Slashdot Mirror
Moving Strategies?
skotte asks: "I currently am in a position where I will be moving my whole set of belongings to a new apartment. But I refuse to just buy a bunch of boxes and start throwing things in. Surely there is a good strategy of how to tackle the act of packing. I'm thinking "Relatively" where everything related, such as CDs, go in one box, cables go in another. Or there's 'spatially', where I pack everything in one bookcase in one box. Or there's 'by Priority' in which important things i'll need right away go in one box...and on and on. There appear to indeed be LOTS of ways to go about it -- and there are big pros-and-cons to each. So what does the slashdot community think? Better yet, is there some management software to help with this sort of thing?"
Please. These 'ask slashdot' articles are getting really out of hand. Ummm, slashdot, I'm wondering if you all have any thoughts on which utensils to eat spaghetti with.
I'd say do this the same way you'd choose something like a software development strategy - write down your requirements, write down your schedule, look at your risks, and come up with a plan.
For example, if you won't have much time to unpack after you get to your new apartment, I would suggest working primarily by a priority system augmented by categorization - this will enable you to get to things quickly even if they're packed away. This is how I pack when I'm going to college, since my school doesn't allow returning students to move in until the day before classes. That way, random shit like decorations go on the bottom of the pile, whereas my toothbrush and my notebooks are in the same box, which is also the first box I unpack.
On the other hand, if you don't have much of a time constraint on either end, a relativistic approach is clearly the best - think about where things will go in your new place, and pack so that you minimize the box trucking when you unpack.
On the other hand, if you have to pack real quick, you might have to sacrifice organization in favor of getting it pitched into boxes quickly. In that case, the relativistic approach works, only you pack things that are close together in your current abode in the same box.
Think about supplies, too. If you don't have much shit and not much is breakable, garbage bags work wonders.
Minimizing space is worth considering, too, if you're looking at making multiple trips (heaven forbid.) Don't just pack that desk empty - load it into the truck, and then fill the drawers with smaller boxes full of stuff. I know putting a box inside my mini-fridge saved the day this year. . .
If you're rich, on the other hand, consider throwing out or giving away easily replaceable good such as notebooks, underwear, pens, signifigant others, and dishes.
The last time I moved was much simpler:
The most efficient way to move: Don't do it by yourself.
It's easy:
1) Recruit as many people as you can comfortably afford beer and pizza for.
2) Give them beer.
3) Show them where the empty boxes are.
4) Give them beer.
5) Show them where the stuff is that needs moved.
6) Give them beer.
7) Show them where the truck is.
8) Give them beer.
9) Arrive at destination.
10) Give them beer.
11) Order pizza.
12) Give them beer.
13) Eat pizza.
14) Give them beer.
15) Show them where the truck is. Remind them who bought the beer.
16) Give them beer.
17) Have your posessions deposited neatly in your new dwelling.
18) Give them beer.
19) Load them into the just-emptied truck.
20) Give them beer.
21) Wake them up the next morning. Declare that you are out of beer. Take up a collection to cover the cost of the U-Haul moving blanket they broke the seal on and cowered under in an attempt to keep warm*.
22) Send them away. Do not offer to pay them for their gratious efforts**.
23) Have a beer.
24) Begin the never-ending process of putting things into place in their new home.
Good luck!
* This is also a sure-fire way to figure out who your real friends are. Those who complain about sleeping overnight in a cold panel van in a parking lot while you sleep in the warm bed that they carried in for you don't deserve your company.
** And this is certain to weed out the rest.
Kid-proof tablet..
I think I saw this question on a midterm in college. It was for an algorithms class, and even then I thought it was a stupid question.