I’d love to glorify my current calendar mess and say something like, “I’m moving into a new studio space.” The cameras would slowly pan across my minimalist desk, the dim lighting would reveal the razor-sharp edges of my Apple hardware, and the piles of notebooks would remind you of Ray Bradbury, not this hectic freelancer.
This has been a crazy week…and it’s only Wednesday.
Glorification aside, this really is a cool process. I’m moving into a new house with some friends of mine, which means no more smoking jackets and lots more space. My bills will remain about the same as they are now, the distance to everywhere increases only slightly, and having more opportunities to work on projects with my best friend/business partner will be a breath of fresh air. Getting there is the hard part; I won’t bore you with the gory details.
When considering the transition of a home office, there are a few things you have to keep in mind. Some of this I’m learning the hard way, but overall things have been clicking along rather nicely.
- Make sure you transition your internet services, home insurance, and project drives on day one. You don’t want to be stuck in a new place without connectivity, coverage, or chief capabilities.
- Keep a text file or Hipster PDA full of details related to your move. My current file has details like I listed above, but also contains questions to ask my new roommates and/or landlord.
- Don’t stop working. It’s natural to want to halt all work in the midst of the chaos. Having now moved 6 times in the last 3 years, I can honestly say that work is a good way to unwind from the chaos of moving boxes. Having a constant to fall back on is really helpful for short bursts of productivity.
Moving can be a horrid process, but I’m convinced that it doesn’t have to be. I’m only working a single day at the local agency I’m partnered with, which helps a lot, even though that means the pressure is on to migrate my home office. I’m considering a switch to a new billing system that doesn’t require sitting in front of my iMac at home (yes, I’ve been using old-fashiond spreadsheets) to ease the burden and keep things rolling. This may or may not be a good time to make the leap…I’ll let you know how that one goes later.