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Move flat in three weeks: the complete step-by-step
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This isn't an article about how you ought to get organised. It's the actual guide, in the order it gets done. If you have a move coming up, work straight from it.
It assumes a two-bedroom flat, a move within the same city, and three weeks from decision to first night in the new place.
Week 1 — decisions and paperwork
1. Fix the date and book the movers (30 min). Good firms fill up two to three weeks out, and end-of-month weekends go first. Book first, optimise later.
2. Give notice to your landlord or building manager (20 min). Check the notice period in your contract — it decides whether you pay an extra month. Send it in writing, even if you've already said it out loud.
3. Inventory the big rooms (45 min). Walk each room and note what moves, what gets sold, what gets binned. Don't itemise small things; you're after volume, so you know what size van you need.
4. Schedule the utility transfers (40 min). Electricity, gas, internet. Internet is the painful one: installation runs on its own timeline, so request it first.
5. Get rid of a quarter of your stuff (2–3 hours, spread out). The cheapest item to move is the one you don't move. Simple rule: unused for a year and no clear sentimental value means it goes.
Week 2 — packing
6. Buy supplies in one trip (1 hour). Boxes in two sizes, tape, bubble wrap, thick marker, bin bags. Get 20% more boxes than you think you need.
7. Pack in reverse order of need (5–6 hours, in sessions). Start with what you don't use: books, out-of-season clothes, decorations. Kitchen and bathroom stay for last.
8. Label boxes with the destination room, not the contents (part of step 7). "Kitchen" on the lid and on one side. Unloading gets three times faster, because nobody has to ask you anything.
9. Make the first-night box (30 min). Toilet paper, a towel, chargers, medication, one change of clothes, coffee, a knife, a few plates. It travels in your car, not the van.
10. Photograph the back of your electronics (15 min). Every cable where it belongs, in a picture. Saves you an hour of guessing.
Week 3 — the move
11. Two days out: empty and defrost the fridge (10 min plus waiting).
12. On the day, take the first-night box and valuables yourself (1 hour). Documents, laptop, jewellery — your car, not the van.
13. Read the meters in both places and photograph them (15 min). This is the step nearly everyone skips, and it's the only one that produces a disputed bill two months later.
14. Unload by room, not into piles (takes what it takes). Every box straight into the room written on it.
15. Assemble the beds first (1–2 hours). Everything else can wait; the day always ends better if you have somewhere to sleep.
The week after
16. Change your address where it matters (1 hour). Bank, employer, doctor, deliveries. Do them in one sitting, with a list in front of you.
That's the whole thing. Sixteen steps, in order, with durations — exactly the shape every guide on Finito has, except this one is about moving and it's here for free.
If the thing you're facing is more complicated than a move — a company, a licence, a career change — look for it in the catalogue. The difference there is that the steps come from someone who has walked them more than once.
