The night before a move, one question keeps coming up:
Does everyone else really have everything packed before the movers arrive?
Many people guess "about 70%." That sounds reasonable. But public surveys rarely ask the exact question: "What share of people had every box packed when the movers walked in?"
Still, the surveys we can find point the same way. Most people start weeks ahead, and running out of time looks like a minority case, not the norm. That does not mean everyone is calm and perfectly organized. It just means the usual move is not "the truck is outside and the whole apartment is still unpacked."
The things left until the end are usually the things you still use: toiletries, bedding, food in the fridge, and above all the computer setup.
At that point, moving stops being about packing. It becomes a fight with cables.
1. People start earlier than you think, but 34.3% does not mean "didn't finish"
A 2019 LIFULL HOME'S PRESS survey asked when people began preparing to move. 39.8% said one month before, 21.48% said two weeks before, and 20.5% said two months or more before. Only 1.8% started the day before, and 0.42% started on moving day.[1]
A 2024 SUUMO survey shows a similar picture. 39.4% started a month or more ahead and 38.8% started two to three weeks ahead. Together that is 78.2%, so most people start at least two weeks early.[2]
There is one number that is easy to misread. In a 2023 survey by Art Moving Company, 34.3% said "packing" was the paid service they wished they had used or wanted to use.[3]
That does not mean 34.3% failed to finish packing.
It also counts people who finished on their own and thought, "That was awful. Next time I'll pay someone to make this mountain of boxes disappear."
In another LIFULL survey of 361 people, 16.3% chose "I ran out of time to pack or sort my things" as a moving mistake.[4]
So we can't say that everyone finishes with time to spare. We also can't say that most people fail.
"Maybe 70% get it done" is not a wild guess. But public data can't confirm that exact number.
2. A move is not just a deadline. A real truck shows up
A move has a very strong kind of deadline.
A work task that was due "this week" can slide to next week. Sorting your stuff can wait another month under "I'll do it later."
A move can't slide. At the set time, real people and a real truck arrive.
The truck will not wait until you feel ready.
As the day gets closer, your options shrink fast.
Pack it. Box it. Finish.
That is why someone who spent days thinking "there's no way I'll finish" can work at top speed on the last morning. Their personality didn't change overnight. They just ran out of ways to put it off.
A moving company is a very big, very real deadline.
3. Having a few things left on moving morning does not mean you were badly prepared
It would be nice to seal everything three days early. But people still live in their homes until they leave.
Things you use until the end stay out:
- phone chargers
- toiletries
- bedding
- a few dishes
- food in the fridge
- the computer and monitor
These are not always things you put off. Some are things you kept out because you still need them.
What matters is what is left. Is it the last batch of daily necessities, or is half the home still untouched?
If it is the first, you are already at the final step.
The goal on moving day is not to make the room look like a museum storeroom.
The goal is to get everything into a state where the movers can carry it out safely.
4. The computer corner suddenly gets harder: the comfort you built comes due
A good computer setup makes daily life easier.
You add a monitor. Then an external drive. Then speakers, a USB hub, and a power strip.
Each one feels great when you buy it.
On moving day, they all turn against you at once.
A monitor is not just a flat screen. It comes with a power cable, a video cable, and a stand.
A desktop is not just a box. It has USB, video, audio, network, and storage cables sticking out of it.
Every bit of comfort you added means more work when you move.
Your setup was not a monthly subscription.
It was a one-time purchase, and the bill for the work arrives on moving day.
5. For the PC, monitors, and cables, aim to rebuild it, not to organize it perfectly
If you read the official moving guides side by side, the steps are quite simple.
Art Moving Company advises you to back up important data, turn off the power, unplug every cable, and pack the cables, mouse, and keyboard together with a note on the box saying what is inside.[5]
The company's guide for TVs and audio equipment says that taking photos of the wiring and marking cables with tags makes setup easier afterward.[6]
Another moving service's official guide also says to protect computers and monitors with padding and to bundle cables so you can tell which device each one belongs to.[7]
So the shortest route is this:
- Back up your important data.
- Shut the computer down fully. Make sure any external drive is not writing data.
- Take photos before you unplug anything. Shoot the whole desk, the back of the PC, the back of the monitor, and the power strip.
- Unplug the cables. Mark only the ones that need it, such as "center monitor" or "PC power."
