Moving day can be stressful. However, with a little planning you can make moving a lot easier on yourself and everyone involved. You may not be the planning type, but you certainly don’t want to procrastinate when it comes to moving. When the day comes, even if you hire movers, you can still plan on a long day of strategizing and directing. To be clear, moving is tiring even if you don’t lift a thing. That’s why you should never wait until the last minute to pack. Having everything boxed up and ready to go makes the whole day faster and less stressful for everyone.

One of the time tested and mother approved packing methods has been the “Room by Room” approach. As the name implies, you pack up each room in turn. Starting with the least used room, which oddly enough is often the living room, begin sorting and packing. By starting with the least used room and working your way forward you’re less likely to find yourself rummaging through boxes looking for that item you actually still need in the days before your move.

It’s also a good idea to sort while you pack. If you spend a little extra time organizing as you pack, you’re unpacking will be that much easier in your new home. And don’t forget to wrap! Wrapping breakables in bubble wrap, newspaper, or even paper towels is much better than boxing them up on their own. Even the slim padding of a paper towel could be the difference between eating off paper or dishes the day you move.

Now, since you started packing early, you’ll have everything ready to go the day the movers show up to cart everything off. You’ll always have a few personal items and toiletries to pack up on moving day, but that’s nothing compared to packing entire rooms as the movers watch over your shoulder!

There are several essential tools in the mover’s arsenal. Boxes, bubble wrap, and tape are certainly necessities, but you also can’t forget to buy a couple of big black markers. The importance of boldly labeling all those brown boxes might be easy to overlook, but you’ll kick yourself later. Imagine trying to find something in a pile of boxes labeled with an all but invisible ballpoint pen!

Of course, your big black marker could be any color you like. It just has to be noticeable. The labels you write won’t help you if the ink isn’t clearly visible on the boxes. That means you should also label the boxes on the top as well as the sides for easy identification.

Moving is a hectic time filled with quick fixes and “get it done” answers. But a few well thought out ideas can help relieve a lot of the stress and confusion of your moving day. The big black marker could be the end of turning your boxes around and around looking for that all but hidden “Kitchen” tag.