I've been referred to as the queen of transition in the past.  I've moved QUITE a bit, and have found these to be the best solutions and tips:

1. Widdle down what you have: create a keep, toss, and donate pile.  Then, once you are finished organizing everything, remove what will not be moved with you.  This will cut down your packing.


2. Collect banana boxes: I love packing with these because I don't need tape, and they're free.  All I've had to do is call the night before, and then show up when the store asked me to pick them up.  They're easy to carry because they have handles, and they stack without falling over.


3. Start with what you don't use: pack the items you don't frequently use, like photo albums, old movies, and wall hangings. 


4. Keep the boxes labeled: as soon as the box is packed, figure out a labeling system that works best for you.  For example, rather than writing out the entire word, assign a number for each room.  Then, create a map of your new apartment using those numbers.  As the boxes are unloaded, they can go into the appropriate room immediatly.


5. Pack what you need last: the items, like for your kitchen and bathroom, should be packed last and put on the truck last.  That way, you can immediately take these items out and put them to use.


6. Pack a "I have to have this now" suitcase or box: these items include at least to changes of clothes, toiletries, vital documents, and snacks.  This should be in your car with you, or in an accessable area of the truck for immediate use.


7. Give your friends and family plenty of notice: If you're asking for help, give your friends and family plenty of advanced notice in case they make other plans or have to work.  This is particularly beneficial when you're asking for help from people with trucks.  You want to work around their schedule as much as you possibly can.


8. Use trash bags: when I've moved bedroom furniture, I've found that placing a trash bag over the clothes in the drawers works well when they're stacked with other things - that way, the clothes don't get dirty, and you don't have to worry about packing more things.  I've also placed the drawers back into the dressers or chests when they're on the truck to save space.


9. Feed your help:  I can't stress this enough!  Make sure there is plenty of food (pizza or subs work great) and drinks (water works best) for your help!


10. Don't organize and arrange right away: remember, you're going to be living there for a long period of time, hopefully, so only worry about arranging the larger pieces of furniture.  The rest can be taken care of when you're in less of a hurry and you're well rested.

I hope these are helpful to you

I have two tips,
My biggest tip would be label those boxes!
And don't let your friends drink the beer until they are finished helping you. Nothing worse than having drunk friends help you move!

I have learned the hard way to not put books in a box bigger than a microwave.
Like it's been said above, organization is key. The last time I moved (I've moved five times in eight years) we moved in a hurry and by the end we were just putting random objects into boxes where they didn't belong - we just recently found some weights in with the Christmas decorations. It's best to keep books with books, dishes with dishes, computer cords with computer cords, etc. to ensure that you don't lose anything. In all my moves I've lost two of my most prized possessions: a Nintendo Entertainment System (complete with dozens of games) and my copy of Bart Simpson's Guide to Life.

The best tip I can give you is to accept that something will break.
No move is ever perfect and something always ends up being scratched or broken along the way. Chances are that it is replaceable so just be prepared in advance to shrug it off and it won't bother you as much when it happens.

I'm not sure why your last moves were chaotic, but maybe they weren't organized very well. I am kind of a neat freak and label every box with its contents carefully so I don't wonder what went where. I also number the boxes and keep a piece of paper with a list of each box and its contents.

For the real valuables I don't trust moving companies and I just take care of them myself.

Do not wait until the last minute to pack. Depending on the amount of stuff you have, the whole process of packing may take weeks.

Only invite people to help when you are friends with them. When friends start inviting friends of their friends, you stuff will never be taken care of and given the respect it deserves.

Have a BBQ the next day or weekend to thank them. Like someone said above, never offer them booze on the same day of the move. Nothing worse than drunk help!

Be ready to toss your prized 20 year old chipped and worn plates away. Your girlfriend more than likely has a better set and will want to use hers!

Think of it as an adventure. Having a positive attitude helps in every situation! Have fun!

Ugh moving, my heart goes out to you, I've moved 9 times in the last 8 years (yeah I can't figure out the math either)

Let me break it down with bullet points...

