Packing up items for a move is hard enough as it is, but it can become even more frustrating when you want to retrieve specific items in a hurry. Taking advantage of modern technology can really help with staying organized while you pack.

Mixing smartphone use with your packing efforts will help you keep things organized and advance beyond the traditional labeling structure. Read through our tips to make packing and unpacking go a lot more smoothly than you expected. Using just one of these methods can make a huge difference while you’re moving.

1. Picture Packing

With a smartphone, you can snap a picture within seconds. This ease and convenience can have a lot of benefits when packing items. As you place items into a box, snap a picture and you will be able to see all the contents. Once the box is fully packed, you can tape a picture of the label on it. This labeling system will help you know what boxes correlate with which pictures.

Once you arrive at your new location and need an item, you do not need to go digging into box after box. You can simply scroll through your pictures to see what’s in each box.

As you pack, you may want to take multiple pictures of the same box. For example, as you’re packing clothes, you may have a lot of different layers of clothes to sort through. Having multiple images will make it easy to see where exactly a piece of clothing is.

2. Time Lapse Video

As an alternative to pictures, you have the option to record video of the packing. With video footage, you have the ability to record every item packed into a box. However, packing for a move can take a while and it’s not reasonable to rewatch all this footage. This is why recording a time lapse video is ideal.

A time lapse video can condense a longer video into a short clip. Once the video is done recording, you have the ability to watch back at a much faster rate. Then you can more easily spot items and find out exactly what box they are located in and where.

3. Packing Lists

Along with labeling boxes, you can use a smartphone to make detailed content lists of items within the box. Numerous packing list apps can help you with this task. When you download one of these apps, you can organize a separate list for each box and easily scroll through them on your phone.

As an alternative to typing out the list, some apps have the ability to record your voice and convert it to text. This feature makes it easy to list off items as you pack and then have the full list available once your moving boxes have arrived.

4. QR Codes & Cloud Documents

One of the more modern ways to organize items is with QR codes. These are completely custom codes that can connect to a specific URL within your phone. To use this service for moving, you can connect them to a cloud document you’re storing online.

You can find multiple free cloud and QR code services online. By organizing the codes, you can print them out and place them on each box. Once the boxes arrive at your new home, you can scan each box and retrieve the digital list of the items that can be found inside. This is a quick way to access items and is very easy to set up.

Staying organized can be made even easier with our professionals at Island Movers, Inc. Let us help you with all your moving needs and logistics.