I’ve moved six times in my life. If you count moving into a college dorm, I’ve moved eight times.

As I’m typing this, I’m sitting in my almost-barren room, using my last day of at-home WiFi for a week, on one of my last nights in this house. I’m in the middle of moving for the seventh time in my life.

Some moves have been across states; some have been across town. I’ve never lived in one house for longer than five years. The longest I’ve ever lived in one area was six years, which is my current area.

When you’ve moved do much like I have, there are certain things that I’ve become a pro at, and you know what to do down to every last movement.

1. What To Pack and When To Pack It

If the move is across town, you pack small to medium size boxes that will fit in your car. Take those boxes over a few at a time. It’s easier to gradually move your stuff over a few days if you’re a short drive away. If the move is across state lines or hours away, it’s always been best for me to pack in big boxes for a trailer or U-Haul. It’s easier to pack everything at one time because you only get one trip. You leave only the essential items out in a suitcase and overnight bag.

2. How To Pack

Your desk stuff is packed with your desk stuff. Your shelf stuff is packed with your shelf stuff. Don’t pack a box of towels or blankets, because you’ll need them to wrap your breakable stuff in. Every box is labeled with the room it goes to and what’s in it. Moving is one time when you don’t want to be disorganized. You may even want to over-label (this move, I have a box that says “Emily’s room, college, clear container items, top row").

3. Interior Decorating

Sometimes you don’t know exactly what a room is going to look like, like college dorms, but if you do know what the room looks like, you already have a plan for every big item. You know where your bed, your dresser, your desk, etc. are going to be so you can start planning the little arrangements. This makes it a lot easier unloading when you have a general idea of what’s going to go where.

4. Loading a Trailer or U-Haul

You can load boxes like your stacking boxes. Once you’ve run out of room, you look back at your arrangement and wonder how you possibly managed to fit all of that in there. Not to mention, you know how to load any car to max capacity and still be able to drive it, no matter how small the car is. I drive a two door and it is not easy.

5. Unloading a Trailer or U-Haul

Because you took the time to over-label every box and stack them as perfectly as you can get, unloading is a breeze. A dolly is your best friend and you know how to work it like child’s play. Get the boxes on the dolly, drag them to their assigned rooms, and placed them in their assigned corners until you can unpack. From personal experience, my mother and I unloaded a whole trailer in twenty minutes. We’ve done this once or twice.

6. Unpacking

While it may take forever to unpack from a vacation, unpacking from moving is the first thing you want to do. Because you’ve placed the boxes in the region the items inside will be placed in, unpacking is a breeze. You know to start with your bedding, move to your closet, and then your wall pieces. Everything else can fall into place from there.

7. Stifling Post-Move Boredom

Sometimes when you move, it may take a few days for a cable company or internet provider to install their services, and you aren’t made of money to overuse your phone’s data. Frequent movers are experts in coping without modern essentials. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve written or books I’ve read waiting for internet. I’ll probably write a few articles during this wait, too.

8. Adjusting Quickly to Your New Home

Ha, that's a lie. It still takes forever to remember where we put the cinnamon in the spice cabinet.