How to move by yourself

Start earlier than you think you need to

One person packs more slowly than two, and there’s nobody to take the other end of a box. Plan on twice the time, and start with what you don’t use, weeks ahead. Whether you’re moving out alone for the first time or moving house on your own, this is the tip that matters most. The week-by-week list is in the moving checklist.

Take less

Everything that doesn’t go is something you don’t carry twice. In a solo move, the question “do I really need this?” is worth more than in any other. Cheap, heavy furniture in particular: it often pays to sell it and buy something else for the new place.

Small boxes, always

On your own, a box has to be one you can lift without straining, from the floor to your waist and then into the truck. Small and medium boxes; large ones only for what’s light. A large box of books, on your own, is a box that doesn’t move.

What helps you carry

• A hand truck (dolly) with two wheels takes several boxes at once and saves your back. You can rent one, or buy one without spending much.
• Furniture sliders under the feet of furniture, to slide it without scratching the floor.
• Moving straps, for furniture that two people lift — or that you leave to whoever is moving it.
• Gloves, which grip the cardboard without slipping.

That’s most of how to move furniture alone: slide it across the floor, roll it on the dolly, and take it apart so each piece is one you can manage.

Lifting without hurting yourself

Keep your back straight and the effort in your legs, hold the box close to your body, and don’t twist with weight in your arms. If you have to think twice before lifting something, it’s a job for two — or for a truck with a ramp, or for people who do this for a living.

Heavy furniture follows the same rule. Slide it, roll it, take it apart — and get one helper for the heaviest pieces. Never lift alone what you can’t.

Take apart what you can

A wardrobe taken apart is a stack of boards one person can carry. A wardrobe in one piece is a problem. Beds, bookcases and tables come apart; the screws for each go in a bag taped to the piece itself, and a photo before you take it apart works as the instructions.

A couch is easier with the cushions out and the legs off: lighter, and easier to tip on its end through a door. A mattress travels on its side, in a mattress bag — slide it, or stand it on the dolly, rather than carrying it flat. If either one is more than you can handle, that’s the piece to ask a helper for.

Getting it there

For a small move, a few trips by car are enough. For the furniture, a moving truck rented for a day — check what the rental company requires of the driver before you book. For what you can’t lift, a company hired just for the big pieces costs less than the whole move.

And on the day

Do the heavy things first, while you still have the energy. Take breaks. And keep the first-night box within reach — at the end of a moving day done by yourself, the last thing you want is to go looking for sheets.