10 Easy Unpacking Hacks to Get the Job Done Fast
Maybe you went on a vacation, or you went out of town. If you did, chances are you have a lot of unpacking to do right now. So I'm here to give you 10 quick unpacking hacks that will help you get the job done right.
After having moved over 26 times in my life, I've learned a few things about how to pack and unpack luggage. So I want to share a few things with you, basically, the hacks that I live by.
1. Pack extra items
The first tip I have for you when it comes to learning how to unpack luggage is to pack 2 or 3 day’s worth of extra things because when you get home, especially if you get home late, you will not want to have to dig through boxes and suitcases to find the things you need to get ready for bed that night.
2. Label with duct tape
Another tip, and this one might be a little more commonly known, is that duct tape works really well for labeling.
So if you have a permanent marker and some duct tape, you can label everything so that when people are trying to help you unpack, they know exactly where to put this stuff.
As far as a suitcase goes, they know whose suitcase it is and where it should go. I put labels on everything and that helps other people be able to help you out because unpacking is not a one person job.
3. Start laundry quickly
My third tip for how to unpack your luggage is to always start laundry right away because there's always more laundry than you thought you had.
From our last trip alone, I think we did 7 or 8 loads of laundry. Now we are doing bed sheets too because we'd been gone a little while, and blankets and things from the living room and towels from the bathroom need some freshening up.
Let’s face it, every time you come back, there's going to be lots of laundry that needs to be done, and the sooner you deal with it the better.
4. Use Febreze
My fourth tip is to plug in a Febreze diffuser, put some of those essential oils in it, light a candle, do something to make the air smell better. When your environment smells better, you feel better.
5. Disinfect your things
My next tip is to wipe everything down with some kind of disinfectant.
If things smell better and are cleaner, then you will feel much better putting away your stuff.
So wipe down all the surfaces, and get all the preliminary dust out of the way so that you can start off fresh.
6. Have freezer meals or takeout
Now this one is a little bit of a pre-vacation tip. And that’s to have freezer meals already made up, because once you get in a rhythm of unpacking, there's nothing worse than having to pause everything just to go and feed everyone in your family.
The other option is to get some takeout. That way you can just keep on unpacking, and you don't have to pause what you're doing to make sure that you are fed and not cranky.
7. Set timers
My next tip is to set some timers because sometimes we feel like something takes forever when it's legitimately only taking a half hour.
Another time we might think that something is taking no time at all, and then four hours later we're like, where did all of the time go?
Don't stay on a task that's taking too long. Switch over to something where you can see some immediate progress so that you'll get that energy back up so that you can tackle that task again later. It also helps you see your progress.
8. Play music
My eighth tip is to play some music because music is shown to improve your mood, and it can help you move faster. There's some psychology behind that. Upbeat music helps you move faster. So think about the music you're playing.
9. Go large to small
This next tip is just something that I have learned over the years. Going from large to small items really helps. By getting something big out of the way, the leftover pile of stuff instantly looks smaller.
10. Make piles
And speaking of piles, tip number 10 is to make sure that when you're unpacking, try to unpack things in rooms that are all in one pile.
So when you're taking things out of the car or whatever you're doing, instead of putting it all over the place in that room, stick it in one pile in the corner.
That way if you're trying to go to bed in your bedroom, your whole bed's not taken up with junk. If you're trying to clean up the kitchen, you're not tripping over piles of stuff here and there and everywhere in order to put things away.
You won't feel so overwhelmed either.
Bonus tip: Set a reward
I know I said 10 tips, but bonus tip: set yourself a reward. Packing and unpacking is not normally the thing that we like to do the most. It's not very fun.
So if you've been working for a little while, and you're getting to a good stopping point, give yourself a little reward. Sit and play on your phone, drink some coffee, enjoy a hot tea, get some chocolate, or go for a walk.
When you have something that you're motivated about, you work a lot faster because you want to get to that good part.
Unpacking hacks
By using these unpacking hacks, you’ll get the job done a whole lot faster and more efficiently than you ever thought possible.
What is your favorite hack from the list? Let me know down below. Happy unpacking!
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