- Bundle the cables by use. You do not have to treat each cable like a museum piece.
- Protect the monitor so nothing presses on the screen.
- Keep the PC and external drives safe from bumps and drops.
- Write what is inside on the box. Even just "PC accessories" or "monitor cables" makes setup much faster later.
Sakai Moving Service also says it can pack and transport desktop PCs. But it asks customers to unplug and reconnect the cables themselves, and to back up data first.[8]
What each mover covers differs, so the terms of your own contract come first.
6. If someone else will set things up in your new home, you need even less cable detail
If you are not rebuilding the whole desk yourself in the new place, your goal in the old place changes.
You don't need a perfect cable map that only you can understand.
What you need is a setup that another person can rebuild from the photos and the parts.
So you don't have to put a long label on every HDMI cable.
- a photo of the finished setup
- close-ups of the ports on the back
- a simple mark only on unusual connections
- cables in bags, grouped by device
That is plenty.
At the new home, you can just show the photo and say, "Please set it up like this."
If you try to document every single cable in the old home, you will use up the scarcest thing on moving day: your own time.
If it can be rebuilt, you win.
This is not a cable-organizing contest.
7. At the end, ask "Can I hand this over safely?" not "Is it perfectly tidy?"
Right before the move, change how you judge your progress.
A few days ahead, it is worth sorting, throwing things out, and grouping them carefully.
But just before the movers come, your priorities are these:
Don't break it. Don't forget it. Make it ready to carry out. Make it possible to set up again.
Anything tidier than that is a bonus if you have energy left.
Near the end of a move, thinking "I'll take photos, get a box, wrap it so it won't break, and ask someone to set it up again" is not sloppy.
It is just cutting the work down to what the goal needs.
On a normal day, a fancy PC setup is something to be proud of. On moving day, it is a boss covered in cables.
Even so, the job is finite: take photos, shut down, unplug, protect, and box it.
In the end, the physical world wins.
The truck is coming, so the boxes get closed.
References (8)
- LIFULL HOME'S PRESS, Umfrage 2019 zu Umzugsthemen. Beginn der Vorbereitung: einen Monat vorher 39,8 %, zwei Wochen vorher 21,48 %, zwei Monate oder früher 20,5 %, eine Woche vorher 15,3 %, am Vortag 1,8 %, am Umzugstag 0,42 % homes.co.jp
- SUUMO Umzug, Packratgeber, Umfrage vom 07.03.2024, n=500. Einen Monat oder früher 39,4 %, zwei bis drei Wochen vorher 38,8 %, eine Woche vorher 17,6 %, innerhalb von drei Tagen 2,4 %, am Vortag 0,6 %, nicht selbst gepackt 1,2 % hikkoshi.suumo.jp
- Art Moving Company, Umfrage 2023 unter Personen mit Umzugserfahrung, n=394 (Personen, die im Vorjahr eine Umzugsfirma genutzt hatten). Das Packen war mit 34,3 % die am häufigsten genannte kostenpflichtige Leistung, die man gern genutzt hätte oder nutzen wollte the0123.com
- LIFULL HOME'S PRESS, Ranking der Umzugspannen, n=361. 16,3 % wählten bei den Umzugspannen die Antwort „Das Packen oder Sortieren wurde zeitlich nicht fertig“ homes.co.jp
- Art Moving Company, Ratgeber zur Umzugsvorbereitung für Computer. Empfiehlt Datensicherung, Herunterfahren, Abziehen der Kabel sowie gemeinsames Verpacken von Kabeln und Zubehör mit klarer Beschriftung the0123.com
- Art Moving Company, Ratgeber zur Umzugsvorbereitung für Fernseher und Audiogeräte. Empfiehlt, die Anschlüsse zu fotografieren und die Kabel vor dem Umzug mit Anhängern oder Markierungen zu versehen the0123.com
- Offizieller Ratgeber eines Umzugsdienstes, Tipps zum effizienten Packen. Empfiehlt Datensicherung, Polsterung für Computer und Monitore sowie das Bündeln und Beschriften von Kabeln 008008.jp
- Sakai Moving Service, Packen-FAQ. Desktop-PCs können verpackt und transportiert werden; Kunden werden gebeten, Kabel selbst abzuziehen und wieder anzuschließen und vorher Daten zu sichern hikkoshi-sakai.co.jp