• Call your local goodwill and find out what they take, if you have furniture or clothing you won't be taking with you, call them first, they may come and pick up some of your stuff.
• Get lots of boxes in advance, don't leave this to the last minute, make sure you have enough boxes and don't pack them too heavily.
• Are you moving far? are you using your car, friends truck or a uhaul? How many trips will you need? Depending on what your transportation will be you'll want to plan in advance what items go in each trip. If it's 1 trip in a uhaul make sure you pack the furniture in there first and pack the boxes around it.
• Do you have a fishtank? I had a fishtank, that wasn't fun.
• Do you have any pets? Consider how you will move them.
• Are you enlisting friends? If so give them lots of advance notice and be sure to pay them in beer, not money, beer is a must, and you let them drink until they are done.
• Back the boxes, make sure you label you boxes and pack them with newspaper, you don't want stuff jiggling around.
  
• Oh.. and make sure your music isn't packed too deep you might want to have a listen to it while your unpacking.

Good luck with the news.

Don't empty the drawers of dressers and other furniture.  Remove them completely to move the piece of furniture and replace them in the truck, repeat this process going in.  You'll save packing time and room in the truck.

One of my favorite moving ideas is from "Callahan's Key", by Spider Robinson. Faced with moving a huge bar quickly, the organizational guru among them told them that, since they knew where everything was now, to start on the left and work toward the right, putting everything into boxes without regard to whether the item should be kept. They had lots of people, and there would be too many questions and decisions otherwise. Number the boxes so it was clear in which order they went.
Once done, the boxes should be unloaded and kept in the same order, left to right. As they needed things in the new residence, all they had to do was remember where the thing was in the old place and go to a box in that general area.
Since I've had to move other people's belongings in a quick and dirty way before, I wish I'd known this technique at the time! Good luck on the move.

get the big stuff out of the way first! and get as many friends and family to help. the more people there....the less Yo have to carry.

My easiest moves have been when I took my time and moved items a few at a time. If this is possible try it. I would move half of my clothes, my computer and my music first, and stay at night at my girlfriends. Then I would start moving the rest. I would be prepared to let my girlfriend decide about where to put any household goods that weren't heirlooms, and I would ask her to look over my stuff before I move it, and then first move the stuff that she felt would be most useful to the two of you as you begin to live together.

plan early, pack well and pack in uniform sized boxes, you can get 2 cubic foot size boxes that are good for books, cd's, dvd's and small items. 4 cubic foot size boxes that are good for kitchen items, linens, lamps, electronic items. for valuable dishes and glassware you can get what is called a china barrel , it is a doubled walled box and is very strong. It is also good to wrap every item in paper then pack it in the boxes,, this keeps things from getting broke in transit. You can get actual moving paper however newspaper works just as well. The reason for uniform boxes is more efficient use of space on the truck. Use your dressers and appliances as base and pack boxes on these base items. The rule to loading a truck is heavy big items at the bottom and work to the the lightest and smallest at the top, I know that is common sense but you would be surprised how some people load a truck. Pack everything right side up, things are less likely to break, the only exception to this is glass plates, stand them on edge more so than stacking in a pile. furniture items is good to cover with blankets to avoid scratches and gouges, if you rent a truck from u-haul or some other rental places they should come with felt pad furniture pads, if not ask for them and don't let them scam you into buying them, if they do not supply them for the move demand to get a discount on the truck or go to another shop. drink lots of water on the day of the move, get plenty of rest the few days before hand, get lots of hand helping out, be patient and plan, plan, plan, and plan early and give yourself lots of time, to load 10,000 pounds of household items will take 4 people approx 6 hours to load and 3 to 4 to unload. 10,000 pounds would be a typical three bedroom apartment. Also it is good to keep one guy on the truck quaterbacking the loading and three or four others bringing the stuff out to the truck and pack the truck tight to avoid movement during transit this will keep things from getting broke.