Moving apartments is an essential part of life and everyone at one point or another must face it. While starting anew in a new place is incredibly exciting, it can also be a rather nerve-racking experience. So here are six hacks you can do to make your packing easier and stress-free.

Find free boxes
First things first, you’ll need cardboard boxes and you’ll need a lot. But you don’t necessarily have to spend money on them. Visit the local grocery stores, and ask if they have any. Chances are they can help you out. Also, check if you still have any original electronics boxes left. If so, use them, too.

Provide breakable items with extra padding
Unfortunately, fragile things are often damaged in transit, so it’s important to make sure all the breakable items are securely packed. Start by identifying which items are going to need the extra cushioning. Lampshades, frames, mirrors, vases, figurines, bottles, and dishes are the things that sometimes don’t reach the destination point intact, so start with them.
Ensure that each of these items is packed separately and has a layer of padding. Bubble wrap is a great way to protect them en route. Wrap so that the bubbles are inside, and secure it with tape. If you don’t have enough bubble wrap on hand, you can also use tissue paper or towels.

Don’t stack plates horizontally
Once in your new flat, unpacking your things and finding one (or more than one!) of your favorite plates broken is extremely frustrating. To avoid that, wrap each plate separately. You can use bubble wrap for that, but soft towels or even clothes can do the trick just as well. Make sure to stack the plates vertically, as this is going to keep them from moving around during the transportation.

Get organized
Keeping things organized is going to pay out in the future, as it’s going to be much easier to unpack once you arrive at your new apartment. Make lists of all the things you need to pack and do, as you’re going to be very busy and small things are easily forgotten in the chaos that accompanies the moving process.
Create categories, put labels or color-code the items. Many experts advise packing room-by-room and mark the boxes with colors to represent a particular room, so you know exactly where’s what.

Keep clothes on their hangers to save time
Packing hanging clothes can take a long time. So the best way to speed up the process is to wrap up all the outfits in a plastic wrapper without taking them off their hangers. You can use vacuum bags, too, to keep everything neat and orderly.

Don’t empty the drawers
It isn’t always necessary to empty the drawers when moving a dresser. Though it depends. If the dresser is old and fragile, it might be better to unload it. Otherwise, just leave the drawers inside and secure them with some plastic wrap. It’s also a good idea to unscrew the handles and put them inside the drawers.

These are the six things you can do to make your packing easier when moving apartments. Hopefully, they will be helpful and take some of the stress out of the process.