Working Remotely – A Week Five Retrospective

[#1]

With the end of last week, I have now surpassed the longest I have ever been forced to work at home previously.  The last time that happened was about three years ago when I slipped a disc in my back.  It was an extremely rough time has I was forced to work from my bed. 

On a more positive note, I really think I’m starting to find my groove at this point.  There are very few things that could have gone better and most of the changes I’m making at this point are minor optimizations to something that is already working well.  Let’s dive in!

What went well:

• If I look at the statistics, I managed to accomplish a lot for a shortened work week.
• In my spare time I started a proof of concept on something that I thought would be beneficial for work and after showing it off, I have support from a number of people at work to move forward with it.
• The Atlassian Community continues to be a safe, comforting place to chat with fellow community members, even if the topic isn’t work related.

What could have been better:

• I’ve had focus issues this past week. This is not specific to working remotely, I was constantly being interrupted by work colleagues that needed me to assist with things.  The only issue with this was a feeling that I did not accomplish much, and while my manager was aware and ok with the timelines of my planned work being shifted, unplanned work still sucks.
• Also, on a non-work-related note, local statistics on COVID-19 are depressing, I’m not going to say any more than that.

What I will change:

• I’m doing my best to try and get the dog out for a walk about 30 minutes early than I was previously. More people are doing a morning dog walk in our neighborhood now and trying to physically distance from everyone can be complicated.  Going out a little bit earlier avoids this situation.

What will stay the same:

• The single open restaurant my wife and I have been ordering food from is still open, and we will continue to place an order weekly to support them. I’ve also been making my way through their entire menu.  There isn’t a single thing I haven’t enjoyed, but I do have preferences at this point.
• The way my wife and I have been balancing work with watching our son has been working very well and that will continue.

Overall, this week was a positive one.  I will admit that I had some very low points during the week where I felt overwhelmed by everything that is going on, but I have some wonderful people here to support me.  If you enjoyed reading through this retrospective, last week’s can be found here.

[Andy - PTC Redundant]

Brilliantly written @Jimmy Seddon ! If this COVID-19 situation lasts for months, I feel a novel will eventually be published from all your Retros!!! 📚👍

[Fabienne Gerhard]

Wohoo - that‘s awesome 😄

Can‘t wait for the next part 👏🏻 supporting @Andy - PTC Redundant  idea of a novel here

[Jimmy Seddon]

Not exactly a novel, but I was thinking about going through all the retrospectives at the end of all of this and doing a retro recap of the ups & downs through out the entire experience.

[Fabienne Gerhard]

hopefully as a book - I would buy it 😊