Working Remotely – A Week Three Retrospective

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It’s hard to believe this is the third in this series already!  This week unfortunately was not all lollipops and rainbows, but instead was a little bit of nightmare fuel.  I knew this week was going to be challenging before it even started and if I had to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing (well maybe I’d try and get a bit more sleep heading into the week).

For anyone that wasn’t aware (or was in true hermit mode) last week was Atlassian’s Remote Summit.  As a Community Leader, the amazing team that runs the Atlassian Community put together some additional leader exclusive sessions throughout the entire week.  If perks like this have you interested in learning what it takes to become a leader, you should check out this post once you finish reading this retrospective.

Without further distraction, let’s get started!

What went well:

• I really enjoyed the Remote Summit opportunities. I was on many Zoom calls all week, so this was the most interaction I’ve had with other humans that aren’t my immediate family in a couple of weeks.
• While the Remote Summit was just a shadow compared to what I experienced live last year, I was still able to get all the information I was looking to retrieve about the products we are currently investigating. This will allow me to move forward with proof of concepts and implementation of more Atlassian tools in our environment.

What didn’t go so well:

• My schedule last week was terrible! Now, I did this to myself by attending all the leader exclusive sessions I could.  Because they were time zone distributed, I ended up being up until past midnight, or waking up at 5am to be able to be a part of everything.  My wife and I knew this was going to happen and we did our best to plan and co-ordinate accordingly.
• Because of the crazy schedule I had, there were many days I didn’t have time to get out for exercise with the dog, and I was too tired at night to do anything either. My physical heath suffered last week, but I plan to make up for that this coming week.
• I also broke a personal rule and ate many meals while at my workstation as some of my days were quite long with very little opportunity to break for food.

What did I change:

• Honestly, I’m not going to make any new changes this coming week. However, I will do my best to incorporate the changes I should have made this past week into this week now that my routine should be a little less hectic.

What will remain the same:

• This week did prove that my office setup is working very well, and I will continue to keep my work setup distanced from my home life as much as I can.
• I’m constantly looking for ways to continue to support local business and local community programs to help those that are less fortunate than I am during the COVID-19 crisis and that won’t change anytime soon!
• I’ve also realized that this weekly article has become a part of my weekly routine and it will also continue going forward.

This past week was a bit of a struggle, but I look at it as opportunities to learn, change and continue to observe.  Please continue to stay safe and healthy and I’ll see you next week.

If you enjoyed reading this retrospective, you can checkout last week’s post here.