Moving is a stressful event. You must plan and execute your move for weeks, if not months, before the impending moving day. Later, you will find yourself unpacking and arranging your items for weeks after the move.
While the whole process of packing, moving, and unpacking carries its unique bundle of stress, many people find the prospect of having to pack nerve-wracking. This task appears huge and disorganized and may leave the move pondering from where they can start it.
Preparing a moving inventory resolves this concern. It forces you to think of your possessions in different categories, allowing you to decide which category should be packed first and which later. This task may appear as an extra protocol to those dealing with the already unmanageable stress of moving.
However, its benefits outweigh the burden this task adds. Do you want to know the benefits? Here are they:
Help Manage Stress
The most significant impact of taking inventory is that it gets you started. You will document everything you need to pack, from the kitchen to bedrooms and other areas. While going through these items, your brain will create connections and find ways to sort your things easily.
This step will also tell you which items are being used in everyday life, so they should be packed last, and which are in storage for the next season or occasion, and you can pack them before other items. You will learn how to create functional categories of your possessions so they go in separate boxes.
When you have recorded your inventory, you also eliminate the risk of missing or throwing away necessary items. You will gain more confidence in the subsequent tasks of the process, reducing your stress levels.
Increases Packing Efficiency
Once you have recorded all the items, you will move to your new home; you only need to get the boxes and pack them all. Start with the least used categories, such as Christmas decorations in the summer.
Use your moving inventory to tell you everything to pack, while putting other objects in a separate box reserved for extra items. Later, you can sort this box to separate trash items from charitable ones.
These inventory and records also come in handy when you unpack the possessions in your new home. You will know the location of every item and open the exact box when needed.
Makes Communication Easier
For starters, this list will communicate with your future self when you want to find an item after moving but don’t want to open all the boxes. But more than that, you can use this list to communicate with your mover. Sharing a soft copy of this inventory will be easy.
It will tell them the items packed in each box to educate them on the level of care they will need to impart to each box. Also, it will create a record of the items you have handed over to them. You will refer to this list when receiving the delivery to ensure you have received all the items.
Most people record the condition of their objects before handing them over to the movers. That record will help you determine if the movers have delivered the objects without damage and loss.
Helps with Insurance Claims
Till now, we have learned the importance of inventory-taking to make things easier for ourselves. But did you know that this step is mandatory for your moving process? You must record your items for insurance purposes if you hire external movers.
Damages and losses of items are usual risks that accompany moving homes. Considering this risk, most quality moving companies in Dubai offer insurance coverage on the orders they fulfill. However, this coverage can only be claimed when you have properly recorded the item and its loss.
People are recommended to make a list of items they transfer in a home move and shoot videos to capture the condition of these items. This will help them successfully claim damages if the need arises.
How to Create an Inventory List for Moving
While some people choose to take inventory after completing packing, for most home movers, taking inventory is the first step of the packing process. Do it right to enjoy a smooth transition.
Here’s how to take inventory before moving to enhance efficiency.
Start with Your Documents
Make digital records of all your study, work, and property documents to back them up. Once you have scanned or photographed these documents, double-check them to ensure the quality and completion of these images.
Move Room to Room
Start with one room or one person and sort all the things that belong to it or them. Another alternative is to go with a category, such as clothes, and record them first for all household members. Stick to one category, person, or room before starting with the next.
Label Your Boxes
Taking inventory of your possessions doesn’t end with recording every item in your home under the relevant categories. You must also label the boxes that contain specific items. Start with labeling the boxes and packing only one box at a time to ensure that only relevant items go into the labeled boxes.
Check the Contents
Once you have thrown relevant items in the boxes, check if you are missing something. With so many things to pack during a house move, it’s easy to miss items. Ultimately, we are forced to open some boxes multiple times to add items. Before closing the box, you need to check all the items listed in your moving inventory.
Summing It Up
Moving your home isn’t an easy feat and requires considerable planning. Taking inventory of your possessions is an essential part of this planning. This blog post talks about the advantages you gain when taking inventory before packing your items for movement. A duly prepared moving inventory lets you communicate easily with your local Dubai movers. It also acts as a record for insurance purposes and decreases your stress in need.
