Some people prefer remote work – but where’s the best place to move your home office? Just because you’re working partially or permanently from home doesn’t mean the area where you live doesn’t matter.
In some cases, it helps to be close to the company that employs you. The area you choose can also impact your expenses, choice of recreational activities, and more. Portland is one of the most popular destinations on the West Coast. If you’re looking to move your home office to this stronghold of industry and innovation, here are some tips for making the journey.
Start by Mapping Out Your Office Setup
For many professionals, the quality of their workspace directly contributes to their level of productivity. If your environment is well organized, it’s more likely your workflows will be too.
It’s likely you take great care to set your space in your preferred way. This is why the thought of a home office move to Portland can be disruptive – are you prepared to disassemble everything so you can rebuild it in a new location?
This process becomes much easier when you make lists and take pictures to capture everything as it is now. When you’re mapping out your home office setup, consider qualities of your workspace like:
- The layout of your furniture including your desk, cabinets, chairs, and lighting
- Cable hookups on your computers, monitors, printers, and phone systems
- Contents of bookshelves, drawers, and organizers
Not only does this information take the guesswork away when you’re setting up your new office, but it empowers you to get back to work faster so you’ll only experience minimal downtime.
Pack Smart and Safe with Proper Techniques
When it’s time to actually start taking apart the pieces and preparing them for the trip, it’s crucial you use proper packing techniques. Not only will these make your move less stressful, but they’ll preserve the crucial items that you need for your work.
Use Cable Cases or Improvise a Solution
Tangled cables can be a mess to deal with. Plus if the ends get bent, it could impact your connection and hinder your productivity. Many cables come with specialized cases they can be rolled up into for easy transport.
Don’t have one for every cable you own? Try running them through a paper towel roll. This will stop them from twisting up during the trip, allowing you to easily unpack them and get everything plugged back up to get to work.
Protect Your Electronics and Give Extra Care to Screens
Anything electronic in your office should be wrapped and padded carefully to ensure it makes the trip safely. In addition to padding all computers, hardware devices, and appliances appropriately in their boxes, consider tips like these:
- Take the ink and toner cartridges out of your printers to avoid possible leaks. Don’t forget to remove them from multifunction devices as well.
- If you have a desktop computer, see if you have packing foam to stabilize the inside such as the kind manufacturers use when the device is first sent to you
- Add extra padding to anything with a screen, and know where it’s loaded in the truck – this includes monitors, scanners, copiers, and tablets
For those who tend to keep boxes around just in case they need to return an item for repairs or a refund, these (along with their original packing foam) work great for a home office move.
Prepare Your Furniture for the Trip or Take it Apart
If you’re worried about how to get your large furniture pieces onto the moving truck easily, see which units can be disassembled. Also if you want to load your cabinets and drawers without unpacking them, consider wrapping them up so they can’t fly open in transit.
Speaking of wrapping, it can also be used to protect those motivational art pieces on the wall or personal family photos on your desk. As for rugs, roll them up before wrapping for easy loading.
Prepare for the Unexpected During Your Move
Every working professional knows that things don’t always go according to plan. When you’re planning a home office move in Portland, you should account for things that may go wrong.
No matter how well you prepare and how much caution you take during your move, accidents can happen. So to save yourself from potential stress and delays in getting back to work, make sure you prepare for the unexpected.
Schedule Extra Time for Your Home Office Move
As the old saying goes, in the world of business you want to under-promise and over-deliver. If your move takes a week to make, tell your clients or employer you’ll be ready in two. If something does go wrong, you’re covered. If it doesn’t, you got back in half the time you promised.
The extra time could also be used to help you ease into work at your new location. While working from home can be comfortable, working from a new home may take time to get used to even with an identical office layout.
Backup Your Data and Safeguard Your Property
Even if your computer and storage drives are packed safely and handled with care, there’s always a chance something could happen to your data. Making physical and cloud backups before your move can protect you from potential loss of information and business.
If you handle the task of moving your home office alone, you’re on the hook if something happens to your property. But if you go with a Portland moving company that’s insured, you’ll be covered if anything happens to any piece of your home office setup or any of the rest of your possessions.
Trust Your Home Office Move to the Top Movers in Portland
When you need movers in Portland for your home office move, Redefyne Moving is ready to help.
We’re experts in both residential and commercial moves, so we can pack up your home office and the rest of your rooms too.
Not only that, but we bring all the moving supplies you’ll need for the job. Our licensed and insured company also has tons of positive feedback, so you can see the kind of work we do.
Above all, we’re professionals – we know your home office setup is crucial to your work success, so we’ll be respectful of your property and your time.
Let’s get going moving your home office to Portland – contact us today so we can get started.
