How to Pack for a Move in 3 Days

It’s been a little over a century since Einstein’s theory of relativity declared that space and time are relative to the observer and can only be defined in relation to a specific person and a specific situation. When you think of it, it’s in fact quite easy to come up with a great many examples that undeniably prove the principle of relativity: every so often, time seems to stand completely still; or drag for eternity; or fly at hyper-speed – it all depends on the moment, the current circumstances, and our state of mind.

This relativity of time can either be used as an advantage or a detriment, depending on the person and the situation. If you adopt the right approach, it can help you win the race with time, even when it seems impossible to do so – like when packing for a last-minute move.

When pressed for time and faced with such a laborious and time-consuming task, you have only one viable option – acknowledge that time is not an absolute and make it stretch long enough for you to finish packing before the Big day comes. But how can you do that? How to pack quickly and efficiently enough? How to make time?

The fast packing tips below will reveal you the secret and help you pack your entire home in just a few days. Yes, that’s right – you’ll be able to pack for a move in as little as three days.

How to Pack Quickly for a Move

When there is a will, there is a way – no matter whether you need to pack for a move in a week, in three days, or in one day, you can pack your house quickly enough. All you need to do is follow some proven packing tips for moving in a hurry:

1) Start immediately. Pondering about how unfair life is will do you no good – you need to accept the situation, brace yourself, and get down to work as soon as possible. So, the moment you learn that you’re moving house, you should initiate the packing process, without procrastination or delays.

2) Pare down your possessions. Time may be relative but the correlation between the amount of household goods you have for moving and the time necessary to pack them for shipment is constant – the fewer items you decide to relocate to your new home, the less time it will take to prepare them for shipping. So, in order to pack house quickly, you need to reduce the number of items you have for packing – simple as that (as an added bonus this will also help cut down the final moving cost):

• Go through each and every object in your home and assess its practical and sentimental value – decide whether you need it or not, whether you like it or not, if you’ll be able to use it in your new surroundings or not, if it has high sentimental value or not, etc.;
• Based on your assessment, separate all your belongings into three different piles – “Take”, “Give away”, “Throw away” (unfortunately, there will be no “SELL” pile, as you won’t have the time to organize a garage sale or sell your items online at this point). If you’re not sure about a certain item, make your decision depending on the time and effort it will take to pack that item for moving. Remember – right now SPEED is your top priority;
• Take the items from the last pile to a recycling center and ask your friends and relatives to come over and choose anything they like from the “Give away” pile. Then, arrange for a local charity to come pick the rest of your still useful, but no-longer needed household goods.

3) Know what not to pack. Ask your chosen movers for a list of the non-allowable items they won’t move for safety reasons and make sure you don’t waste time and supplies packing something you’ll be forced to leave behind.

4) Create a packing timeline. It may be difficult to believe but spending some extra time to create a detailed packing schedule will actually save you a lot of time when you start packing – instead of packing random items in a random manner (which will inevitably result in rookie packing mistakes and lots of wasted time and nerves), you’ll have a reliable guide to keep you focused, motivated, and well-organized from start to finish.

Your customized packing calendar will help you pack in a logical and systematic way, concentrate on one task at a time, and keep track of your progress.

You need to distribute the number of rooms you have for packing over the remaining days, break each main objective (e.g., packing the kitchen) into smaller packing goals (packing the dishes, packing the pantry, etc.), set an appropriate timeframe for the completion of each packing task, prioritize the tasks according to their importance and difficulty (always start with the rooms that are most difficult to pack), and stick to your schedule, no matter what.

5) Get appropriate packing materials. Using old moving boxes which you can get for free from local businesses or other people who have recently moved is a well-known strategy for cutting down the moving costs, but it is not a good idea when packing for a move in a hurry. Not only won’t you have the time to search for free moving boxes, but it will also take you much longer to pack your items into previously-used moving containers – you’ll have to carefully inspect them to make sure they’re clean and intact, reinforce their bottoms for added safety, find a way to fit your belongings into cartons of inappropriate sizes, etc.

Therefore, you’re strongly advised to purchase brand new moving boxes and quality packing supplies (bubble wrap, packing paper, packing tape, etc.) from your chosen moving company – you will save the time necessary to look for adequate packing materials and the specialized packing items you buy will be in excellent condition and especially designed to ensure the best possible protection of your items, so that you will be able to pack quickly and easily.

