If you’re packing boxes for moving, don’t just dump your contents in the box and call it a day.

Pack the boxes carefully, and then store your moving boxes the right way. I’ve come up with several tips that will teach you how to pack boxes for moving or long-term storage.

1. Start sorting before packing boxes: In each room of your home, organize items into three groups: necessities, heavy items, and light items.

The first group is crucial when moving. These are items you’ll need to access immediately after moving into a new home, such as clothes, toiletries, and bathroom supplies. The remaining groups separate heavy and light items. Though you may have a variety of item sizes in these two groups, focusing on the weight of the belongings and not the size will allow you to better distribute weight among moving boxes while packing.

2. Fill the moving box almost entirely: for non-fragile items, fill every space that you can without making the box too heavy. Boxes that aren’t full might collapse when they’re stacked. Add excess packing paper if you have to so that each box is packed tight before you seal it. For fragile items, make sure there are at least two inches of packing material on all sides of the box.

3. Take extra time wrapping breakables: taking the time to wrap your breakables properly could mean the difference in whether or not they arrive in one piece. Again, it’s better to overpack fragile items like dishes than to under-pack them. Put dishes and plates into boxes on their side, never flat. If you stack cups and bowls, be sure to place paper or padding in between each piece.

4. Place heavy items in small moving boxes: it’s a good idea to move heavier belongings in small boxes. With a smaller moving box, you can avoid overpacking heavy items and ensure the box holds up throughout your move. Keep this in mind when packing items like dishes and books in particular, as these items don’t seem that heavy individually but can be when grouped together.

5. Put light items in large moving boxes: on the flip side, large boxes are great for packing lighter belongings since you can fit more into them without adding too much weight. Items like towels, pillows, bedding, stuffed animals, and even clothing are ideal for large boxes because they take up a lot of space but don’t come with extra heft.

6. Use wardrobe boxes for clothes: have a lot of clothes hanging in your closet? Rather than trying to pack clothes into suitcases or standard moving boxes, use wardrobe boxes. These specialty boxes typically come with a rod that allows you to hang clothing inside the box to keep clothes wrinkle-free and make transporting them simpler.

7. Keep small miscellaneous items in bags: Instead of dropping items like phone chargers, ethernet cables, screws, and small knick-knacks into a box all on their own, place them in resealable bags or clear containers and put them at the very top of boxes. Make sure to keep them in boxes with their associated room, too, so you don’t misplace them!