with her fah-shah for now and I am going to dump all my stuff with my loving parents and live the life of a nomad for a month until Joe's lease is up. And then I HAVE TO LIVE WITH A BOOOOOOY! (Friends quote, people. Keep up.)

So really, we could pack up and move right now if we wanted to, since parent's houses are not time sensitive. But frankly, we paid good money to squat here for the rest of the month. However, people keep referring to the fact that I should have things in boxes already.

And I don't. I have nary a box. Everything is just as sprawled out as usual. The only thing I've done so far to get myself closer to moving out is to stop cleaning the bathroom, since we just have to clean it before we move out anyway. Baby steps.

The way I usually pack is, unsurprisingly, the way I do everything in life. I start in one corner, forget what I was doing, start something else, realize I need to sweep, do that, come back to the original box, discover old love letters I forgot I had, read those, throw them away, have a sandwich, call it a day. I don't know why I do it this way. I guess when your attention span hinders on the question of Is there, or is there not, something shiny over there? your packing skills are slightly erratic. This may also explain why I haven't started packing yet. Because once I start, there are just forty half-filled boxes in every room, and the pan I need to cook my rice in is currently under my Ninja Turtle figurines.

So what I want from all of you is advice. Packing advice. Things you have learned in your own personal packing journeys. Should I not put all my books in one box because it's too damn heavy? Where should I start? Where should I end? How should I label? And do YOU think I should be packed already, even though I have a week left in this apartment?

2 comments:

abbey said...

Okay. I am going through the same issue. Moving in with my boy soon and vacating my apartment is taking forever.

First. Books in little boxes. I once put every book I owned in a refrigerator box and labeled it BOOKS. It took four grown men to carry it.

I tend to sort things based on their location in the current room. I have boxes labeled Living Room Corner or Middle Desk Drawer. My ADD and OCD can agree on that method. I still know where everything is and it is easy just to dump. Screw sorting and mini tetris games.

Liketohike said...

Ditto on little boxes for books. I have many many such little boxes.

I am a horrible packer. But start packing stuff you don't really need, like books and movies and clothes. Can you pick your clothes for the week and pack the rest? Hard, I know.

Also, pick an area you are going to pack (like a drawer or shelf), set the timer for 15 minutes, and do it. No breaks, and no leaving the area. Make a pile of things that go somewhere else and a pile of things to get rid of so you don't have to go anywhere. When the 15 minutes are up, you can take a break or go do another area for 15 min.