How to reduce stress when moving offices

 

Whether you’re switching across to the room next door, or relocating to the other side of the country – moving offices is a stressful and large job.

 

It may seem obvious, but planning is your most important tool, and keeping up with your workload during the move is just as important as allowing yourself a smooth transition. Time is not going to stop for you. In fact, it’s our most precious asset.

 

Start with your diary. Find out when you have to vacate the current premises and the earliest time you can arrive at the new one. Make appointments and hold meetings that need to take place in your current office space, and rearrange any which will benefit from management from or in your new office.

 

These won’t be your only clients or associates that will need to know about your move. If you don’t already have a mailing list set up, there has never been a better time. Most office relocations come with a change of physical address and telephone number, which brings about one of the most important things to remember. In our digital world, life without the internet is a disconnection that most people, never mind their businesses, cannot afford. Whether you choose to keep or move your services it’s important to schedule any switches and tech support so that you can maintain a secure connection to the online world. We offer an office move service which can take a big lump of this stress away and can even help you keep all your phone numbers, even if you do move to a different area code!

 

It’s not just internet security to consider either. Don’t forget the security of client information. Identify any files and documents, whether physical or digital, which need protection during the move. Don’t opt to keep files in your car overnight, this risks the complete collapse of your business reputation should the worst happen!

 

Even before you get to the point of moving, there are other things that can lighten the load – literally. Organise everything before it gets packed. Only take what you need. It’s not only a chance to clear some space for new premises which may well be larger, but more space only means more junk! Shred old documents, sort through every loose leaf of paper and file it, or bin it. Check the dates on your files – older companies are likely to have files which no longer need to be held and will therefore waste space, time, energy and money if not destroyed responsibly.

 

Once you’ve eradicated the junk from your work life, aim to pack effectively. Don’t forget, your desk will be the space you need first, so save that for last. Clearly label your boxes, ideally by access priority and also in accordance with it’s place in your new office. In the storage cupboard, under your desk, on the bookshelf. It all needs a place. Before you pull the plug on the computer, pack up your immediate working space – in the case that you switch from room to room takes longer than expected, your desk is right there in one box – including the documents you were just working on.

 

Unless your e-mails require state of the art security, make sure any digital documents are accessible before you do that very last thing and switch off the computer.

 

Prepare your new space. Clean, move furniture, plan the room the way you know will work best for you. Once you’ve got your computer system set up (we know it will be the first thing to happen), the rest will be plain sailing if your planning has gone as smoothly as you’d hoped.

 

Don’t let yourself be distracted by the cafe on the corner of your new building at lunch time, plan ahead, make yourself a lunch and stay focussed. You hope to make this your new work home for the foreseeable future, there will be plenty of time for lunch time meetings, just don’t plan them too soon because of the state of your office.