Start with the elevator window in mind
If your building requires a reserved freight elevator, everything you can pack ahead of time should be boxed and staged near the door before that window opens. Losing the first twenty minutes of a two-hour reservation to last-minute packing is the most common way apartment moves run long.
Ask the leasing office exactly what the reservation covers, sometimes it is the elevator alone and sometimes it includes a specific loading dock or door as well.
Label for the new address, not the old one
Write the destination room on two sides of every box, not the top, since boxes get stacked in the elevator and on the truck. Use the room names for the new place, which may not match how you thought of the rooms in your current apartment.
A short contents note helps too. Coffee maker and mugs written on a box means finding breakfast the first morning instead of opening several kitchen cartons one at a time.
What to carry yourself
Documents, jewelry, medications, and anything irreplaceable should ride with you rather than on the truck, especially for a move where the elevator reservation means the truck may sit briefly between loads.
A first-night bag with bedding, chargers, and a change of clothes saves a late-night search through boxes once the crew has left and the apartment is technically yours.
Parking and access notes
If your building has limited visitor parking or a specific loading zone, confirm it can hold a moving truck for the length of the reservation, not just a car for ten minutes. Some Vallejo apartment complexes near the waterfront have very short loading zones that need a second vehicle moved out of the way before the truck can pull in.
Passing this information along ahead of time, rather than discovering it on move day, is usually what keeps an apartment move inside its window.