6) Take photos of your belongings before you pack them. You won’t have the time to create a detailed moving inventory of your possessions, but the pictures you take will serve as a proof of the type, number, and condition of the items you have entrusted to the movers.

Besides, these photos will save you plenty of time when packing and unpacking, as you won’t need to organize the cables and wires when unhooking electronic devices and household appliances or the contents of the bookshelves when emptying your furniture, etc. – one look at the picture will allow you to recreate your home décor, reassemble your furniture, and reconnect your electronics after the move.

7) Get friends and family to help you. Every extra hand will save you several hours of hard work when packing for a move, so the more “packing help” you can ensure, the better.

Involve all the family members in the packing process (including your kids, if they are old enough) and ask your good friends to lend you a hand – after all, this will give you an opportunity to spend some more time together before the move, reminiscing about the past or planning about the future. Your fast packing endeavor may even turn into a fun event with good music, amiable jokes, and challenging packing games.

8) Set aside your essentials. One last important thing to do before you initiate the actual packing process – set aside everything you’re going to need until Moving day, on Moving day itself, and during the first couple of days in your new home.

Make sure your essentials won’t get mixed with the rest of your belongings (which is really easy when packing house fast), so that you don’t end up wasting time opening already packed moving boxes in search of something you need or arrive at your new home without your first-night box which has been accidentally loaded on the moving truck that is due to arrive in about 3 days, for example.

Once you have taken care of all of the above, you can finally start packing.

How to Pack for a Move in Three Days

So, how to pack fast for a move? Our quick packing checklist will guide you through every step of the process:

Day 1

As with any other endeavor, your energy and motivation are likely to be highest at the beginning, so you’re strongly recommended to start the packing marathon from the toughest rooms to pack – garage, attic, and other storage areas that contain a large number of items, many of which are quite difficult to prepare for shipment. Here is your recommended packing schedule for Day 1:

• Box up the basement, attic, and garage first;
• Move on to the linen closet and the laundry room;
• Make every effort to pack the little used rooms of your house, such as the guest room(s) and the library (or study), as well;
• If there is still time, pack your rarely used items – out-of-season items, specialized tools and equipment, sports gear, hobby materials, collectibles, etc. If not, address them first thing the next day.

Day 2

Once you have completed the above-described packing tasks, you need to turn your attention to the living room and the children’s room (if any):

• Pack any decorative items, office supplies, books, jewelry, games and toys (except for your kids’ most favorite ones) and any other bric-a-brac you want to take with you;
• Pack most of your and your family members’ clothes and shoes (except for the garments and footwear you will need during the next couple of days);
• Empty and clean any furniture and appliances you intend to relocate to your new home. If time allows it, disassemble and pack the furniture pieces you won’t need until moving day.

Day 3

The last day before the move is likely to be quite stressful and chaotic, so the fewer packing tasks that remain, the better. Hopefully, you’ll have stayed on schedule and only the most essential rooms in your home will be still unpacked. On Day 3, you need to:

• Pack the kitchen, the bedroom(s) and the bathroom(s) – leave out the essentials you’re going to need for the last night in your old home and get everything else ready for shipment;
• Unhook and pack all electronic devices except for one laptop and your and your family members’ telephones;
• Disassemble and pack all the furniture you’re going to take with you (except the bed(s), of course);
• Pack your curtains, area rugs, and anything else you kept out until the last moment;
• Make sure you have your important documents and your survival kit with you.

Pack the last of your toiletries, medicines, kitchen essentials, bedding (and bed!), kids’ and pets’ items, etc. on the morning of Moving day.

Quick Packing Tips

To be able to do so much work in so little time, you need a quick packing method that will greatly increase your speed and efficiency. Following the quick and easy packing tips below will do the trick for you.

How to quickly pack up a house

1. Have everything ready before you start packing. Create a packing station in the room you’re about to pack – gather all the items you’re going to need to prevent wasting time running around for additional packing supplies. Keep your packing station clean and organized (unless you remove no longer needed items and excess packing materials at regular intervals, the resulting clutter will slow down your progress).
2. Leave dressers and chests full of their contents. This will save you all the time required to empty the furniture pieces, organize the items that were stored inside, and pack them in moving boxes (as well as the time to unpack the boxes and put everything back in place after the move). Just make sure:

• the furniture pieces are not too heavy to lift and carry;
• there are no fragile items left inside the furniture;
• you prevent the items inside the dressers and drawers from shifting – use foam sheets, crumpled newspaper, or any other appropriate padding materials to fill the empty spaces inside the furniture;
• you secure the doors of the dressers (so that they don’t accidentally open during transportation) and wrap the drawers in plastic wrap to keep their contents safely in place.

