Since opened this practice back in 2013, I have been a home based business. I did that for many reasons: financial conservatism and family obligations chief among them. It was an effective solution at the time.
Now, however, I am busier than I have been in years, and my office – no matter how computer based it is, is generating lots of paper and files and my home office just wasn’t up to the task. So I made the decision:
It is time for an office space!
I found this space only a 10 minute walk from my home. It is small enough for one person, but if I need to expand, it will fit another person, possibly two. It is an office in a larger, co-working space. My new co-tenants are a restauranteur, a food research group, and a company that makes organic cake mixes. It is an unexpected and interesting mix!
This weekend, I moved into the new space. My spouse is happy to have the desk, drawing table, and filing cabinets moved out of the garage, and my computer and boxes of files moved out of the dining room. They all look just great in the new space.
The space still needs some shelves, and I will be putting up some art work. In the video, you can see that I have set up the work table in the center of the room, but at 90 degrees to the overhead lights. I did this to ensure that there is no glare on my computer screen, so light is coming from the side as I work, and so that I am not monitoring the front door of the shared office space.
One of the things about moving is that you realize how far behind you are in your filing. You also realize how much stuff you’ve held on to that you don’t really need. The filing cabinets are full. I’ll be moving in a shelving unit to the left of the files in the next week.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be archiving old project files out to a storage space – architects in California are required to hold on to all project files for 10 years, after which, there are still certain items that have to be archived by law. I have an off site storage space for all those files. Doing so will free up space in the filing cabinets to make room for new projects.
Moving into a new space feels like a new beginning. It is an opportunity to drop old habits and build new habits. It freshens the mind and makes ordinary tasks feel new again.
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