Working at Home; Moving Makes it Seem Like a Bad Idea

When you decided to work at home you probably never considered how much of a hassle moving might be. Unless you are very successful home worker, and therefore can afford packing assistance, you are the solely responsible for all of the organization, packing, and unpacking. (Hopefully you can hire a moving company to do the lifting.)

When you must pack up a home office for a move, the heavy furniture seems to be the easiest part of the process. The hard part is organizing and packing all the desk contents, supplies, and papers into moving boxes.  If most of your documents are filed away in cabinets, those can be locked and moved as is.  But papers, reports, and books stored on shelves require some time to prepare and pack. And if your file cabinets don’t have locks, you must use very strong tape to keep them closed in transit.

How to Organize Before You Pack up Your Office

The first chore before getting ready to pack is to inventory—mentally or otherwise—everything that must be moved.  Discard now everything that you have been saving for too long. It would be a good idea to find some small containers that will fit nicely into the larger moving boxes. Then you can collect supplies (and your treasures) together so they are easier to find when you set up in a new location. This might be a good time to donate to your church or local charity all the supplies that you thought you needed but have just been collecting dust in your desk drawers.  (After all, it might be a tax deduction.)  And don’t forget to plan for things like lighting, bulletin boards, and art work.  (I have art work in my office—doesn’t everyone?  I have a very old photograph of Thomas Edison who has been in every office for 40 years!)

While you are preparing to pack take the time to visualize your new office and decide where everything will be organized there. In this way you can do a better job of organizing your moving boxes and labeling the contents. If your new scheme is well considered beforehand, you will have fewer problems getting unpacked in your new office.

Packing Your Computer

Computer equipment and supplies are probably the most problematic to pack and move. Good information and a video about stabilizing and moving a computer can be found on Ask.com.  ome of their most important tips are: make sure you have adequate insurance, back up all of your files; and locate the original carton! Of course you remembered to keep it… I have kept computer boxes in my basement for years—only to end up recycling them, when my equipment wore out, but as long as I have room, I keep them in a little-used corner. If you have tossed them, call a moving supply store and purchase moving boxes especially made for both the desktop and the monitor. 

Wrap the keyboard, mouse, printer, and any external drives so they are protected. And don’t forget to label the cords so you can easily reassemble all of the equipment in your new office!  If you do happen to own more than one computer, make doubly sure that all the peripherals are marked and packed with the main component if possible. Be sure to mark all the boxes as fragile, and write “Computer Equipment” on the outside as well.

Packing Books

Most home offices have lots of books—I have LOTS of books. It is important to pack them so that they don’t become damaged in the move.  Select small boxes with very sturdy sides and make sure that the bottoms are securely sealed.  Try to organize your volumes into like-sized batches, but if you must pack varied sizes in the same box, put the heavier ones on the bottom.  Pack the box neatly and completely, filling in any empty spaces with newsprint.  It is important to make everything snug so that the books don’t shift during transit. That could really damage the spines. 

After you have decided what and how much, the next step is to decide what moving boxes you need.  This is not the time to make do with scavenged boxes from your neighbor or the wine store.  With all the great choices available for purchase or for hire, you should be able to do a little research first, and then select the right cartons for you. Moving firms also have strong, reusable plastic crates that can be rented. They are available in many configurations—open-sided, flip tops, wheeled, or stackable. Eco-friendly and safer than cardboard, they will be dropped off at your home ready to go—so there will be no downtime for box assembly. (If you are moving a long way do make sure that the firm you use will pick up in your destination.)

Moving your home office does not need to be stressful. The key is to be prepared, eliminate what you don’t need, and use adequate moving boxes and supplied to get the job done well.

Connie Williams is an information junkie who lives to ferret out fascinating ideas for her readers. She writes blog posts on a variety of topics such as packing boxes.  Unfortunately, she has moved much too often, and has learned that proper organization and the use of sturdy moving boxes saves your sanity when you must move!