You can find suggestions for how to pack a moving truck all over the internet, so instead of adding to these suggestions, we thought we’d share a few tips for before you pack the truck. Adding these 4 simple things to your to-do list will make life much easier once you get around to the actual load-in.

1. Buy Boxes that are all the same size. (Or if you need some variety, only buy 2 or 3 sizes.)

Uniformly sized boxes will allow you to pack your truck in an orderly way that will keep your belongings secure as you drive and simplify your loading and unloading.

If you’re like us, you may be tempted to save a few bucks by going to the liquor store for free wine and liquor boxes. From experience, we say — Don’t do it! It will add time and frustration to the already-annoying ordeal of moving.

2. Pick up everything you’re moving and set it down in a different place.

Yes, this one sounds weird, but it helps. Promise.

As you’re packing, you’ll want to say about some things, “Oh, I’ll get that later” or “I can just throw that in the truck after it’s packed.” All the stuff you say that about will add up and — best-case scenario — the back end of your moving truck will be a total mess. Worst case scenario, you won’t have room for all the things you said “later” about.

Our suggestion is to simply pick up absolutely everything you have to pack and set it down somewhere else (preferably in the middle of a room). This will help you keep everything in mind as you pack your truck and lessen the possibility of you coming to what you think is the end of packing the truck and realizing you still have a quarter-truck’s worth of odds and ends left to stick in there somehow.

3. Label your boxes by weight.

As you load your moving truck, you know from common sense that heavy stuff should go on the bottom and light stuff at the top. What most people do as they’re packing their truck is to pick up and set down a few boxes until they find one that’s the right weight for the spot they need to fill.

This is a ton of unnecessary time and effort over the course of packing a whole truck.

To avoid it, simply label each box that you pack by its weight. You’re already writing what’s in it and what room it should go in at your destination. Add to this info “Heavy,” “Medium,” or “Light.” Then when you’re packing the truck, just look at your label. Your back will thank you.

4. Designate a truck packer.

It may seem easiest or most democratic for everyone helping you move to have the same job. But if you go this route  everyone who brings a box out of your old place will also be the one putting it in the truck. This will inevitably result in a disorganized, inefficiently, maybe even dangerously packed truck.

Instead pick out one of your oh-so-helpful friends — preferably one with good sense, spatially speaking — and have him or her be the only one packing your stuff in the truck.

This tip has the added bonus of making it easier to know who to blame if something’s scratched or broken when you arrive.

We know that this list doesn’t make moving easy or enjoyable, but follow these steps and even though you’ll still hate moving, hopefully you’ll hate it a little less.