3. Pack clothes as they are. If you have bought specialized wardrobe boxes, you will be able to pack your clothes in several minutes – just take your garments from the wardrobe (together with the hangers) and transfer them into the If not, you can still pack clothes very quickly by wrapping strong and clean garbage bags around them as they are arranged in the dresser or wardrobe, hangers and all.
4. Pack books in wheeled suitcases. To pack your reads real fast, you can simply take them from the shelves and put them in wheeled suitcases – you will not only save time, but will also avoid straining your back as your heavy books will be much easier to transport this way.
5. Pack like items together. Group similar items together and pack them in the same box – it will be much easier and much faster to arrange identical items in one box than to find creative ways to fit objects with different shapes and sizes in a single moving container. Also, make sure you pack all the pieces of items that have multiple components together in one box.
6. Use Ziploc bags to pack small items. Organizing small items requires too much time you can’t afford to spare when packing to move in a hurry. Your best option is to place the tiny objects directly in Ziploc bags – you will save the time for organizing them and packing them separately and will prevent losing them.
7. Print labels on adhesive paper. Create labels with brief inventories of the boxes, print them on adhesive paper, and stick them on the boxes to save time when labeling the moving containers. Alternatively, you can just take a photo of the box’s contents before sealing it and either attach the photo to the box or write a number on the carton that corresponds to the number of the photo. Just don’t forget to write any important handling instructions (“THIS SIDE UP”, “HANDLE WITH CARE”) on the boxes with a permanent marker.

Good to remember: Don’t even think about not labeling the boxes in order to save some time. This will result in severe troubles down the road.

How to pack for a move quickly and efficiently

1. Do not sacrifice safety for time. Even though speed will be your top priority when packing to move in a hurry, the safety of your items should still be your top concern. There will be no point in packing your home quickly only to find half of your belongings damaged when you open the boxes in your new home, right? So, regardless of how little time you have left until Moving day, make sure you provide the best possible protection to your possessions. You will find some useful tips on how to safely pack your items for moving at the links below:

How to pack fragile items for moving

How to pack electronics for moving

How to pack kitchen appliances for moving

How to pack furniture for moving

2. Stay focused and eliminate distractions. Keeping your focus is the key to quick and efficient You need to concentrate, eliminate any distractions (TV, phones, etc.) and not stop until your immediate packing task (packing the linen closet, for example) is complete. It is a good idea to play some rhythmic music though – packing is not only time-consuming but also extremely tedious, so listening to your favorite energetic music will keep you both entertained and stimulated, considerably speeding up things.
3. Pack one room at a time, then take a break. Once you’ve packed up a whole room, you deserve a rewarding break. Have some rest and do something enjoyable to lift your energy, rediscover your motivation, and regain your focus, so that you can resume packing even more quickly than before.
4. Arrange for someone to take care of your kids and/or pets (if applicable). Playful pets and young children require a lot of time and attention, especially during stressful and chaotic periods. You won’t be able to concentrate on packing if you need to take care of your little ones, so it’s advisable to find someone (a relative, a close friend, or even a babysitter) to look after them and keep them safe and occupied while you’re preparing for your move. This will help reduce the moving stress as your children and pets will have their daily routine unchanged and will stay happy and distracted during the hectic pre-move period, and you will be able to focus on the important tasks you need to finish before Moving day.

How to Pack for a Move in One Day

If packing for a move in three days is an enormous challenge, packing a house in one day is virtually impossible. Such a feat can only be achieved by a team of experienced professionals who have the specialized equipment and technical know-how to pack an entire household in the course of several hours. The experts will ensure that your move goes as fast and smooth as at all possible (not only is their packing speed unmatched by any non-professionals, but the safety and efficiency of their work guarantees a successful and trouble-free relocation).

There is no doubt that the quickest way to pack for a move is to hire professional packers to do the job for you. When it comes to packing in one day, however, using professional packing services is not simply the quickest way to complete the task – it is the only way to do so.

So, relatively speaking, your fast packing endeavor should be relatively easy when using the fast packing tips above, what do you think?