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December 21, 2018

Business as Usual: How to Plan Moving Your Small Home Office

At least 43% of Americans occasionally work remotely from home.

What’s the best way to be productive when you’re working from home? Working in a dedicated small home office.

Your small home office is a vital space but, it can be easy to overlook when you’re moving. Getting the bedrooms and kitchen sorted and packed takes up a lot of time. However, thought and preparation should also be given to your home office during the moving process.

Here we’ll look at how to organize and pack your small home office space.

1. Sort Out the Papers You Don’t Need

Every office has a drawer full of papers which are probably no longer needed. It’s time to sort through them and decide which ones should go to the shredder and which should remain on hand or scanned to make it a digital document.

This sounds like a tedious task, but it’ll help you organize and possibly save you space in your new office.

Allow a few hours for this culling process. You’ll be glad you did it!

2. Asses Your Furniture

Is your current home office already perfect with the ideal set-up? Or is it made up of old pieces of furniture from around the house that don’t quite fit or coordinate?

This is the time to sell or donate the uncomfortable chair you have been sitting on or the pieces that don’t fit or match. By selling some of your possessions, you’ll be able to afford new items for your home office when you move to your new home.

Consider stand up desks, a comfortable, supportive chair and a monitor at eye level. Now is the perfect time to donate, sell, and reduce the number of items in your home office.

3. Backup Everything Before You Move

Before you start putting things into boxes, backup everything you own. Consider using the 3-2-1 backup rule: three copies of your data, two local (on different devices) as well as one off-site.

Moving day is chaotic, so you should be prepared for the worst. Make sure all of your work is backed up to multiple places.

Finally, just like with important personal documents, keep critical home office documents or belongings with you at all times. Pack and label them accordingly and bring them to your new home with you in your car.

4. Let Your Contacts Know You’re Moving

Depending on how much business you do from your home office, it’s key to let business contacts know you’re relocating.

Don’t let important mail end up with those who now live in your old house. Make a list of everyone who contacts you at your home office, and notify them about your new mailing information and phone number.

5. Plan Your New Home Office

Make a detailed plan of how you want your small home office to look. Then, execute it as carefully as possible.

Determine if your current office furniture will fit into the new space. Strive for a functional, pleasant work area that will inspire you to be productive and work more efficiently. If you have access to your new home office before moving day, use painter’s tape to develop the best furniture and lighting layout.

After all of your hard work, this is where the fun begins. This is where you can get creative with a new design, fresh paint color, and correcting any flaws in your current home office layout.