Working Remotely – A Week Nine Retrospective

[#1]

It feels like I just posted one of these, which means that either I’m keeping busy and getting used to the way things are or I’m slowly going insane (maybe a little of both).  This past week was a really busy one for me.  We had a software release a work (which could have gone better than it did).  On the home front, the weather is getting suitable for going outside so we have been able to get out of the house and into our backyard!

What went well:

• I continue to enjoy my morning walks with the dog. It continues to be a great way to mentally transition into “work mode”, and to think about what tasks I need to accomplish each day.
• I continue to connect with friends in a virtual capacity. Either playing tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons, or video games like Starcraft 2, this is a great way to get back to normal and have some laughs with friends while remaining in isolation.
• Atlassian Community Lunchtime workshops continue to be successful!

What could have been better:

• We had a software release that didn’t go quite as planned. This led to longer working hours and less ‘me’ time.
• I’ve been really tired recently, even going to bed earlier doesn’t seem to make me feel any more rested in the mornings.
• I wish the weather would make up its mind. In a single week we saw:
  • 2 inches of snow
  • 21 C/70 F temperatures
  • a massive downpour of rain

What I will change:

• I’ve reached the nit-picky point of these retrospectives. If you look back at week one and two, the things changed were significant.  At this point, I’m looking at the minor optimizations.  For this week, I’m going to try reading a book before going to bed instead of watching stupid youtube videos.  I have heard that the screen can stimulate the brain and that doesn’t promote restful sleep.

What will stay the same:

• I will continue to try and get as much outside time as I can.
• I will continue try and keep a work/life balance (also to keep my sanity).
• I will keep posting these articles!

There have been discussions in my part of the world about starting to re-open things.  This has me quite nervous.  I want to be hopeful that this is a good sign that things are going to start going back to the way they were, but I’m also scared that this may cause tighter restrictions for a longer period of time.  Re-opening starts today, I’ll let you know what happens in next week’s article!

If you enjoyed reading this last week’s article can be found here.  Stay healthy and save my friends!

[Helen Griffiths {Capgemini}]

The weather sounds very British. However, coming from someone British, we've had a fab spell of sunshine recently - which is great for finishing work and getting out in the garden!

Lockdown has been lifted slightly in England (not so much elsewhere around the UK), so we can now exercise as many times a day as we like, and meet one person from outside our household (remaining socially distanced) - so i've been taking advantage and meeting my best friend most days for an evening walk. It's great for work/life balance as I actually have a reason to leave my desk.

The more tired than usual thing I can definitely relate to too. Very strange. Perhaps it's because my body knows the morning commute is now less than 10 seconds and is willing me to stay in bed 🤷‍♀️