5 Ways a Self Storage Unit Can Make Your Move Easier
Moving from one home to another can sometimes be such a sophisticated exercise that you feel like you need a degree in Supply Chain Management to pull it off. There are so many moving parts, so many intermediate steps, and often such a tight and uncompromising schedule that the sheer task of it is so intimidating that people will decide to just stay put.
But it really doesn’t need to be this complicated. Many self-movers make things more difficult than they need to be by forcing their move to fit the ideal pattern of transporting everything from point A to point B all at once and in one trip. This isn’t how it works in the world of logistics: FedEx and UPS aren’t transporting your packages directly from origin to destination. Instead, they make use of warehouses and processing facilities to make transportation more flexible, efficient, and reliable. In the world of moving, storage facilities act as an analogous intermediate step from origin to destination. With a storage unit to temporarily keep your things during a move, your move can be made easier in a number of ways.
Here are five ways self-storage can improve your move:
Scheduling
Often the hardest thing about planning a move is fitting it into your already tight schedule. Take, for instance, a situation where you need to move out of your apartment on one date, but your new home won’t be ready for another week. Sure, you can stay at a friend’s for a week – but what about your stuff? This is a perfect example of how storage can make scheduling your move so much easier. Rent a storage unit to keep your stuff in while you’re waiting for your new home to be ready, and keep your things there.
Timing
You won’t need to move everything out of the storage unit all at once when your new home is ready. You can work according to your own schedule, moving things one trip at a time. You could even wait months before completely moving everything into your new home.
Flexibility
Moving everything all at once is another way that those undertaking a move often make things harder on themselves. If you have a lot to move, this can mean renting multiple trucks and making multiple trips within a short time frame, not to mention prepping all of your furniture and boxing everything up all at once. By using a storage unit as an intermediate step, your move can be made much more flexible. Maybe you’ll only need to move your essentials on the first trip. You can then worry about unpacking those, and return to the storage unit to get the rest at your own leisure.
Focus
There are often complicating factors that make moving even more of a headache: taking care of young children and pets, changing your address, transporting your vehicle. By keeping some of your stuff in storage, you won’t have to deal with everything all at once – instead, you can focus on the essentials, and leave time and energy to deal with everything else that comes up.
Adjusting to Your New Home
It’s often the case that people don’t consider themselves “fully moved in” for weeks or even months after their move is over, as the sheer amount of stuff to unpack can be daunting and time consuming. On top of that, having stacks of boxes laying around can make unpacking harder and can get in the way of everything. By keeping non-essentials in storage rather than in your new kitchen or future dining room, you can more gradually adjust to living in this new space. Then, you can visit your storage unit every weekend, moving and unpacking your boxes in smaller batches. Many movers find this process worth the peace of mind.
Brian Shreckengast is a writer at SelfStorage.com.
