I moved a ton as a kid and I moved a ton of people in my 20's. Moving sucks and I hate it but I have a few tips for making it suck a little less. First of all...

Hire movers.

Nobody wants to waste their day helping you move so you can buy them some shitty pizza. None of us wanted to do it in our 20's either but we're all stupid then. If you are conning your friends into helping with your move? Pretend they're actual movers, which means that you need to:

• Have enough boxes for your shit. You can get these for free by asking nearby stores and heading over a couple times a week for a while. Otherwise buy moving boxes.
• Get a tape gun and a ton of tape. They're cheap.
• Have your entire home packed into those boxes. Before people are supposed to arrive. Read it with me, before people are supposed to arrive. There should not be one single task to do on the day that could have been done prior to that day left to do.
• Related to the above... do not ask your friends to help pack your shit up. It should already be in boxes.
• Have a moving truck rented. No, it's not cheaper/quicker/easier to do 20 runs with your friends cars, just hire the damn truck.
• Be up and ready to go at the time you asked them to arrive. They're helping you out in their free time, respect that.

I wasted too many days in my 20's helping friends move only to show up to houses that weren't packed up and suddenly instead of "load it up, drive it over, unload it" turns into an 18 hours day or "where do you want this?" and "is this garbage?". By my late 20's that turned into showing up, seeing the house like that and saying "give me a call once it's all boxed up" and leaving again.

Leading up to the move:

• One month before you move: have all your boxes sourced and start organising your place to know what needs to be moved and what needs to be thrown away. Just do a little each day. This might seem like a long time to start but the amount of shit you tend to have is ridiculous and by starting early and just chipping away the whole thing is way less annoying and stressful.
• Two weeks before you move: this is when you need to start seriously clearing/sorting the trash you don't want and make some runs to the local tip (or dump for you yanks). Don't put this off, it's not going anywhere and you will just make the whole experience so much worse if you do.
• One week before you move: If you aren't using it day to day, it's in a box or at least stacked somewhere ready to get packed and go. Double check you have enough boxes, tape, markers etc.
• Three days before you move: 90% of your kitchen should be in boxes along with all your clothes minus three days worth. Bookshelves should be empty - your house should start to look like it did when you first moved in with boxes everywhere and nothing put together. Any "urgh I'll deal with that later" jobs need to be done now.
• Two days before you move: Anything that disassembles to be moved easier needs to be taken apart and packed wrapped in whatever protective material you've got.
• The night before: Everything is packed up and in pieces ready to go. Your bed is disassembled, just sleep on the mattress on the floor tonight (if you have kids you can do theirs the next day real quick if it's easier but do this first thing). 99.99% of your belongings need to be in boxes and wrapped up other than whatever you'll be using in the morning. Ideally shower and such tonight and then once everyones done pack up the bathrooms. Have prepacked backpacks with everything you're going to need the next day and the first night at the new place without having to open a single box. So fresh clothes, toothbrush/toothpaste, soap/shampoo, a towel, toilet paper, phone chargers, etc. You aren't going to want to go hunting for all of this.

The day of:

• If you're an asshole and making friends/family do this for you then be out of bed, dressed, and ready to go with everything above sorted. Things you genuinely need their help for are fine, but there isn't a single task that should be left you couldn't have sorted out yourself.
• Prioritise bedrooms first. That means load the beds and mattresses in last on the first trip so they're the very first things out and have someone with the job of getting everything set up there, especially if you have children. Literally everything else can be done as you go, sort your bedroom first even if it's just to get the mattress dumped onto the floor and put the bedding on it.

Other random tips.

• Label everything. EVERYTHING. Put the room it needs to go in and a quick note of what's inside.
• Anything you take apart that has loose pieces (beds or desks or bookshelves or electronics or ANYTHING like that) take all those pieces and put them in a ziplock bag then tape that back firmly to some part of the item that you can't lose.
• Whether it's friends and family or movers, if you can then try and do a "fragile" run in your own car. Computers, electronics, whatever the fuck else is worth a lot and goes crunch if it hits the ground. Don't leave these for other people to move.

Moving sucks. But you can do a lot to make it suck a little less..