Shiny Happy People

We've been working from home for almost 2 weeks now. How are you feeling about it? There's no question that there's been a huge disruption in the force. It's something we all need to get used to. And as someone pointed out the other day, this isn't really WFH, it's WDP (work during pandemic) which is not exactly the same thing. But there are some similarities. The priorities might have changed, and the relative ranking of taking care of yourself and your family vs work has certainly changed. But for most of us the work itself hasn't changed. The long term goals haven't.

What has changed is the environment. Both the physical and psychological environments are very different than they were 2 weeks ago. We're home, practicing social distancing, and dealing with our teammates over a screen. What used to be turning in your chair and asking a question is a much more involved project. There are new and different demands on our time. Feedback from coworkers is slower, but feedback from the people in the house is immediate.

So what can we, as employees and teams, do to be productive and feel fulfilled? I know for myself. one of the things I need to be productive is pixels. Way more pixels than my MacBook has. So I brought home my 2 external monitors. Those that work with me can attest that I don't sit down much, so I got myself a standing desk. And I'm fortunate enough to have a room at home that can be my office so I can "go to work" in the morning and "come home" at night. I used to walk to work, so now I take the dog for a walk to separate work from home.

Our team has it's own little zoom chat that sits in the corner of one of my screens (remember all those pixels) so I'm not alone. But I'm not always there either. Sometimes I just wander off. And that's ok. Sometimes I focus, sometimes I'm checking on my reactor, and sometimes I'm watching some online continuous education video. Some of them are even work related :)

And above all, I've talked to my manager about things. About having the space and time to get things done, but also the time to not be doing things. And I have trust. Trust that I'm doing the right thing, that the company is doing the right thing, and trust that my manager trusts me to do the right thing. And sometimes I just watch silly videos. What works for you?