The house moving process is filled to the brim with a variety of moving tasks that range from finding the best moving company for you to packing up all your belongings for moving.
As you can imagine, some of those move-related tasks will be no-brainers – packing your clothes for the upcoming move shouldn’t be a problem at all and will not require you to be fully concentrated on the task at hand. The same is true for packing your shoes thanks to their non-fragile nature.
On the other hand, packing up very fragile items can be quite the challenge due to the fact that they are delicate and can break easily if you drop any of them on the floor or pack them improperly into the moving box. And that’s exactly why you should be pretty focused when packing plates, glasses, artwork, electronics, lamps, jewelry pieces, and so on.
Here are the top 5 moving tasks that require maximum concentration from you for their successful completion:
1. Packing breakable items such as kitchen plates and drinking glasses
Depending on what exactly you are packing for a move, the packing task can range from being fairly easy and straightforward to being difficult and even risky. After all, it’s one thing to pack clothes, shoes, and books, and something entirely different to protect extra-fragile items for a house move.
Here’s the major difference between the two packing scenarios – if you do happen to drop a book, a shoe, or a piece of clothing on the floor, you’ll only need to squat down and pick it up as the dropped item is non-breakable and it’s very unlikely that it will sustain any damage.
However, dare to drop a highly fragile thing like a porcelain kitchen plate or a drinking glass, and watch it break in hundreds or pieces from the unavoidable impact with the hard floor.
When packing breakables items such as kitchen dishes and glasses, you’re going to have to concentrate on the packing task at hand to avoid dropping any pieces on the hard floor and breaking them – unintentionally, of course. Also, it’s possible that you cut your fingers, hands, toes, or feet if any porcelain or glass items break while you’re packing them.
Make an effort to maintain your concentration while you’re protecting breakable and fragile items with packing paper and bubble wrap. If you feel pretty tired or find that you’re unable to concentrate due to exhaustion, it’s better to leave that specific packing task for another time – later in the day or the next day – when you’ll be able to focus fully on the job and finish it safely.
How to pack glasses for moving
2. Lifting and carrying items that are too big and too heavy
Unfortunately, the lack of concentration on Moving day may prove to be too costly if the ensuing result is either a personal injury or property damage, or both. The thing is that too many things are happening at once during the move-out day and you may find it almost impossible to maintain full control over the house moving process.
Another moving task that requires your utmost attention and maximum concentration is when you’re lifting and carrying heavy items – full cardboard boxes, pieces of furniture, and so on. Even when you have secured friends to help you move those heavy things out of the house, you still shouldn’t let your guard down but stay alert and vigilant at all times.
Bear in mind that the safest way to move heavy things on Moving day is to use a moving dolly – either a 2-wheel appliance dolly or a 4-wheel furniture dolly depending on your needs. If you’re not using any moving equipment for one reason or another, then you must know the proper lifting techniques to avoid injuries and prevent property damage.
Stay 100% concentrated whenever you’re moving heavy items on the day of the move. One little misstep could prove to be too costly in the end. Here are the 3 most important rules to remember before you lift and carry big and heavy things:
- Always bend your knees and lift with your legs;
- Keep your back as straight as possible;
- Keep the load close to your body to maintain the center of gravity.
See also: 10 Proper lifting techniques for moving heavy furniture and boxes
3. Moving bulky items through small doorways and around tight corners
Moving day is extremely unpredictable, so the best way to survive that stress-filled day is to know what to expect from it in general and how to keep your focus during some truly critical moments.
Another moving scenario where you will definitely need maximum concentration is when you’re moving large furniture pieces through small doorways, around tight corners, and along narrow hallways. At such crucial moments, one wrong move or a careless misstep might lead to bad accidents – something that you should do your best to avoid.
Moving day accidents could happen in the blink of an eye, so you really need to maintain your focus when taking out large furniture pieces that won’t go through a door or around a tight corner without an extra effort from you and your helpers.
The good news is that you’ve got options to make it work:
- Disassemble your large furniture pieces, remove any furniture legs and arms;
- Try rotating the bulky furniture at various angles to get it safely through any tight spots;
- Consider removing temporarily a problematic door to get an extra space of a few inches that may prove enough;
- Hang thick moving blankets over tight wall corners so that you can protect those damage-prone areas from getting scraped, dented, or scuffed on Moving day.
What to do when furniture won’t fit through the door
4. Going up or down the stairs with a loaded moving dolly
Maximum concentration is also a must-have requirement when you’re going up or down stairs with a loaded moving dolly or when you’re carrying boxes or smaller furniture pieces by hand. Of course, you have to be extremely careful every time you find yourself going up or down any sets of stairs, but it’s even more so when you have a heavy load with you at that very moment.
To prevent bad things from happening during the most dangerous day of the entire house move, make sure you go only one small step at a time and move very slowly, for haste will most definitely lead to waste in that case.
When going up or down the stairs with a moving dolly, ensure you have reliable helpers with you to keep the two-wheel L-shaped lever well balanced at all times. Come up with the best moving strategy before you try to pull it off and devise a basic set of signals with your friends for effective communication.
If possible, assign a person as a spotter to keep you informed about how things are going at every given moment, and warn you in the case of danger.
Warning: If you’ve never navigated a loaded moving dolly down or up the stairs, then you’d better leave that dangerous task to experienced professional movers.
Useful info: What’s a moving dolly and how to use it?
5. Driving a rented moving truck across the country
One thing is clear – it’s never easy to stay focused for prolonged periods of time – it is exhausting and requires exceptional mental strength. However, if you’ve made up your mind to rent a moving vehicle and move without hiring professional movers – that is, to organize a Do-It-Yourself move, then you’ll need to do just that – stay 100% focused while driving a big moving truck across the country, along unfamiliar roads.
Driving a moving truck can be rather tricky depending on a few factors: previous experience (if any), size of the moving vehicle, brand, and year of production of the truck. But above all, you need to remember that the moving vehicle you hire is not just a big car, so you should expect it to behave differently on the road.
When driving a moving truck cross country, stay focused and
- Get to the desired speed gradually because the moving vehicle will feel sluggish due to its enormous size and serious weight.
- Brake early and gradually in order to avoid any instances of slamming on the brakes – an action that may not only damage your items in the back, but also throw the entire vehicle off balance.
- Keep a safe distance with the vehicles in front of you because moving trucks can’t stop as fast as passenger cars can.
- Make turns wider than you would with your own car simply because moving vans require much more space to turn, especially when making right turns.
Read also: How to drive a moving truck across the country
Bonus task: Comparing various moving companies
When you get free moving quotes from various moving companies, it’s time to concentrate on the task of choosing the mover that’ll be the best one for you.
Do a little research about the companies that have provided you with free cost estimates to determine which one will offer you the right combination between affordability and high-quality moving services.
- Read customer reviews to check the reputation of the candidate movers;
- Check their professionalism by confirming that they are proud members of the Better Business Bureau (BBB);
- Compare the prices stated in the written cost estimates and pay close attention to the additional moving services offered and their corresponding rates.
Useful info: How to compare moving companies
